Annexation Of The Philippines Created The American Empire Essay

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

Now, we’re involved in a possible conflict with Spain.  It is possible that we might engage in an epic naval battle with the Spanish fleet in the Philippines. Hawaiian Islands provide us with the perfect coal station for our Navy and supply ships on the way to the Philippines. It is in America’s best interest to annex Hawaii as soon as possible.  If we do not act quickly, the British might annex Hawaii.  There’s no time to waste. The Filipinos have been fighting against the Spanish rule for some time now. Are we going to help them achieve their independence from Spanish rule?  If we deem that they’d be better of being independent, we will assist them.  But, if we deem that they’d benefit from being annexed, we might go ahead and add the Philippines to our oversea possessions. Like with the Hawaiians, the Filipinos will benefit from the Christianization of their islands. With the influx of American values, cultures, and language, we will be doing any country annexed a favor by allowing them into our nations cultural and economic prosperity.

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. When the white man governs himself, that is self-government, but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government - that is despotism [rule by a tyrant].” In annexing the Philippines, we were being conquistadors, comparable to Spain, who we were fighting at the time. The Filipinos knew exactly what they were risking by trying to receive independence, they knew they may have been too weak to govern themselves. It is completely against the foundation of the US to seize freedom from another man. I believe the United States should have never annexed the Philippines without the Filipinos’ total consent.

The third reason the United States should annex is because the Filipinos were not capable of self government. According to the text, it stated “that we could not leave them to themselves - they were unfit for self-government - and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was;” (Rusling, 1903). This is important because the Filipinos were not capable of self government, nor were they ready

I believe the Philippines should’ve been annexed by the United by many reasons. One of them being that the Philippines had a weak government, they weren’t capable of maintaining a country. They were not ready to be alone as a country. However, if the U.S. did not annex the Philippines, then other countries including Japan and Germany could’ve taken the country away. If the United States would’ve annexed the Philippians they were going to educate their people because everyone should have the right to get an education. The United States wanted to give the Philippines an opportunity to be independent and to be self-government. The United States would’ve had many trading goods and the markets

According to the United States, democracy and Christianity were principal elements of a successful society. During the end of the eighteen-hundreds and throughout the beginning of the nineteen-hundreds, America tried to colonize and reform less fortunate nations. Following a social-Darwinist point of view, Americans took their “God-given” superiority to those who were incapable of establishing their own self-government (Doc. H). After much debate, American foreign policy towards the Philippines and Cuba was that it is our duty to rule them until they could rule themselves. We pledged to save the indigenous people from their savage, bloody, and corrupt ways of life. President McKinley’s foreign policy towards the Philippines stated that “they would soon have anarchy and misrule…there was nothing left to do but take them all, educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them” (Doc. A).

were advocates against the annexation, many believed it was the right decision. Many individuals believed that taking the Philippines would help and better the country. For example, in Document C, William McKinley states that allowing the country to be independent would be wrong because the Philippines is unfit to self-govern and it could lead them anarchy like Spain. McKinley also states that there is no where else for the Philippines to go, he says that America cannot give them back to Spain because it would be shameful and that the country cannot be given to France or Germany because it would disgraceful. Therefore, America has no other choice but annex the Philippine Islands and save it from ruin. The individuals who fought for the annexation depended their arguments on what they perceived as the right thing to

During the 1890’s, the United States began building and advancing their economy, as well as focusing more independently on becoming an even more powerful nation. Not only did the Americans begin to create a stronger national military and navy, they also began to look overseas towards the Pacific Ocean for resources and territories; this is when America began to look less like a national power and more like an imperial power. There were many reasons as to why the United States began to expand between 1880-1929, two of which include the military opportunities countries abroad had to offer, such as Pearl Harbor, as well as the domestic and political objectives the U.S. felt obligated to fulfill. Although, there were many important reasons for the United States to began to expand, the most significant reason for the expansionist foreign policy was the economic resources and opportunities other foreign countries had to offer the U.S.

As stated in document C President McKinley wanted to keep the Philippines, because we as a country made a promise to God to help the Philippines and by annexing them we helped keep that promise by protecting them whether it be with our military or help with money. Our country can not say “no” to God. The Philippines as a whole country wouldn't be capable of protecting their country and they were

The U.S. should not have annexed the Philippines for the reason that the United States knew the Filipinos wanted to be an independent nation when we aided them to win in the Spanish American war. The Spanish American war was fought in 1898. It was an American victory that enabled the U.S. to become a major economic and world power. Battles were fought everywhere from the Philippine to Cuba and to show the world that the United States won’t be taken down easily. With the provided documentation that advocates the U.S. should not have annexed and make the Philippine part of the United States territory are annexing Philippine goes against what the United States stood for as a nation, It was not economically the right choices and it went against

First reason, why we shouldn’t have annexed the Philippines is because we have different beliefs. In document B, Providence to the Americans mean Heaven. It means that the reason they were in war with the Filipinos is because it was their destiny. God gave them the strength and power so they can expand their empire. They didn’t care what the Philippines believed in, they took action in what they “knew” god would have wanted them to do. In document D, Bryan talks about how the Americans aren’t Christian as they say they are. He says, “

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

What is American Imperialism? It is the influences that the United States makes on other countries. Some of the influences are economics, military, and culture. Expansionism is conquering those countries and taking over the land. Without imperialism and expansionism, our county would not be as big and productive as it is in today 's society.

In a passage from Our Country, Josiah states, “let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization -- having developed peculiarly aggressive traits calculated to impress its institutions upon mankind, will spread itself over the earth” (674). This applies to the issues with the Philippines because it supports McKinley's reasoning for sending troops and “missionaries” over to convert the people but ultimately ended up wreaking havoc. “Aguinaldo’s Case against the United States” written by Emilio Aguinaldo explained why he opposed American imperialism. Emilio led the Filipino armed against Spain for Independence. He was against imperialism because he believed the Filipino’s were being treated unfairly, America thinking that they were “ignorant savages”. The point he made was that America was treating the Philippines like how the colonials were treated before they escaped England. Emilio asked for America to “give us the chance; treat us exactly as you demanded to be treated at the hands of England when you rebelled against her autocratic methods”. By America treating the Filipino’s this way, it tossed all their morals about liberty and out the door putting the Filipino’s in the position that Americans were in trying trying to escape from England’s

After America’s victory from the Spanish-American War, many raised the question of adding yet another civilization to the american nation. Because of Spain’s mistreatment and cruelty towards the Philippines, the people of America questioned of annexing this country. Division about the annexation spread amongst the citizens, many claimed to be against this proposal (were soon labeled anti-imperialists), while others seemed to enjoy it. Pros and cons were listed thoroughly, they each talked about why their side was right. Cons that were stated mainly focused on independence, equality, and culture of this country. While the pros mainly focused on self-government, consent, and destruction.