The Cause of the Philippine Revolution

Abstract

EARLY HISTORIANS of the Philippine insurrection' against Spain in 1896 attributed the uprising to the tyranny of the Spanish colonial government. American writers in particular did so, and for two reasons. First, they based their works mostly on the writings and propaganda leaflets of the Philippine revolutionaries who, as one might expect, were extremely anti-Spanish. Second, these fitted well with the supposed reason for American intervention. The United States purportedly came to help the Filipinos fight against the despotic colonialism of Spain. These writers were not conscious or zealous apologists. Such respectable historians as W. Cameron Forbes and Joseph Ralston Hayden merely accepted Spanish oppression as a fact without feeling compelled to furnish any proofs. The knightserrant who came forward to defend the Spanish rule in the Philippines did not make matters any better. In their reaction they were just as selective in handling historical facts and just as one-sided. Philippine historians, almost without exception, would admit that there was an atmosphere of relative progress in the islands in the nineteenth century.2 Many reforms were effected. Judging from the country's conditions alone, it would be impossible to understand the political upheaval of 1896. This was still an insurrection, but it was the most widespread since the very beginnings of Spanish rule. In fact, after the initial defeat and with the help of the United States, it became a fully developed revolution.