The Philippines started campaigning for independence right when the Spanish conquistadors arrived on their shores. The Spanish brought along priests and missionaries to convert the natives to Catholicism. "Opposition to Spanish rule began among Filipino priests, who resented Spanish domination of the Roman Catholic churches in the islands" (Philippine Independence Declared, para. 2). Soon, the rest of the natives joined in to liberate themselves from Spain.
They did free themselves from being a colony of Spain, unfortunately they were still under foreign rule. After hearing the outcome of the Spanish-American War, the Filipinos found out that now they were under control of the United States. |