A Pacific Empire? - American History, 1493-1945

Proclamation to the people of the Philippine Islands

4 April 1899

View the proclamation to the people of the Philippine Islands in the resource

In the late-nineteenth century the United States began to take greater interest in political events beyond its borders. Involvement in the Cuban revolt against Spanish rule pushed America into war with Spain. This spread out across the Pacific, where inferior naval forces and manpower led to Spain suing for peace and signing the 1898 Treaty of Paris. This gave the U.S. temporary control of Cuba and indefinite colonial authority over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Many Cubans and Filipinos had supported the U.S. in this war, and now expected their independence to be declared.

As this document shows, this was not the immediate intention of the Americans. The proclamation was issued on 4 April 1899. It announces that the treaty signed by Spain had ceded sovereignty and possession of the Philippine Islands to the United States. According to this document:

The aim and object of the American Government, apart from the fulfilment of the solemn obligations it has assumed toward the family of nations by the acceptance of sovereignty over the Philippine Islands, is the well being, the prosperity and the happiness of the Philippine people, and their elevation and advancement to a position among the most civilized peoples of the world.

This was to be achieved by civil and religious freedom; the development of natural resources; and the progress of industry, commerce and trade. This provides a reflection of how the United States saw itself as the great civilized nation, and how it believed it had accomplished this. Perhaps more significantly for foreign policy, it also suggests a belief among some Americans that this sense of civilization and progress could be brought to other nations through U.S. intervention.

Not everyone, at home or abroad, agreed. As the proclamation makes clear, some Filipinos were rebelling against the American vision of their future. Back in the United States, anti-imperialists argued against direct involvement in the government of the Philippines. Some objected to the principle of colonial possessions, others to the manner in which the war was being prosecuted, and still others to the idea of non-white immigration from the colonies.

Ultimately it was the imperialist vision that won the day in Washington. The U.S. took the fight to Filipino rebels. The war officially ended in 1902, although Guerrilla campaigns continued in some places. Although limited democratic powers were granted, independence was not promised until 1916, and not achieved until 1946.

United States’ involvement in the Philippines, and the preceding war against Spain, marked a new era of U.S. involvement in global politics and international conflict. This coincided with a period of renewed economic growth and increasing national self-confidence. It helped to reinforce the American view of itself as a defender of democracy and spreader of righteous civilization. Yet it also became a battleground for ideas about empire and the merits, or lack of them, of colonization.