From Four Nodes of History: The Human Rights Challenge in the Philippine Security Sector Spain was already beaten and ready to surrender to the Filipino revolutionaries as early as May 1, 1898 after the Battle of Manila Bay, but annexationists needed time to organize, train and deploy troops to Spain’s strategic colonies. A sizeable force was needed to accept the formal surrender and replace the Spanish troops still holding parts of Manila. A much greater force was needed to subjugate the new independent republic. It was impressed upon the mass of US volunteers that they would fight Spanish tyranny. After reaching the Philippines, they would be told that the enemy were Filipino freedom fighters. 9. How did the Annexationists manipulate the events leading to the Spanish-American War? Howard K. Beale in his biography of the president, “Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power,” wrote about this episode (as also noted by William P. Meyers): 8; 9 Roosevelt, unable to persuade McKinley to go to war, used his position as Assistant Secretary of 50 Grim public tidings: 3 Moro ‘rebels’ executed by US authorities in Jolo. (c) Public domain the Navy to prepare for war anyway. On February 25, 1898, Secretary John Long took a day off and “Roosevelt became Acting Secretary for three or four hours.” He quickly executed a number of preplanned measures. He sent instructions to George Dewey and bought coal in the Far East. He ordered ammunition, moved vessels around, and even asked Congress for legislation. John Long “never left Roosevelt in charge again even for part of a day. Yet apparently he did not withdraw the orders to Dewey. [68-69]