Although the United States achieved victory in the Spanish-American War, gaining new territory and establishing itself as an imperial power, it soon found itself engaged in another conflict as The Philippines began to rebel against its new American rulers. After a historic naval victory during the Spanish-American War, American Commodore George Dewey had aided the Filipinos and encouraged them to rise up against their Spanish rulers. As a direct result, General Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 and established the first known Asian republic with a democratic constitution. However, as part of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, the US obtained ownership of the Philippines. Shortly after President McKinley made it clear that the Philippines would not be granted independence, fighting broke out, and the subsequent war would cost the lives of over 4,000 American troops, 20,000 Filipino soldiers, and 500,000 Filipino civilians. After suffering several defeats, the Filipinos resorted to guerilla warfare under the leadership of General Vincente Lukban. After the infamous "Balangiga Massacre," the Americans intensified their campaign and eventually brought about the surrender of Lukban on April 16, 1902.Even after the war was officially over, Americans continued to fight the Muslim Moros in the south until 1913. As time progressed, the Filipinos continued to seek independence, which was eventually established in 1935 with the Commonwealth of the Philippines.per website: http://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_philippineinsurrection.htm