Filipinos with anti-Spanish sympathies had fled to Hong Kong since the 1872 Cavite mutiny[1][2][3] as British law protected political refugees.

[5] On December 27, 1897, Aguinaldo and a number of ranking revolutionary officers[b] boarded the steamship Uranus at Sual, Pangasinan on Lingayen Gulf.

"[d] Aguinaldo viewed this as preposterous and suspected that Aratcho had been put up to this by the Spanish Captain General in the Philippines in order to tie their funds up in litigation.

[13][14][15][12] The United States Asiatic Squadron, commanded by George Dewey, having been ordered to Hong Kong by then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, had arrived there on 17 February 1898 and had been directed to prepare for war with Spain.

[15][22][h] The Junta had presumed initially that the Spanish–American War, begun in April, would be confined to the Atlantic Ocean, and that the U.S. squadron would intercept Spanish reinforcements which were sent to the Philippines.

Writing retrospectively in 1899, Aguinaldo claimed that an American naval officer had urged him to return to the Philippines to fight the Spanish and said "The United States is a great and rich nation and needs no colonies.

The consul added that there was no necessity for entering into a formal written agreement because the word of the Admiral and of the United States Consul were in fact equivalent to the most solemn pledge that their verbal promises and assurance would be fulfilled to the letter and were not to be classed with Spanish promises or Spanish ideas of a man’s word of honour.

[30] On April 28 Pratt wrote to United States Secretary of State William R. Day, explaining the details of his meeting with Aguinaldo: At this interview, after learning from General Aguinaldo the state of an object sought to be obtained by the present insurrectionary movement, which, though absent from the Philippines, he was still directing, I took it upon myself, whilst explaining that I had no authority to speak for the Government, to point out the danger of continuing independent action at this stage; and, having convinced him of the expediency of cooperating with our fleet, then at Hongkong, and obtained the assurance of his willingness to proceed thither and confer with Commodore Dewey to that end, should the latter so desire, I telegraphed the Commodore the same day as follows, through our consul-general at Hongkong:--[31] There was no mention in the cablegrams between Pratt and Dewey of independence or indeed of any conditions on which Aguinaldo was to cooperate, these details being left for future arrangement with Dewey.

On June 16, Secretary Day cabled Consul Pratt: "Avoid unauthorized negotiations with the Philippine insurgents," and later on the same day:[32] The Department observes that you informed General Aguinaldo that you had no authority to speak for the United States; and, in the absence of the fuller report which you promise, it is assumed that you did not attempt to commit this Government to any alliance with the Philippine insurgents.

To obtain the unconditional personal assistance of General Aguinaldo in the expedition to Manila was proper, if in so doing he was not induced to form hopes which it might not be practicable to gratify.

In a communication written on July 28, Pratt made the following statement: I declined even to discuss with General Aguinaldo the question of the future policy of the United States with regard to the Philippines, that I held out no hopes to him of any kind, committed the government in no way whatever, and, in the course of our confidences, never acted upon the assumption that the Government would cooperate with him—General Aguinaldo—for the furtherance of any plans of his own, nor that, in accepting his said cooperation, it would consider itself pledged to recognize any political claims which he might put forward.

Aguinaldo was not made to understand that, in consideration of Filipino cooperation, the United States would extend its sovereignty over the Islands, and thus in place of the old Spanish master a new one would step in.

"[34] Aguinaldo wrote retrospectively in 1957 of his interpreter-assisted talk with Pratt in Singapore, "It is possible more than probable that in their transmission through our interpreters, the American Ideas and mine not only suffered curtailments but also acquired elaboration.

"[19][i] After arriving in the Philippines, Aguinaldo immediately announced his intention to establish a dictatorial government with himself as dictator, saying that he would resign in favour of a duly elected president.

This battle eventually liberated Cavite from Spanish colonial control and led to the first raising of the modern flag of the Philippines in victory.

Soon after, Imus and Bacoor in Cavite, Parañaque and Las Piñas in Morong, Macabebe, and San Fernando in Pampanga, as well as Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Bataan, Tayabas (present-day Quezon), and the Camarines provinces, were liberated by the Filipinos.

[36][37][38] Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista wrote the Philippine Declaration of Independence, and read this document in Spanish that day at Aguinaldo's house.

[40][41] After Aguinaldo's departure, a schism developed between junta members close to him, committed to independence, and wealthy and influential early exiles in Hong Kong who desired the annexation of the Philippines by America, or status as a protectorate.

The policy which you will pursue in the United States is the following: Make them understand that whatever may be their intentions towards us, that it is not possible for them to overrule the sentiments of the people represented by the government, and they must first recognize it if we are to come to an agreement.

I have entire confidence in your recognized ability and wisdom which I also knew when we were companions, and I hope you will now pull all your moral courage together, because we will be between tigers and lions.

[48]Aguinaldo also asked those remaining in Hong Kong to work towards an alliance with the United States, with a mandate to negotiate away some Spanish island chains but to accept being an American protectorate only as a last resort.

[51] On 30 August, Aguinaldo sent Agoncillo instructions informing him that U.S. Major General Wesley Merritt was leaving Manila to take part in peace negotiations between the United States and Spain in Paris.

If perchance we should go back to Spanish control, ask them to help us as the French helped them during their own revolution and ask also the terms...I am not yet informed if it is true that our representatives are to be admitted to the Commission; if they should be admitted, go immediately to the place where they will meet, which it is said here will be Paris, September 15, and if among our countrymen there or in London there be one who will agree with the policy of the government, according to your instructions, propose him at once, so that credential [sic] may be sent him.

You can leave all the affairs I have confided to you in the hands of Galicano [Apacible] and Senior Crisanto Lichauco until the Board of Directors (Junta Direativa) shall be established.