...or there is the example of the Phillipines, a tale of courage, honour and fairmindedness known to every American schoolchild.

There had been an active campaign by many Filipinos against the Spanish colonial powers in the last two decades of the 19th century, which had ended in an uneasy truce.

Then came the Spanish American war - that noble conflict promoted by the yellow journalism of Hearst and Pullitzer and catalysed by fake telegrams. It was a conflict notable for plans drawn up by the US Navy to invade the Phillipines a year before war was actually declared (sound familiar?).

When it broke out, the guerilla leader Emilio Aguinaldo returned to the Phillipines from exile in Hong Kong to take up arms once again against the Spanish to win independence In this he was actively encouraged by the US.

The war was short-lived and ended with the Phillipines being "bought" from the Spanish under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (along with Puerto Rico and Guam) and declared a US colony in 1898.

Once the war was over, however, the US was no longer willing to back Aguinaldo's calls for independence. The Phillipines was to be a colony of the proposed American Empire, and would not be allowed to rule themselves.

Tension came to a head in February 1899 when an American soldier shot a Filipino soldier who was crossing a bridge into Filipino-occupied territory in San Juan del Monte.
President William McKinley later told reporters "that the insurgents had attacked Manila" in justifying war on the Philippines. The Battle of Manila that followed resulted in 2000 casualties for Filipinos and 250 for the US forces. It marked the beginning of a brutal and bloody war of oppression by the US.

There was, however, no formal declaration of war. The US was anxious to call it an 'uprising' to make the conflict appear to be a rebellion against a lawful government.
Aguinaldo was captured after the battle of Tirad Pass in 1901 and threatened with death if he didn't swear allegiance to the US. Under duress Aguinaldo pledged allegiance to America on April 1, 1901, formally ending the First Republic and acknowledging the sovereignty of the US over the Philippines. In all, some 250,000 Filipinos are thought to have been killed.

The islands did not gain their independence until 1946.