The Philippine Insular Government (Spanish: Gobierno de las Islas Filipinas) was an unincorporated territory of the United States that was established on April 11, 1899 upon ratification of the 1898 Treaty of Paris. It was reorganized in 1935 in preparation for later independence. The Insular Government was preceded by the Military Government of the Philippine Islands and was followed by the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
The Philippines were acquired from Spain by the United States in 1898 following the Spanish–American War. Resistance led to the Philippine–American War, in which the United States suppressed the nascent First Philippine Republic. In 1902, the United States Congress passed the Philippine Organic Act, which organized the government and served as its basic law. This act provided for a governor-general appointed by the president of the United States, as well as a bicameral Philippine Legislature with the appointed Philippine Commission as the upper house and a fully elected, fully Filipino elected lower house, the Philippine Assembly. The Internal Revenue Law of 1904 provided for general internal revenue taxes, documentary taxes and transfer of livestock. A wide variety of revenue stamps were issued in denominations ranging from one centavo to 20,000 pesos.