From: kyig6809@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kenneth Yerro Ilio )
Subject: Re: Did American Troops Kill 3 Million Filipinos?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 19:48:17 GMT

In article <1992Apr14.230352.5759@samba.oit.unc.edu> David.Choweller@bbs.oit.unc.edu (David Choweller) writes:
>
>In an book review dating from the 60's Gore Vidal claims that
>American troops participated in the genocide of 3 million Filipinos
>at the "turn of the century."  I've never heard of this before.  Did this
>happen, and how widely accepted is this alleged fact?  I don't have the exact
>title of the article because I was just given a photocopy of it, but it's
>a review of a book about West Point.  Vidal spends almost not time reviewing
>the book, but expounds his own theories on how the people at West Point have
>been responsible for building America's "empire" throughout the world.
>--
Here's a brief chronology of the less known Filipino-American War of 
the early 1900s:

June 12 1898 - proclamation of philippine independence --- however, this
proclamation was devalued in essence because it said to the effect that
the Philippines was independent from Spain and was now becoming a
protectorate of the United States of America.  In Emilio Aguinaldo's
words, "under the protection of the Mighty and Humane North American
Nation."

December 10, 1898 - Treaty of Paris - Philippines bought by US from
Spain for $20 M.

January 2, 1899 - Aguinaldo proclaimed a Cabinet for the first Republic
of the Philippines headed by Apolinario Mabini

January 4, 1889 - Gen Elwell Otis proclaimed American sovereignity 
over the Philippines, in line with the provisions of the Treaty of
Paris

January 5, 1899 - Aguinaldo protested American infringement upon
Philippine sovereignity

January 11, 1899 - Filipino diplomat Felipe Agoncillo, acting in the
name of the Philippine revolutionary government wrote a memorandum
to the US Secretary of State asserting Filipino sovereignity over
the islands

January 20, 1899 - Schurman Commission was created to become the first
American governing commission for the Philippines

January 21, 1899 -  The constitution of the republic of the philippines
was ratified at Malolos (which is the reason why it has also come to
be known as the Malolos constitution), creating the republic of the
philippines.  the drafting of this charter not only showed the
capability to master a wide geographical representation base for such
undertaking but also a showcase of Filipinos' political maturity that
early, for self government, LONG before Sun Yat Sen's time in China.

January 23, 1899 - The Republic of the Philippines was inaugurated at
the Barosoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan.  It was the first republic
inaugurated in the whole of Asia.  china had hers on October 10 1912.

January 24, 1899 - Felipe Agoncillo sent a second memorandum to the US
state secretary with basically the same message as the first one.

February 4, 1899 - a filipino soldier was shot dead by an American 
sentry at the San Juan Bridge.  Aguinaldo protested but told American
officials that any firing from the Filipino side could only have been done
against his orders.  Aguinaldo up to that point was reluctant to escalate 
the conflict to the level of a full-blown war, but the American side was
hell-bent on having a war situation in the country.

February 5, 1899 - President Aguinaldo finally declared war on the
United States, a signal awaited by American officials to pursue and
suceed in getting a US Senate ratification of the Treaty of paris.
-- 
Kenneth Yerro Ilio
Veterinary Biosciences             Life is a foreign language 
University of Illinois at          Every man has mispronounced it. 
  Urbana Champaign                            -- Carlos Bulosan