We'll break it down nice and simple for you: the Spooner Amendment was to the Philippines what the Platt Amendment was to Cuba.

In other words, the Spooner Amendment turned control of the Philippines over to America (it used to be Spain's, just like Cuba). The Platt Amendment didn't give America full control of Cuba thanks to the Teller Amendment, but the Spooner Amendment did give full control of the Philippines.

And many, if not all, Filipinos were not happy about that.

But wait, wasn't America going through a whole anti-imperialism thing at home? Weren't people upset that the U.S. was grabbing colonies just like the Europe of old?

Yes. Any many people hated the Spooner Amendment.

But check out this clever trick: Republicans in Congress (who wanted Spooner to pass) put the amendment within a much bigger bill going through the legislature called the Army Appropriation Bill. This bill had to do with giving money to the army for wartime actions, and let's face it: no one in Congress was going to deny the army money during war—that would be political suicide.

So just like that, the Spooner Amendment was passed and America took control of the Philippines. Maybe many in Congress felt like the Platt Amendment hadn't gone far enough with Cuba, and this was vengeance? Hmm…