The U.S.’s conquest of the Philippines was “an unalloyed American conquest of territory and among the cruelest conflicts in the annals of Western imperialism.” 
That time McKinley, in the lead-up to the Spanish-American War, “burst into tears” in a parlor because he could barely handle the stress:
William McKinley really believed God wanted the U.S. to annex and colonize the Philippines, part 1:
William McKinley really believed God wanted the U.S. to annex and colonize the Philippines, part 2:
Turns out William Jennings Bryan was all aboard with the Spanish-American War:
“The Filipinos paid heavily. The US forces, by their own count, killed some twenty thousand native soldiers. As many as two hundred thousand civilians may also have died from famine and various other causes, including atrocities committed by both sides.”
(All of these quotes are from: powells.com/book/-97803453…)
Breaking down why Filipinos failed in ousting the Americans, while Vietnamese succeeded:
-Inept leadership, leading to inept strategy
-Lack of surrounding mobility, and lack of (early 1900s) national identity
-No real pledge of economic reform to end domestic oligarchy
-Inept leadership, leading to inept strategy
-Lack of surrounding mobility, and lack of (early 1900s) national identity
-No real pledge of economic reform to end domestic oligarchy
(Not mentioned here, but there’s also obviously no Sino-Soviet, outside-state-sponsorship parallel for 1900s Philippines that 1960s North Vietnam enjoyed.)
TIL about Manila: “After Warsaw, no other Allied city suffered such destruction during World War II.”
