Domestic Pressure

For weeks the Anti-Imperialist League has been putting pressure on the government, at times clashing heads with several military officials who tried to hide, what the League called, the 'inhumane' actions of the soldiers.

The war got more brutal as it went on. Frustration among the American soldiers mounted in every island where the Filipinos haven't surrendered yet. The more they pushed the Filipinos back to the mountains, the slower their advance got alongside more casualties caused by the various traps laid out almost everywhere.

Many young Americans came home severely injured, and psychologically scarred, or in a coffin due to the gory battlefields of the Philippines. Many journalists connected with the League chased after these survivors to get their stories and have them published in newspapers.

The military, and the government meanwhile is also fighting back by putting pressure on several newspaper companies to stop them from printing articles related to the war, or by watering down the details about the many battles that have taken place.

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Letters, and stories from the war in the Philippines have made it's way to the United States. A handful of them becoming national headlines with the help of the League, while the rest are either buried under many other stories, or spread only in a few cities across the nation.

The Fall of Caloocan and Bulacan, The Surrender of Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas, and The Basilan Massacre are some of the few stories that managed to get published in major American newspapers. It's a mixed bag of positive and negative news where it showed continued American victory over the insurrectionists, and the brutality of the war against the natives. It is still unknown how these pieces managed to avoid scrutiny from the government, but it greatly helped the League's cause.

According to letters from soldiers, and accounts from journalists The Fall of Caloocan and Bulacan was a victory for the Americans, but is was also disaster. It was there that the Americans realized how prepared the Filipinos were.

Traps and obstacles became frequent as they moved further north. These contraptions helped the Filipinos halt the American advance while dealing a lot of casualties. It is evident that these are well thought-out and prepared months in advance.

This realization effectively slowed the Americans to a halt while the Filipinos raced north without any issues. According to the soldiers that overheard the discussion of their commanding officers, they are expecting more of the same obstacles and are worried that more soldiers will get wounded or killed. They don't really have a choice as their objective is to capture Emilio Aguinaldo and his generals to finally end this war.

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The Surrender of Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas immediately followed the fall of the areas comprising most of what is now known as Metro Manila. This allowed the Americans to enter the province then known as Tayabas, part of modern Quezon province bordering Laguna, Batangas, and Camarines Norte.

Here they encountered the forces under General Miguel Malvar, who had fled to the province as soon as the Americans neared Las Piñas, and Muntinlupa. His forces marched near the Laguna de Bay to avoid encountering any American force who might already be in Cavite, or Laguna.

The Pacification of Tayabas, the longest campaign in Luzon. It took the Americans over a month before dislodging, or forcing the Filipino guerilla fighters to surrender. The tactics were seen as brutal as the Americans used scorched-earth tactics to deny the guerillas any form of support, and make them see that continued resistance will only serve to lengthen the suffering of their countrymen.

The campaign left the province devastated, all of the structures were burned, or destroyed. Farmlands, cattle, and even a portion of the jungle weren't spared. The inhabitants greatly suffered as they lost everything.

After this event got mysteriously published, unvarnished, throughout the United States, the negative effects of U.S expansionism in the Far East to the peoples inhabiting the islands became apparent. Critics say that rather than civilizing the natives, the administration was instead subjugating them.

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In the Legislative chamber, debates raged about how the situation in the Philippine Islands should be dealt with. The Insurrection in the islands is taking a toll on the young soldiers being sent to the front lines. There is also the issue of Europe who has been monitoring the situation and publishing the events in the islands as a war instead of an insurrection.

The Japanese is also a topic in the debates as there had been numerous sightings of Japanese people fighting alongside the Insurrectionists, and numerous Japanese rifles being confiscated all over the archipelago. Although everything is still circumstantial, but it is believed that Japan might be as interested as the Europeans in taking the islands.

But the biggest question the chamber had is what to do about the Insurrection. The increasing influence of the Anti-Imperialist League has put pressure on pro-expansionist senators, and congressmen. Public support for expansionism has decreased to the point that pursuing the policy could cost some senators, and congressmen their re-elections.

Anti-Annexation members of Capitol Hill had the opinion that annexing the Philippine Islands was a mistake and they should have demanded Spain recognize the independence of the islands. This way, the United States could have cemented it's reputation as liberator, not an oppressor, which they accused the Pro-Annexation members of being one.

It is reported that American casualties has already far surpassed the numbers from their war with Spain and it is clear that the fighting in the islands won't stop anytime soon.

Congress grilled ranking members of the military both by failing to end the fighting sooner, and by the huge number of losses the supposed 'insurrectionists' inflicted on their side. During the deliberations, evidence suggests that the fighting is costing the government a lot.

Pro-Annexation businessmen argued that the economic benefits the United States will get will outweigh the costs it had incurred putting down the insurrectionists. Getting a chunk of the Chinese market will be easier once they get a foothold in the islands.

Anti-Annexation members argued that this can also be achieved through a treaty with the natives. They could buy land near the sea and build a port which could used for trade. The United States could still access China without subjugating the natives.

A counter argument to the port suggestion is that a single port will limit trade potential rival countries can easily block the port if they wish, there is also the risk of the natives attacking or raiding the port. Security will be an issue as the nearest other U.S territory would be Guam which is more than one thousand miles away.

Senators and Congressmen countered the statement by asking what is the navy for if they cannot sail that distance to defend the port. They also argued that they could build a military base near the port if security is an issue, it will also be much cheaper than running a new territory roughly around size as the State of Montana in terms of land area.

A lot more debates, and arguments are laid out for the next couple of weeks. It is noted that as the weeks went by, the debates slowly tipped in favor of the anti-expansionists. The clearest reason seems to be the swaying of public opinion courtesy of the Anti-Imperialist League.

By the end, members of Capitol Hill submitted a resolution calling for the executive to cease their actions in the Islands and call for a ceasefire between the United States, and the Philippine Insurrectionists.