The Philippines was a colony of Spain from the late sixteenth century until the Philippine Revolution of 1898. But the United States, despite promising independence like Cuba, bought the country and wrestled control, succeeding by 1902. The U.S. administration subsequently introduced many commercial, political and administrative changes, albeit trade limits, agricultural / immigration sanctions, and machine importation restrictions. They were sometimes quite progressive and directed towards the "modernization" of government and commerce in the Philippines, if not for controlling it and currency peg / control. However, the local traditional Filipino elites, being better educated and better connected than much of the local population, were often able to take advantage of the changes to bolster their positions.