The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection (1899–1902), was an armed conflict between the United States and Filipino revolutionaries. The conflict arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following annexation by the United States. The war was part of a series of conflicts in the Philippine struggle for independence, preceded by the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish–American War. Fighting erupted between U.S. and Filipino revolutionary forces on February 4, 1899, and quickly escalated into the 1899 Battle of Manila. On June 2, 1899, the First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States. The war officially ended on July 4, 1902. However, members of the Katipunan society continued to battle the American forces. Among them was General Macario Sacay, a veteran Katipunan member who assumed the presidency of the proclaimed Tagalog Republic, formed in 1902 after the capture of President Aguinaldo. Other groups, including the Moro people and Pulahanes, continued hostilities until their defeat at the Battle of Bud Bagsak on June 15, 1913. Opposition to the war inspired the founding of the Anti-Imperialist League on June 15, 1898. The war and occupation by the United States would change the cultural landscape of the islands, as the people dealt with an estimated 34,000–1,000,000 casualties, disestablishment of the Catholic Church as the Philippine state religion (as the United States allowed freedom of religion), and the introduction of the English language as the primary language of government and most businesses. In 1916, the United States promised some self-government, a limited form of which came in 1935. In 1946, following World War II, the United States gave the territory independence through the Treaty of Manila.

A Spanish American is a citizen or resident of the United States whose ancestors originate from the southwestern European nation of Spain. Spanish Americans are the earliest European American group, with a continuous presence since 1565.

In colonial times there were a number of Spanish populations in the present–day U.S. with governments answerable to Madrid. The first settlement was in St. Augustine, Florida, followed by others in New Mexico, California, Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana. In 1598, San Juan de los Caballeros was established, near present day Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Juan de Oñate and about 1,000 other Spaniards. After the establishment of the American colonies, an additional 250,000 immigrants arrived either directly from Spain, the Canary Islands or, after a relatively short sojourn, from present-day central Mexico. The Canary Islanders settled San Antonio de Bejar, San Antonio, Texas, in 1731.^{[citation needed]} Most of the Spanish settlers in present-day Texas, California, New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona were of ethnically-mixed ancestry, or mestizo. Most self-identified Spanish-Americans in the Southwest differentiate themselves nominally from the population of Mexican-Americans who came after the Mexican Revolution.

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy (March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation.

Aguinaldo became the Philippines' first President. He was also the youngest (at age 29) to have become the country's president, the longest-lived president (having survived to age 94) and the president to have outlived the most number of successors.

Emilio, nicknamed Miong was born on March 22, 1869 at Cavite El Viejo (now Kawit). The seventh of the eight children of Kapitan Carlos Aguinaldo y Jamir and Kapitana Trinidad Famy y Valero.

He was the seventh of eight children. His parents were of Chinese and Tagalog descent. His father, Carlos, died when Aguinaldo was just nine years old. After graduating from the University of Santo Thomas and at the San Juan de Letran College in Manila, Aguinaldo returned home to Kawit, where he developed a growing awareness of Filipino frustration with Spanish colonial rule.