Emilio Aguinaldo and American imperialism in the Philippines

¶ … 1998, Emilio Aguinaldo ordered the Filipino forces which were allies with the U.S. to eliminate Spanish dominion over the Philippine. Emilio then became the very first Philippines president. However, after USA declined to acknowledge them as independent, Emilio commanded his soldiers and started a guerilla battle against the intervention by American military. Over 120,000 soldiers from the U.S. took part in the warfare, and used ruthless methods which led to the death of prisoners, arson on civilian homes as well as creation of concentration camps. Emilio, in 1899, published a mocking critique, which has been excerpted below, of the imperialist efforts of America to deny the Philippines their independence. He ordered that the USA acknowledged the Filipinos humanity and lived according to the legacy their Revolution. In the fight for independence waged by the people of Philippines, there has been slow mass education, but this does not make them uneducated. The best and the fittest of their people are the ones who survived the torture they faced under Spanish dominion, and that of priests. In fact, it was their dictatorial authority and terrible colonial ways that made them lose authority over the East, since the Japanese, their neighbors, have come this far due to their modern learning methods and industry. This therefore teaches us the following: Give us an opportunity; treat us just like you demanded that you be treated by the English people while you were fighting against their autocracy (Aguinaldo 1899).

About the Author

On 22nd March 1869, in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo was born. He attained independence of the Philippines from Spain in 1898, and was chosen as the first president of the new state under the Malolos Congress. He also ran the Philippine-American War, countering the U.S. resistance to Philippine liberation. He died of a heart attack in Quezon City, Philippines, on February 6, 1964 (Bio n.d.).

When working as the leader of barter in Manila, he joined Freemasonry in 1895, under the chapter of Pilar Lodge. The Freemasonry was banned by the government and the church as a resistance group. Through his role as a community captain of this fraternity, Aguinaldo encountered Andres Bonifacio, who was a key in the fight to defeat the Spanish decree (Bio n.d.).

Keen on fighting for Philippine independence, Aguinaldo joined up with a secret society of radicals, in 1895 which was headed by his colleague Andres Bonifacio. When Bonifacio was executed by a rival party in 1897, Emilio Aguinaldo took up total control of the revolution countering Spain. He, (Aguinaldo) then took another attempt at politics when he contended for presidency in 1935 against opponent Manuel Quezon, but he lost. In 1950 he was made a presidential consultant on the Council of State (Bio n.d.).

Understanding of History

War has not seen much change; history reveals a number of scenes which could have happened during the Bush & Obama presidencies as opposed to those of Roosevelt &Mckinley. American troops are received on foreign lands as saviors, and then quickly shunned as inhabitants. The United States victoriously declares to have ended war, even as hostile fighting carries on. The newspapers are filled with torture allegations that horrify and transfix the country (Millard 2012).

The use of interrogation, whose mention instantly reminds of a recent, highly antagonistic tactic; to wring out information from a Filipino mayor thought to have been secretly helping rebels. American soldiers decided to employ a technique called \'water cure\'. They tied the mayor\'s hands behind him and made him lie below a huge water tank. They then pried his mouth open, used a stick to hold it in place and then turned on the tap. When the water filled and nearly burst his stomach, the soldiers started punching, ceasing only after he threw up the water, mixed with his gastric fluids, from his nose and mouth. Then they turned on the tap again. The practice, mostly used when the Spanish were in charge, made the victims have simultaneous feelings of being drowned and being cut or burned as their internal organs convulsed and stretched\" (Millard 2012).

The U.S. had a vocal and strong movement against imperialism, in which Mark Twain, Grover Cleveland and Andrew Carnegie were included. However, it tried to reduce the nation\'s expansionist vigor, as well as competition with the tenacity, energy as well as the bulldog aspiration of Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore took only six years to meteorically become a president, from being the police commissioner in New York. He fostered a strong and deep hate for the \"cowardly, unintelligent rant for \'harmony at whatever price.\'\" The \"bellow for peace\" did not move him, and he wrote that it had pushed him further towards the opinion that the nation needed war\"(Millard 2012).