United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands

United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands Gobierno militar estadounidense de las Islas Filipinas (Spanish)
1898–1902
Flag Great Seal
Motto: "E pluribus unum" (Latin) "Out of many, one"
Anthem: "Hail, Columbia"
Philippines in 1901
Status	Administered territory of the United States
Capital and largest city	Manila
Common languages	Spanish, Tagalog, English, other Languages in the Philippines
Government	Military-occupied transitional government
President
• 1898–1901	William McKinley
• 1901–1902	Theodore Roosevelt
Military Governor
• 1898	Wesley Merritt
• 1898–1900	Elwell S. Otis
• 1900–1901	Arthur MacArthur, Jr.
• 1901–1902	Adna Chaffee (jointly with Civil Governor William Howard Taft)
Legislature	Martial law (1898–1900) Philippine Commission (1900–1902)
History
• Capture of Manila	August 14, 1898
• Treaty of Paris	December 10, 1898
• Insurrection	February 4, 1899
• Capture of Malolos	March 31, 1899
• Taft Commission	March 16, 1900
• Capture of Aguinaldo	March 23, 1901
• Surrender of Malvar	April 16, 1902
• Organic Act enacted	July 1, 1902
Population
• 1898	See below
Currency	Philippine peso
Preceded by Succeeded by Captaincy General of the Philippines Philippine Republic Insular Government of the Philippine Islands
In 1901, a civil governor was appointed, but the military retained authority in disturbed areas. An 1898 census is reported by some sources to have yielded a count of 7,832,719 inhabitants.[1] However, the National Statistics Office of the Philippines reports that no census was conducted in that year.[2] Another well regarded source estimates a population of seven million in 1898.[3]

The United States Military Government of the Philippine Islands (Spanish: Gobierno militar estadounidense de las Islas Filipinas; Tagalog: Pamahalaang Militar ng Estados Unidos sa Kapuluang Pilipinas) was a military government in the Philippines established by the United States on August 14, 1898, a day after the capture of Manila, with General Wesley Merritt acting as military governor.^[4] General Merrit established this military government by proclamation on August 14, 1898.^[5]

During military rule (1898–1902), the U.S. military commander governed the Philippines under the authority of the U.S. president as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces. After the appointment of a civil Governor-General, the procedure developed that as parts of the country were pacified and placed firmly under American control, responsibility for the area would be passed to the civilian.

General Merritt was succeeded by General Elwell S. Otis as military governor, who in turn was succeeded by General Arthur MacArthur. Major General Adna Chaffee was the final military governor. The position of military governor was abolished in July 1902, after which the civilian office Governor-General became the sole executive authority in the Philippines.^[6][7]

Under the military government, initially with soldiers as teachers;^[8] civil and criminal courts were reestablished, including a supreme court;^[9] and local governments were established in towns and provinces. The first local election was conducted by General Harold W. Lawton on May 7, 1899, in Baliuag, Bulacan.^[10]