“Kill Every One Over Ten:” The Burning of Samar and the Balangiga Massacre
January 5th, 2007
Kill Every One Over Ten— Gen. Jacob H. Smith
Criminals Because They Were Born Ten Years Before We Took the Philippines.
New York Evening Journal, May 5, 1902
This editorial cartoon, from the May 5, 1902 New York Evening Journal, was drawn in protest of the burning of Samar, in late 1901, during the American occupation of the Philippines. News of the campaign eventually reached the United States, and the commander, General Jake Howling
Smith, faced a court martial in May 1902, on charges of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline
. During the trial it was revealed that Smith had ordered his soldiers to shoot anyone over the age of ten who had not surrendered, as potential enemy combatants. Smith, found guilty, was given a verbal reprimand and retired without further punishment.
