Title: Aguinaldo's Navy

Description

The Spanish-American War of 1898, in which the United States wrested Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico from Spain, was one of the first wars to be captured by the motion picture camera. Fighting in the Philippines between Spanish and U.S. forces ended in August 1898. On January 1, 1899, a constitutional convention declared the establishment of a new Philippine Republic, with Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of Philippine resistance to Spanish rule, as president. The United States refused to recognize the new government, and in February 1900 fighting broke out between Aguinaldo’s forces and U.S. troops. The American Mutoscope & Biograph Company sent two expeditions to cover the Philippine Campaign, as the war and its aftermath were called in the company catalog. This film, which was shot on February 18, 1900, shows a large number of Filipino boats on the Pasig River near Manila. Aguinaldo eventually was captured and declared his allegiance to the United States, but sporadic fighting between U.S. and Philippine forces continued until 1913. The Philippines became a commonwealth in 1935 and was granted full independence on July 4, 1946.