Date of Award

12-2025

Language

English

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History

Advisor/Committee Chair

David Hochfelder

Committee Member

Michitake Aso

Abstract

In March of 1906, American troops massacred over 1,000 Filipino civilians on Bud Dajo mountain. American service members were commended for this incident. My research examines this massacre to ask why wars of insurgency are specifically subject to abuses of power, particularly during the American-Philippines War and the ensuing colonial warfare between 1898 and 1906 under the colonization of the US. My research will focus on the circumstances created to excuse US soldiers after atrocities were committed and the colonial attitudes of the time in addition to the brutal methods used by the American government in Philippines. American colonial administrators and soldiers dehumanized the Filipino population by devaluing their culture, religion, and existing political institutions. I conclude by showing how the American occupation of the Philippines set the model for future wars of insurgency like the Vietnam War.

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