expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in February . Following this, Spain ruled the Philippines for over years, imposing its language, culture and religion on the local population. Nationalism developed among the Filipinos earlier than elsewhere. The brutal way by which the Cavite uprising ( January ), involving Filipino troops and workers at the Cavite arsenal, was crushed served to promote the nationalist cause.
A number of Filipino intellectuals were arrested and after a brief trial, three priests (Jose Burgos, Jacinto Zamora, and Mariano Gomez) were publicly executed and became martyrs. Spanish–American war The dispute between America and Spain arising out of America’s interest in Cuba snowballed into the Spanish–American war. In view of the mounting pressure building up internally, Spain had already decided to grant Cuba limited powers of self-government. But the U.S.
Congress demanded the withdrawal of Spain’s armed forces forthwith from the island. The Congress authorised the use of force to secure that withdrawal. As Spain dodged, the U.S. declared war on April .
Spain had readied neither its army nor its navy for a distant war with the formidable power of the United States. So it was an easy victory for the US. By the Treaty of Paris (signed on December ), Spain renounced all claim to Cuba, ceded Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States, and transferred sovereignty over the Philippines to the United States. Aguinaldo and other Cavite rebels, while fighting Spanish army, won major victories in many battles, driving Spanish out.
On May , , Aguinaldo gathered a force of about , troops and fought against a small Spanish garrison in Alapan, Imus, Cavite. After the victory at Alapan, Aguinaldo unfurled the Philippine flag for the first time, and hoisted it at the Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Nuevo (present-day Cavite City) in front of Filipino revolutionaries and more than captured Spanish troops. Emilio Aguinaldo was elected the first president of the new republic with the proclamation of Malolos Constitution. The Philippine Republic endured until the capture of Emilio Aguinaldo by the American forces on March ,