In 1892, Andrés Bonifacio founded the Katipunan in Manila after uniting urban clerks and artisans to resist the Spanish. By late August 1896, thousands of men and women were ready to revolt against Spain. When an informer tipped off the Spanish about the Katipunan, the rebellion began. By early 1897, however, the Philippine Revolution had fallen apart because of divisions within the Katipunan. 

Although the Tejeros Convention held on March 22, 1897, aimed to unite the factions, ultimately Emilio Aguinaldo unseated Bonifacio, and his followers voted to replace the Katipunan with a Revolutionary Government. Bonifacio was executed on May 10, 

1897. Later that year, Aguinaldo and his supporters retreated from Cavite Province to the remote location of Biak-na-Bato in Bulacan Province. There, Aguinaldo signed a truce with the Spanish in which he accepted amnesty, 800,000 Spanish pesetas, and the promise of Spanish reform. Here, Aguinaldo poses with his supporters during his exile in Hong Kong (1897–98).