Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903 (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The question of American imperialism has been subject to agonizing debate ever since the United States acquired a formal empire at the end of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: imperialist editors, imperialist press, war critics, United States, New York, San Francisco (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300030819
• ISBN-13: 978-0300030815
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,428 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suberb history of a forgotten war, July 27, 2000

By	Ironmike (California) - See all my reviews

An excellent telling of a period that most Americans and Filipinos know little or nothing about. With America's new ownership of the Philippines, we were drawn into a second conflict once the Spanish were routed. The insurrectionist movement against America brought about a bloody and savage war that cost tens of thousands of lives. The third phase was the attempt to subdue the Moros, some of the toughest and most fearless warriors on the planet. The troops involved thought they would only be fighting Spanish regulars and then sent home. Rather, many spent years fighting in jungles and swamps against a clever and determined foe, and many were then shipped off to fight the Boxer's in China in 1900, only to be returned to battle the often fiendish inhabitants of places like Sibago Island, Jolo and Samar. A classic account and ranks with "Muddy Glory" and "Little Brown Brother" to name but a couple. There isn't much written about this conflict, but the information is out there. These lessons should have taught America about getting involved in smaller nations affairs.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good one-volume account of a forgotten "war"., December 24, 1999

By	steven j forsberg (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

Though well known to professional historians, the US fight against the Filipino "insurrectionists" at the turn of the century remains a blank spot to most Americans. There are some very good reasons for this. Most people don't like to be reminded that the US was an openly racist major power more interested in trade than in freeing the natives of the Philippines. It is disturbing to read about American heros like Teddy Roosevelt denigrating the "niggers" who inhabited the island, and soft-pedalling widespread torture by the US military (most notably the rather nasty 'water cure'). It is also interesting to read how many people did not value the islands that much themselves, but felt that they were needed to be our springboard to the China trade -- which was going to make everyone rich, of course! It took the Japanese empire at its worst to make the US look like a friend to many Filipinos, and this book tells why.

21 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The lesson that should have kept us out of Vietnam., April 12, 2000

By	Damon Jasperson (Overland Park, Kansas) - See all my reviews

Stuart Miller's book is an excellent study in the political turmoil and subterfuges involved in the transition of America into an imperialist power. The book is not really a military history; the military aspects are secondary to Miller's coverage of how Americans justified, reacted to, and lied about our subjugation of the Philippines. It is a very sobering history of the river of lies poured out by the military, especially General Otis, and the administration of William McKinley. This is also a study in racism; how allegedly "superior" Anglo-Saxons needed to "civilize" and "Christianize" the Filipinos, many of whom were Catholic. Overall, this book is a good primer about a shocking and somewhat vile episode in American history. High School history teachers in particular should read this book and include it in their lessons about the outcome of our "splendid little war" with Spain. It is a sad truth that as a result of this conflict, America did not seem to learn anything about the nature of guerilla warfare with a people fighting to be free of foreign control. Our failure to profit from this episode helped propel us into another such quagmire in Vietnam, a nation not too far from the site of our earlier fiasco in the Philippines.