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Casualties and Atrocities
In terms of its length, the Philippine-American war was much shorter than
past or future conflicts, but it was also characterized by notably high levels of
violence. According to historical records, the Filipinos suffered about 20,000
casualties while the American troops lost around 4220 soldiers during the
battles. Some sources put the number of noncombatant Filipinos dead from
disease, starvation, and bombing at 200,000 or more, slain as ‘casualties of
war. ’ Other estimates raised the number of casualties as high as 6,000
American troops and 300,000 Filipinos.
Another symptom of the war was torture and other violations of human
rights in relation to the enemy, especially towards the end of the war and
during the final battles. Filipino guerrillas, for their part subjected captured
Americans to torturous situations; and massacred Filipino civilians
collaborating with the Americans, The Americans on the other hand burnt
suspected guerrilla’s villages and incarcerated the inhabitants in
concentration camps, initially constructed by Spain.
POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON PHILIPPINES:
First of all, the described war led to the beginning of the US colonialism in
the Philippines, with the consequent attempts of Filipino revolutionaries to
gain the country’s independence. Sadly, this was met with strong opposition
and much resistance by the people of Filipino because after a time of
struggle being colonized by the Spanish, they felt that they were again under
a foreign thumb.
The bitter aftermath of the conflict further strengthened theanti-imperialist

movements in the United States. Thus, the American Anti-Imperialist League
along with William James, Henry James, and other individuals became the
voice against the annexation of the Philippines into the America’s territory.
The League and its backers vigorously discussed the right, legal, and
pragmatic ways of America’s colonialistic conduct of its overseas policy, or
whether it was ethically right to subject an inferior country to the dominance
of the better armed and supplied, or whether such an action was consistent
with the principles of freedom and self-determination that America prided
itself in. The post-war scenario also witnessed United States adopting several
policies and measures targeting to regulate the Filipinos and remould the
destiny of the archipelagos. To eliminate the continual rebellion, the U. S
administration employed pacification techniques aimed at removing local
armed resistance and changing the culture of the Filipino people to be
cooperating with the U. S military and government. These reforms however
driven through education, infrastructure and health were profound changes
in the socio-political fabric of the Philippines.
Therefore, the Philippine-American war has greatly defined the political

destiny of Philippines. It procrastinated the actual independence of the
nation which was not achieved until 1946, over four and a half decades after
the end of the war. American colonialism has therefore been significant in the
shaping of the Filipino society and general framework of governance
especially in the keen intention of attaining self-governance.
POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON AMERICA :POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON

AMERICA :
The Philippine-American War provoked a vigorous anti-imperialist discourse

in the United States due to the expansion of the USA as an imperialistic
state. This contentious event catalyzed a popular insurgent against
imperialism, with opponents claiming that the acquisition of Philippines was
beyond the spirit of American principles and the Constitution. Depiction of U.
S. military influence as well as commercial interests into the Pacific increase
the heightening of the debate as many deemed this transition as a deviation
from the principles that founded the country.
Although the Filipino struggle against U. S. colonialism proved to be strong
and resilient, it came from different fronts. Some Americans held a very
puritanical view of colonialism as being downright sinful and contrary to the
concept of the United States of America as a nation of freedom and people’s
rights to determine their own future. However, some people opposed it
because this idea would allow nonwhite Filipinos to have duties and
responsibilities as the permanent residents in USA, which would have caused
apprehensions due to prevailing racism at the time. Demands for the
alteration of the U. S political system were also amplified coupled with other
criticisms towards president William McKinley’s imperialism policies. It was
instrumentalized in his administration and became a major point of debate
about American colonialism; then, his assassination in 1901, and succession
by Theodore Roosevelt, did continue the debate.
technological advancement, world politics, war and production and notably

the arrival and years of American period that impacted and influenced the
Philippine society. While some of these changes were agrarian in nature,
such as the introduction of coffee growing under American guidance, the
differentiated was religious: Protestantism began to gain influence at the
expense of Catholicism, which had been the only religion embraced by
Filipinos under Spanish colonization. All these changes painfully
revolutionized the religious face of the islands. Despite these changes, some
historians have contended that this Philippine American War in fact slowed
down the grant of Philippine independence rather than advance it. However,
new reforms were made as well as a new governance system was set in
place by the U. S, and this simply perpetuated the American control, thus
delaying Philippine independence, which only came in to effect in 1946,
several decades after the war. Consequently, the war left a long-lasting
impact on the progress of the Philippines both in terms of its political and
cultural arenas.
SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGES
The Philippines, after the Philippine-American War which ranged from 1899 to
1902, experienced major shifts in its social economic development. Some of
the key areas of concern of the American colonial administration were to
expand and develop various infrastructural facilities,boost the standards of
health in American colonies and develop systems of education. Governments
engaged in constructions of roads and railways, bridges, seaports and
harbors, irrigation systems, and water supply systems to enhance
development. Another aspect of reforms was improvements in the education
sector, where the number of students in public schools increased from
227,600 in 1903, to 1,496,000 by 1938.
Economically, therefore, the Philippines became even more involved with the
American Market resulting in even more investment opportunities. This
exportorial lead produced agricultural produce such as sugar, tobacco,
coconuts and abaca in the United States. However, with established
American interests large-scale trade quotas and controls were placed on the
export of Philippine products particularly sugar and coco oil. The American
«policy of attraction» allowed the Filipinos to have some limited self-
government, influenced by social reforms and economic plans for developing
the Philippines, geared toward disarmming those Filipinos who sympathized
with the revolutionaires.
Nonetheless, these efforts brought about a lot of change that impacted the
peasantry negatively; by shifting from an agriculture export-based economy
that relied on cash crops. Most of the rural dwellers opposed the mütering
ofthe modern economic aproaches to the traditional setting. In summary, a
number of benefits from the American colonial period have included added
infrastructure, increased education, greater economic interdependence with
the US, and at least a start to the process of self-governance. However, it
upset the social structure of pre-industrial rural societies and created
regional imbalances, yielding to export-oriented agriculture instead of
generating industrial development.

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Casualties and Atrocities

POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON PHILIPPINES:

The bitter aftermath of the conflict further strengthened theanti-imperialist

Therefore, the Philippine-American war has greatly defined the political

POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON AMERICA :POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS ON

The Philippine-American War provoked a vigorous anti-imperialist discourse

technological advancement, world politics, war and production and notably

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