Post Spanish-American War American Imperial Expansion in the Philippines and Caribbean Stereoview Archive, 1898-1900

Philippines US Military Expansion

Photograph

Stereoview archive documenting the rapid overseas deployment of American troops at the moment the Spanish American War gave way to a longer and more revealing imperial presence in the Philippines. This archive marks the transition from the 1898 defeat of Spain to the far more sustained American military occupation that followed. After the U.S. victory over Spain, the Treaty of Paris transferred the Philippines to the United States for $20 million. This resulted in a battle between American forces and Filipino nationalists under Emilio Aguinaldo in February 1899, when Filipino hopes for independence collided with the reality of a new colonial ruler. This collection of photos preserves the process of colonialism through troop deployment, provisioning, medical treatment, and the routines of military presence.
Archive of 19 stereoview cards, most published by B. W. Kilburn and James M. Davis, centered on American military activity in the Philippines, with additional views from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the United States. Each measure 3.5" x 7". The core of the images remain in Philippine occupation; “The 17th Infantry crossing the river, P.I.” shows movement through tropical terrain; “Our Volunteers awaiting orders under the tropical sun in the Philippines” captures the idleness and bodily strain of expeditionary service; “2nd Division Hospital established in Angeles Church, P.I.” reveals improvised medical infrastructure inside a colonial religious building; “Dealing out pork and beans to the Oregon Volunteers, P.I.” appears in multiple variants and preserves the logistics of feeding American troops in camp; and “The Insurgent House of Congress on Fire, Malolos, P.I.” places the war directly in relation to the destruction of Filipino political institutions. The remaining cards broaden that story outward: “Troop D, 5th U.S. Cavalry lining up for dinner, Mayaguez, P.R.” points to U.S. military operations in Puerto Rico; “Modern Krupp Gun, Morro Castle, Havana, Cuba” preserves the Spanish imperial military landscape at Havana just as U.S. power displaced it; and the exhibition drill cards, including “The Little Commodore,” Boston, ’98 and “Grand Stand, Exhibition Drill, Boston, ’98,” connect the overseas war to patriotic spectacle and military display at home. Stereographs were a common late nineteenth century format for circulating military imagery and was used to render mobilization and drill into mass-viewed visual media.
Minor toning, edge wear, and rubbing; images and printed captions remain legible; overall very good condition. This collection preserves the American campaign in the Philippines not as abstract policy but as a contemporary visual record of how troops were deployed, housed, fed, and sustained while the United States transformed victory over Spain into colonial rule in the Pacific.

Item #23170

Price: $550.00