After leading the Philippine Revolution (1896–97), Emilio Aguinaldo signed a truce on December 14, 1897, accepting amnesty, 800,000 Spanish pesetas (just over $5,000 in 2023 standards), and the promise of Spanish reform. Exiled in Hong Kong, he returned to Cavite on May 19, 1898, on a U.S. naval vessel. 

On June 12, 1898, Aguinaldo and his followers declared the Philippines an independent state, but the United States refused to recognize the sovereignty of the new republic. Tensions simmered until the Philippine-American War began on February 4, 1899. 

Aguinaldo was eventually captured, and on April 19, 1901, he issued a proclamation to the Filipinos to accept the United States as the new colonial authority. However, guerilla forces fighting in Batangas and Laguna persisted, as did those fighting in the Muslim islands of Mindanao and Sulu. Aguinaldo later collaborated with Japanese forces during World War II and helped them drive the United States out of the Philippines.