In 1521, during his historic circumnavigation around the globe, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew became the first Europeans to land in the Philippines. He claimed these Pacific islands for his employer, Spain, who governed until 1898. Spanish rule ended after the first battle in the Spanish-American War, a naval engagement at the Battle of Manila Bay where Commodore George Dewey’s fleet destroyed the Spanish fleet in a quick, decisive engagement on April 30. Initially, U.S. Marines came ashore and held Cavite Naval Station outside Manila, the main city on Luzon, the main island.

After the peace treaty in December, American troops moved into Manila and began their occupation with the aid of the leader of a native insurrection against Spanish rule that had begun in 1896. Emilio Aguinaldo, initially welcomed Americans as allies and liberators, but this alliance only lasted until America purchased the islands from Spain for $20 million as part of the treaty ending the Spanish-American War in December, 1898. President William McKinley issued the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation outlining his colonizing policies. After this, the Philippine Republic, which had earlier declared its independence, declared war on the United States.

The Filipinos felt betrayed by America and tensions worsened to the point of violence by February, 1899. America considered the conflict to be an insurrection against their legal government, while the Filipinos, led by Aguinaldo, viewed it as a war of freedom from another colonizer. The bulk of the fighting occurred in Luzon as Aguinaldo was defeated in conventional battle. His troops turned to guerilla tactics and the fighting grew more savage and brutal. The conflict become one of ambushes, massacres and retribution, back and forth, spawning a host of reciprocal atrocities.

Filiipino opposition faded after Aguinaldo was captured in March, 1901, flared on the island of Samar the following September. The rebels staged a brutal surprise attack on American soldiers and the American campaign against Moros on this island was equally brutal, effective and controversial. After this phase of the war in 1902, president Theodore Roosevelt declared the war over and American forces assumed effective control over coastal and urban areas. Individual tribes in Luzon and in Muslim Moros living in the southern islands continued to launch uprisings for another decade, including one in 1907 in which an Iowan received the Medal of Honor.

United States casualty figures included 4,234 dead and 2,818 wounded. Estimates for Filipino losses include about 20,000 military dead and upwards of 200,000 civilian deaths.

Independence for the Philippines occurred in 1946.