Philippine American Imperialism

Change in American government was imperative in expanding the nation. It is ludicrous to believe that as other nations were growing, America would just sit back and watch. Governmental involvement made "the Philippines ours forever" (Document 1). The United States' plan was to take the Philippines, educate, uplift, and civilize them (Document 2). Such a "noble deed" seemed to benefit both the filipinos and americans. During this time, as mentioned in document eight, "we had duties to others and duties to ourselves". Government's changing role made these relationships available to the

Imperialism is the policy of extending the role of authority of a nation over a foreign country, usually in material gain. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United States went through an era of imperialism. At the time, the US was quite powerful, but was looking to continue to spread their territory, make themselves even stronger, and have multiple trade routes to have all the resources they needed and wanted.

Imperialism is when stronger nations take over weaker nations. As a matter of fact, one example of Imperialism is the Scramble for Africa, which happened during the 19th Century. The Scramble for Africa is when European nations all wanted a piece of Africa which they were incredibly rich and raw materials. For example, African countries had Gold, diamonds, coal, oil, and so much more. There are many factors that play into the development of Imperialism, but which one played the largest role.

Imperialism is when a larger, more powerful nation takes control of smaller, weaker nations. The American idea is for freedom. As a nation the United States promotes the freedom of itself and other countries. America once fought for the freedom from a larger, more powerful nation, so why would the government want to go back on what this country was started on, which was freedom.

Imperialism- a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

1899 marked the year when America set its sites from the Spanish to the First Philippine Republic plunging American into yet another war ending with the temporary annexation of the Philippine Islands spreading American imperialism to the Far East. Within one year of winning their independence from

Professor Walter Nugent, of “California and New Mexico, 1846-1848: Southward Aggression II,” argues that the Mexican War was indeed an exercise of American imperialism. Throughout his presidency, James K. Polk made a promise to the American people to honor Manifest Destiny, expanding the territory of the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Polk was blinded by his tunnel vision, and was more than willing to pay the cost of thousands of Mexican lives (over twice as many as Americans) in pursuit of his goal. The Mexican government was weak, so, Polk took advantage by sending representatives to monitor, what he considered, the borders between their nations. Polk was aware that this would manipulate the Mexican government to strike, spilling ‘American blood on American soil’. This action resulted in support from Congress to declare war; although, many voted in favor out of fear of being considered unpatriotic. Alternatively, many voted in favor of war in order to expand the amount of representatives opposed to slavery. Polk was not considered a strong nor wise ruler, Isaiah Berlin contends that Polk was “a hedgehog, not a fox,” he explains, “Jefferson, FDR, and Bill Clinton were foxes. Jackson, Polk, and George W. Bush were hedgehogs. Whereas a fox has many ideas… hedgehogs, like Polk, have one.” For those reasons, the Mexican war was an unjust war, and a result of American imperialism.

Imperialism is a policy that has positively impacted nations and their development for centuries. This was especially true during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many European nations began to expand far beyond their borders. Imperialistic policies were not only good for the development of countries that were expanding, but in many cases, the countries that were being expanded into as well.

The bald red, white, and blue eagle of American Democracy is coming for you Phillipines, run while you can! Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was so infatuated with the idea of democracy, and he wanted every country to have a little taste of American freedom! After America's victory in the Spanish American War, George Dewey and his 11,000 American troops marched into manila and were unsure whether to liberate or occupy the filipino people. Thinking the they were here to help, the Filipino rebels trusted the Americans, but were soon betrayed as Dewey decided to occupy the land. The United States had three choices to determine what they wanted to do with the Philippines: Give it back to Spain, Give the filipino people their freedom, or to annex the whole country itself. With much debate ranging from artists, influential citizens, and government officials, the US ultimately decided it would annex! The United States should not have annexed the Philippines but rather should have given them their independence. While others may think the annexation of the Philippines would have benefited them, what the Philippines really needed was

Imperialism is the domination of a weaker country by a stronger country. For instance Britain dominated India and China in the mid 1880s to the beginning of the 20th century. Imperialism has had both a positive and negative effects on the countries involved. Britain was imperialistic for many reasons, it could dominate because it had the technology and power to do so. They also needed land to acquire raw materials for growing markets.

Also the UNited states helped the Philippines when the Japanese occupied the Philippines. The negative effects on the Philippines were a war, and the philippines were left without a strong leader and suffered economically. Filipinos wanted imperialism removed so the Americans and the Philippines fought a war from 1899 to 1902.. The Americans won but they decided to help the Philippines become an independent nation. On July 4 1946 the Philippines became an independent nation.

The Philippines was a country ruled by dictator Ferdinand Marcos from 1917-1989 (Kenney 78). Many things could have happened to prevent Marcos from continuing his rule. These included strong guerrilla forces that were trying to

This thus shows the violence of the Colonial masters while the colonized nation was fighting for independence. Moreover, the colonial master’s use of force to control and exert power further adds to the violence in the struggle for independence during the process of decolonization. Finally, during the Spanish-American war of 1898, the US obtained Aguinaldo’s cooperation in the battle again the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay in return for Philippines’ independence. However, one the conflict ended and Spain was defeated, the US annexed Philippines in the Treaty of Paris and this was met with much unhappiness in the Philippines as the Philippines did not want to be colonized yet again and wanted independence. As such, a war between the revolutionaries and the Americans ensued, with the revolutionaries crushed by the US forces and Aguinaldo arrested, asserting American authority and power over the Philippines. As such, it may be seen that the colonial powers used violence to assert and reinforce their power, thus making the entire process of decolonization extremely violent due to the colonialists’ unwillingness to pull out of their colonies.

The Philippines wanted independence the agreement that was set in place after the Spanish-American war called for the Philippines to be under control of the United States. So the rule over the Philippines had two phases. The first phase took place from 1898-1935. The plan of the United States for this phase was to prepare the Philippines for independence. During the second phase, which was from 1936-1946, the Philippines was established as a commonwealth nation the US, which allowed the Philippines 10 years to transition in to an independent nation. When the nation finally became independent for the US, World War II took a huge toll on their economy so, as a result the country still relied on US markets. The country remained a democracy, but is still under US military aid (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2015).

The issue of American imperialism and expansion has plagued its citizens for countless centuries. From the beginning, anti-imperialists argued that annexation was directly against what the United States was built on, yet those in support of imperialism believe that the spread of democracy and freedom is crucial to the development of new countries. The people of the late nineteenth century experienced the Spanish-American war, where Cuba was freed from the reign of another country while the Philippines were kept under the supervision of the United States government. With expansionist ideals becoming more common, the United States finally adopted an interactive stance on expansionism and the establishment of its presence all across the world due to its involvement with old Spanish colonies, especially the Philippines.