By the time José Rizal took up the fight for Filipino rights in the late nineteenth century, the Spanish had controlled the Philippines for more than four hundred years. Over the centuries, elements of Spanish culture and religion had become integral parts of Filipino life, and the outlook of educated, urban Filipinos was shaped by political and intellectual currents that originated in Europe, Latin America, and the United States. Thus, the initial of goal of Rizal and many of his fellow activists was not to drive the Spanish out, but to obtain the full rights of Spanish citizens and to gain greater control over local affairs. Spanish authorities, however, were uninterested in granting the Philippines a status similar to that of Canada or Australia in the British Empire, and calls for Filipino rights quickly gave way to demands for independence. Rizal argued that independence should be achieved through peaceful means, but others did not agree, and when Rizal was executed by the Spanish in 1896, the Philippines erupted in full-scale rebellion. Two years later, the Filipino rebels gained a powerful ally when a war between the United States and Spain that began in Cuba spread to the Philippines. Although the Spanish were defeated, the Filipinos soon discovered that they had exchanged one form of imperialism for another. Like the Spanish before them, the Americans refused to recognize Philippine independence, and the result was a new round of fighting that went on until 1902 and cost more than two hundred thousand lives.

The documents included in this activity offer an opportunity to contrast Filipino and American perspectives on the events described above. As you examine them, ask yourself why Filipinos and Americans interpreted the same events in such dramatically different ways. What assumptions and experiences shaped these opposing perspectives?