Dbq Essay Over The Annexation Of The Philippines

Scholars typically cite imperialism as a primary cause of World War I, and though controversial, America was no stranger to the practice. In 1898, the United States won the Spanish American War, resulting in the Paris Treaty. America gained several formerly Spanish colonies from their victory, and through the Treaty of Paris, they annexed the Philippines. Filipino insurgents, who had fought for the Philippines ' independence, rebelled against the annexation. This led to the Philippine-American War. However, not all Americans supported the annexation. In fact, the Paris Treaty passed by only one vote, and anti-imperialists such as Mark Twain contended with pro-imperialists like Theodore Roosevelt. Despite the debate, the United States should not have annexed the Philippines, because the decision was unnecessary, hypocritical, and tyrannical.

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.

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

There are very many arguments about whether the United States should annex the Philippines. The argument is between Pro-Imperialist and Anti-Imperialist. I side on being a Pro-Imperialist. A few reasons to support my decisions are:

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

The conflict was between the imperialists and the anti- imperialists, who were both in America and the Philippines. Imperialism is when one supports the annexation of another. In this case, America annexing the Philippines. Document A was written by the Platform of the American Anti- Imperialist League. This group of individuals thought poorly of imperialism and that it was wrong to take over others. According to this document, it states in the first paragraph, “... extinguish the spirit of 1776 in those islands. This is saying that by annexing the Philippines, we are forgetting all that happened when we broke free from Britain as rebels. If we did this, it would be extremely hypocritical. Also in Document A, the anti- imperialist platform

The U.S was right to annex the Philippines because they were treated poorly by the Spanish. The Philippines wouldn't have been able to govern themselves and soon they would have an anarchy. If the U.S didn't annex the Philippines then Germany, Japan, or England would have taken over.

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

In 1898, the United States of America was in the midst of a complete remolding of the nation's reputation. Just having recently ended the Civil War among the states in the United States and once again forging war with the Spanish-American War, the United States was after a more masculine image and reputation. Due to the nature of the country at that moment in time, the American government wanted to prove their superiority among other emerging nations and in doing so chose to colonize and annex nations such as the Philippines. Primary resources indicated that the annexation of the Philippines was indeed motivated by the lack of masculinity that was felt by the American government at the time (Hollitz, 2010). Gender roles in the United States were at a point where their stereotypical reputations were changing and women were gaining more social power. This was unlike any comparable country at the time, and the United States was taking this transition negatively as their reputation as the most powerful nation in the world was at stake. This allowed for gender to play a dominate role in the debate over the Philippines.

After looking at the primary sources all speaking on the topic of annexation of the Philippines, I find William McKinley and Albert Beveridge's arguments most compelling. The reason being that both historians seem to have interest in the circumstance of the Philippine Islands and their people. McKinley speaks on the long years they have spent desolated by war and misgoverned, leading in them in the wrong direction. He did not want to wait until the Islands hit rock bottom before the U.S. stepped in to help. Beveridge lightly touches on the oriental quality of the Filipinos crippling them to self-government, but mostly asserts that the person sent by the U.S. to administer a civilized government will have the upmost sense of the world, and be

Germany, Japan, and Russia already have spheres of influence in China. These countries were trying to force the United States out of Asia. In the map we looked at as a class, there were numerous countries who had influence in the Chinese markets. By taking Manila Harbour the United States would open a gateway to gaining influence in the markets that other countries are beginning to dominate. The costs of taking the Philippines in its entirety would drown all the benefits gained from establishing a greater sphere of influence and would put us in a worse position than we were before. As Carl Schurz puts it, “. . . If American diplomacy, having, after our successful war, the decisive voice in regard to those islands, is not skillful enough to bring about such results in the final settlement, it would certainly not be skillful enough to handle the more thorny problems which it would surely have to deal with in case all those islands should pass into our full possession.” By choosing to take only Manila the United States could keep out of war and continue to spread our spheres of

Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana saw that the acquisition of Philippines was beneficial for the US in a few ways. Trading with others around the globe can be easier for the US when we have the Philippines. That’s because when Beveridge said, “Nothing is so natural as trade with one’s neighbor. The Philippines makes us the nearest neighbors of all the East. Nothing is more natural than to trade with those you know”(Beveridge, 1900). This shows that Beveridge sees the Philippines as a good country for trades because Philippines is surrounded by many other countries, which makes those countries neighbors with the Philippines. So, trading around while having the Philippines would be easier and much more convenient.

The year was 1898, and America had just finished fighting Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. Spain had been in control of the islands, but when they islands wanted their independence America volunteered to help. America promoted the islands fighting back, and were encouraging the revolution against Spain. Little did these nations know that once Spain had lost, America got signed over everything in the Treaty of Paris, and they did not plan to let these premiere locations go without another fight. We wanted the Philippines for three main reasons: missionaries wanted to spread Christianity and the word of God, we couldn 't leave them to govern themselves because they were unfit, as well as business leaders wanted a way to easily become immersed in the vast markets of China. So in February of 1899, America found themselves in another bloody war, known only as the Philippine-American War.

The U.S. decision to annex the Philippines was accompanied by strong rallies of support as well as many people who opposed it. But what brought about this monumental event in the history of the U.S? On April 24th 1898 the Spanish declared war on the United States after the U.S. had demanded that Spain withdrawal their armed forces from Cuba. The U.S. had been aiding Cuba in their attempt to gain independence from Spain. On December 10th 1998, the signing of the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war. The treaty proclaimed that Spain would relinquish their claims to Cuba, which would soon become a U.S. protectorate. They would also give the U.S. Guam and Puerto Rico and sell the Philippines to the U.S. for a price of $20 million. The decision to annex the Philippines would trigger with domestic controversy