Pierre Marie Cossid Pols1100 Professor Jose Inclan April 3rd, 2015 Should the United States have annexed the Philippines? After the Treaty of Paris was signed on December 10,1898 the Philippines gained independence and Spain ceded the Philippines for 20 million US dollars. Many people even now are still very confused whether the Philippines was just bought or did America had to fight over the Philippines against Spain. The dates of conflict began in February 4, 1899. The US ships dispatched to the Philippines and defeated the Spanish navy in the Battle of Manila Bay. Two years earlier, the Filipinos fought against the Spanish themselves. However their revolution ended in failure and the Filipino leaders were forced to exile in Hong Kong. Later …show more content…
The leading causes of deaths in the Philippines during the war were diseases. One of the diseases was Malaria. The Filipinos got the diseases by sleeping on the mud and other unsanitary areas. The conditions were terrible because the Filipinos had to deal with it. The people didn’t have enough food and healthy water. Most of the water was dirty and infected with germs and diseases. Many Filipinos starved so their children could eat. Most of them died because of the dangerous conditions. Americans killed civilians; they slaughtered children and women at Manila Bay and thought that it was necessary but not glorious. While Filipinos also tortured captured American soldiers, terrorized and killed civilians who cooperated with the American forces. The battle between the two nations leads to indigenous end. Americans thought that Filipinos were uneducated and uncivil people; they believed that Filipinos were very different from the Americans. There were many Elites and Filipinos who did not embraced Aguinaldo’s plan for the Philippines. During that time, there was a debate about the future of the Philippines whether it should pursue governing itself, or should the U.S annex the