The Philippine-American War Documents

Treaties and Proclamations
Related to the Philippine-American War

Protocol of Peace, August 12, 1898
A truce signed in Washington, D.C. on August 12, 1898, between the United States and Spain ordering the ending of hostilities of the Spanish-American War of 1898. Signing on behalf of Spain was France's Ambassador to the U.S. Jules Martin Cambon and U.S. Secretary of State William R. Day.
Significant feature:
- Defined the right of the United States to "occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace [Treaty of Paris, later on] which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the Philippines."
Treaty of Peace (in Paris), December 10, 1898
A treaty signed in Paris, France on December 10, 1898 between the United States and Spain, formally completing the "unfinished business" of Peace Protocol.
Significant features:
- Acknowledged the insurrections of Cuba and the Philippines [directed toward Spain].
- Transfer of sovereignty of the ceded territories from Spain to the United States.
- Provided for ratification of the treaty by both Spain and the U.S. and subsequent exchange of ratified treaties.
- Spain "sold" the Philippines to the United States for $20 million.
Bates-Sultan of Jolo (Sulu) Treaty, August 20, 1898
A treaty signed in Jolo, Philippines on August, 20, 1899 between the United States' General John Bates and the Sultan of Jolo, Hadji Mohammed Jamalol Kiram II.
Significant features:
- Declared the Archipelago of Jolo as a territory separate from the Philippine Islands; recognizes the quasi-government status of the Sultanate.
- The treaty tolerated slavery in the Archipelago of Jolo.
- Recognizes the "consent of the governed" principle in the event of transfer of sovereignty by virtue of sale of the archipelago to any foreign power.

Proclamations and Manifestos

Date	Title of Document
Dec 1898	Agoncillo's Protest Statement Against the Treaty of Paris
Dec 21, 1898	President William McKinley's "Benevolent Assimilation" Proclamation
Jan 04, 1899	General Otis' Proclamation Claiming U.S. Sovereignty Over the Philippines
Jan 05, 1899	Aguinaldo's Manifesto Protesting the United States' Claim of Sovereignty Over the Philippines
Jan 24, 1899	Agoncillo's Memorial to the U.S. Senate not to Vote for the Treaty of Paris, Addressed to the U.S. Secretary of State
Feb 05, 1899	Aguinaldo's Manifesto Recognizing the Opening of Hostilities
May 05, 1899	U.S. Offer of Autonomy [that Divided the Filipino Nationalists]
Jun 02, 1899	Pedro Paterno's Proclamation of War
Jun 12, 1899	Aguinaldo's Manifesto Reminding the Filipino People on the Importance of the Independence Struggle
Apr 19, 1901	Aguinaldo's Proclamation of Formal Surrender
Jul 04, 1902	President Theodore Roosevelt's Proclamation Formally Ending the Philippine "Insurrection" and Granting of Pardon/Amnesty

Selected Bibliography

Kalaw, Teodoro M., The Philippine Revolution , Jorge B. Vargas Filipiniana Foundation, Mandaluyong, Rizal, 1969
Foreman, John, The Philippine Islands , Charles Scribners Sons, New York, 1906

Philippine-American War Centennial Initiative (PAWCI)
P.O. Box 8338
Fremont, CA, USA 94537-8338
E-mail: PAWCI@home.com

Source of Treaty Texts: The Statutes At Large of the United States of America from March 1897 to March 1899 and Recent Treaties, Conventions, Executive Proclamations, and The Concurrent Resolutions of the Two Houses of Congress, Volume XXX, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office, 1899. Copy courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress, Asian Division.

Document copy researched by Madge Kho of Somerville, MA