'The Philippine-American War was a war between the armed forces of the United States of America and forces in the Philippines Republic who desired independence. The war lasted from 1899 through 1913.
Historically used the term "the Philippine Insurrection" was long prefered by the USA, but Filipinos and an increasing number of American historians refer to these hostilities as the Philippine-American War, and in 1999 the U.S. Library of Congress reclassified its references to use this term.
In 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo was declared President of the Philippines Republic. The Americans who had just received control of the Philippines after defeating Spain in the Spanish-American War the year before, refused to recognize any Philippine right to self government and the McKinley Adminstration declared Aguinaldo to be an "outlaw bandit". On February 4, 1899 Aguinaldo declared war against the United States so long as they opposed independence. A large American military force was needed to occupy the country, and would be regularly engaged in war, against Filipino rebels, for another decade.
In 1901, Aguinaldo was captured and swore allegiance to the United States. The Americans gradually succeeded in taking control of urban and costal areas by the end of 1903. Philippine military deaths are estimated at only 20,000 while civilian deaths numbered in the hundreds of thousands. An estimated 250,000-1,000,000 Filipinos were killed by the U.S. forces in the attempt to put down the forces favoring independence. Many of these civilian casualties resulted from disease and famine. U.S. attacks into the countryside often included scorched earth campaigns were entire villages were destroyed. Reports of the execution of U.S. soldiers taken prisoner by the Filipinos led to disproportionate reprisals by American forces.
For a time during the USA occupation, English was declared the official language, although the languages of the Philippine people were Spanish, Visayan, Tagalog and other native languages.
While some measures to allow partial Philippine self government were implemented earlier, the war did not subside until 1913 when USA President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a change in policy that would after a transitional period grant the Philippines full independence.
See also History of the Philippines, Cultural genocide