Aguinaldo
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
EMILIO, a leader of A 1 reled with his associates in Hong Kong over the division of this money, and went to Singapore, where he came in contact with the United States consul, shortly before the breaking out of the war between the United States and Spain. On the representations of the consul Commodore Dewey telegraphed to have Aguinaldo sent to him. Aguinaldo was given opportunity to organize the Filipinos against the Spanish authority; but no promises were made to him and the insurgents were never officially recognized by the Americans. Friction early and the Americans protested tested arose against the cruel treatment of Spanish prisoners by the Filipinos. The strain became serious at the capture of Manila, the insurgents claiming the right to sack the city, which the Americans denied. On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo organized a so-called Filipino Republic, with himself as president, but very soon proclaimed himself dictator. He protested against the Spanish-American treaty of peace, which ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States, and claimed the independence of the islands. He organized an extensive conspiracy among the native population of Manila, and ordered the complete massacre of the Americans, together with the entire European population. The plot was discovered in time and failed. On Feb. 4, 1899, his forces attacked the American lines in the suburbs of Manila. The news of this overt action caused the prompt ratification of the Spanish-American treaty by the United States Senate. Aguinaldo made a determined resistance to the Americans, but early in 1900 the organized insurrection was broken up, Aguinaldo driven into hiding by General Funston, who also captured the rebel himself in March, 1901. Aguinaldo then declared his allegiance to the American flag.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 Aguinaldo was a defeated rebel of 52 who had "declared his allegiance to the American flag" — and the entry treats him as a brigand who supposedly ordered the massacre of Manila's Americans and Europeans, a charge modern historians do not accept. He lived another forty-three years, ran for president of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935 (losing heavily to Manuel Quezon), cooperated with the Japanese occupiers in 1942, and was briefly detained for it after 1945 before being pardoned; he died in 1964 at 94, having seen the islands become independent on 4 July 1946. The Philippines now honours him as its first president, and in 1962 President Macapagal moved Independence Day to 12 June — the very 1898 proclamation Collier's calls a "so-called Filipino Republic." The war Collier's dismisses in a sentence is today studied as the Philippine-American War, with civilian death tolls estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
Written for this edition, 2026.