The resistance by Filipinos to American occupation contributed to the outbreak of which conflict?

• A. Spanish-American War
• B. Filipino-American War
• C. World War I
• D. Philippine Civil War

Answer: (B)

When a people seeks self-rule after colonial rule, resistance to occupy forces can ignite a full-scale war. After Spain was defeated in the Spanish-American War, the United States took control of the Philippines. Filipino leaders had hoped for independence, not a continuation of foreign rule, and when the U.S. insisted on governing the islands, organized resistance emerged. This tension quickly escalated into armed fighting between Filipino revolutionary forces and American troops, beginning around 1899. That conflict is the Philippine-American War. The other choices don’t fit because the Spanish-American War happened earlier and involved Spain and the United States, World War I was a global conflict not sparked by Filipino resistance, and the term Philippine Civil War doesn’t capture the specific war of resistance against American occupation in this context.