"Marked Severities": The Debate over Torture during America's Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1902

• Published in: Amerikastudien 2006-01, Vol.51 (4), p.475-498
• Main Author: Schumacher, Frank
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Armies; Guerrilla warfare; Laws of war; Military history; Military operations; Political debate; Soldiers; Torture; United States history; War
• ISSN: 0340-2827

This essay examines the American debate over torture by U.S. soldiers during the Philippine-American War. The bitter home-front controversy about the violation of the laws of war during the military conquest of the Philippine Islands began in 1900 and reached its climax during a congressional investigation in the spring of 1902. Prompted by the investigative work of a small group of journalists, military dissenters, and empire critics, the hearings revealed that U.S. troops had systematically employed so-called 'water cure' torture as an interrogation technique during counterinsurgency operations against the Filipino independence movement. Although prohibited by the army's field regulations, the torture of prisoners and suspected guerillas was widespread and fostered by deep-seated racism, the escalatory nature of warfare, the deregulation of control over military operations, and a strong sense of frustration and alienation experienced by American soldiers during the campaign. Although the disclosure of the torture cases prompted a national outcry and substantial military dissent, perpetrators were rarely prosecuted and often received only symbolic sentencing. The war critics ultimately failed to sustain the debate's anti-imperial momentum and public outrage was soon contained by a mixture of patriotic nationalism, emotional fatigue, and the belief in the nation's exceptional moral superiority.