US soldiers in the Philippines

AR Colquhoun, 1898

This image of US soldiers at a train station in the Philippines (probably in Manila) was taken just before the beginning of the Philippine-American War, fought between the USA and Filipino revolutionaries from 1899 to 1902. The war followed the disputed transition of Philippine sovereignty from Spain to the USA under the Treaty of Paris (1898). The transfer wasn’t recognised by Filipino leaders, whose troops retained actual control of the entire archipelago except the capital city, Manila.

Most of the battles that followed were decisive, with the Filipinos defeated at all points, although they continued to conduct a guerrilla campaign for many years. The organised insurrection effectively ended with the capture of General Emilio Aguinaldo – the leader of the rebel Filipino government – on 23 March 1901, but brutal and bloody fighting continued until 1906.

An estimated 20,000 Filipino combatants were killed during the war, and more than 200,000 civilians died as a result of the fighting, hunger or disease. Of the 4,300 US lives lost, some 1,500 were killed in action, while nearly twice that number succumbed to disease.

Not everyone in the USA supported the campaign in the Philippines. The American Anti-Imperialist League, which actively opposed the war, drew support from famous members such as the social reformer Jane Addams, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, philosopher William James and author Mark Twain. The USA eventually granted independence to the Philippines on 4 July 1946.