When a territory is annexed it means to take it by occupation or conquest. The Philippines wanted to have their own form of government, not one imposed on them by the United States. This was classical imperialism, that is, a country goes into another country and tells them that they (the foreign country) can rule the country better than the people that live there. So the Philippines told the U.S. to stay out, that they could rule their own country. So the U.S. sent 70,000 troops there, and when it was over the U.S. had lost 4,000 troops and spent $25 million to conquer and occupy the Philippines. After all, it was part of the American Empire.