Cuba and the United States 597Fighting the insurgents in the Philippines proved unpopular and enlistments declined as the war dragged on. This poster was used to attract
recruits in 1900.
nationalists under Aguinaldo, furious because the
United States would not withdraw, took up arms. A
savage guerrilla war resulted, one that cost far more in
lives and money than the “splendid little” Spanish-
American conflict.
Like all conflicts waged in tangled country
chiefly by small, isolated units surrounded by a hos-
tile civilian population, neither side displayed much
regard for the “rules” of war. Goaded by sneak
attacks and instances of cruelty to captives, American
soldiers, most of whom had little respect for
Filipinos to begin with, responded in kind. (See
American Lives, “Frederick Funston,” p. 600.)
Civilians were rounded up, prisoners tortured, and
property destroyed. Horrifying tales of rape, arson,
and murder by U.S. troops filtered into the country,
providing ammunition for the anti-imperialists.
“You seem to have about finished your work of civi-
lizing the Filipinos,” Andrew Carnegie wrote
angrily to one of the American peace commission-
ers. “About 8,000 of them have been completely
civilized and sent to Heaven. I hope you like it.” In
fact, far more than 8,000 Filipinos lost their lives
during the conflict, which raged for three years.
More than 70,000 American soldiers had to be sent
to the islands before the resistance was crushed, and
about as many of them lost their lives as had per-
ished in the Cuban conflict.
In 1900 McKinley sent a commission headed
by William Howard Taft, a federal judge, to estab-
lish a government. Taft, a warmhearted, affable
man, took an instant liking to the Filipinos, and his
policy of encouraging them to participate in the
territorial government attracted many converts. In
July 1901 he became the first civilian governor of
the Philippines.
Actually, the reelection of McKinley in 1900 set-
tled the Philippine question so far as most Americans
were concerned. Anti-imperialists still claimed that it
was unconstitutional to take over territories without
the consent of the local population. Their reasoning,
while certainly not unsound, was unhistorical. No
American government had seriously considered the
wishes of the American Indians, the French and
Spanish settlers in Louisiana, the Eskimos of Alaska,
or the people of Hawaii when it had seemed in the
national interest to annex new lands.
Twain,Incident in the Philippinesat
http://www.myhistorylab.com
Filipino Guerrillasatwww.myhistorylab.comCuba and the United States
Nevertheless, grave constitutional questions arose as
a result of the acquisitions that followed the Spanish-
American War. McKinley acted with remarkable
independence in handling the problems involved in
expansion. He set up military governments in Cuba,
Puerto Rico, and the Philippines without specific
congressional authority. The Supreme Court, in
what became known as the “insular cases,” granted
Congress permission to act toward the colonies
much as it pleased. A colony, one dissenting justiceView theImageReadtheDocument