My Perception Of The Pearl Columbia 's School House

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.

The American Anti-Imperialist league has a platform I fully agree with. “We protest against the extension of American sovereignty by Spanish methods…” (Doc A, American Anti-Imperialist League). In trying to conquest other nations, the US being identical to the enemy, Spain. What is the point in helping the Filipinos gain their independence if we are about to trap them back into the exact same situation? Some of you may think that our only choice is to annex them.

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

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).

Filipino revolutionary and politician Emilio Aguinaldo was writing about The United States and the idea of imperialism. He think that the United

The U.S. was filled with advocates who agreed with the annexation and with advocates who disagreed. Americans who denounced the annexation of the Philippine Islands believed that it would be act of tyranny and a decision made without consent. For example, in Document A, it states that the American-Anti Imperialist League believe that if America takes the Philippines without consent it will commit an act of despotism. The document also states that the group's intention is to fight against America’s expansion of power. The information adds on to the idea that the Philippines should not be annexed

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

Tetsuzo Hirasaki, a Japanese American who was born in California, wrote these documents/letters. The reason why he wrote the documents is to illustrate to the time when the United States went into war with Japan for causing a massive kamikaze attack on Pearl Harbor. Many Japanese Americans were sent into internment camps for safety. Hirasaki was an American citizen in the United States that was sent into an internment camps with all other Japanese Americans due to fear such as “The United States was scared of connections Japanese Americans might have to the enemy” (2).

Another victory through the Treaty of Paris was the possession of the Philippines. Though the Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo had aided in the defeat of Spain in 1898, USA refused independence to the Islands and a vicious three year war ensued. A civil government was created after the capture of Aguinaldo under William Taft and this showed a drastic change in American foreign policy. They could no longer justify interference with the excuse of the islands being within its sphere of influence but McKinley argued that America had the role to “uplift and civilize and christianize [Filipinos] as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died." McKinley was either unaware or simply chose not to inform the people that, except for some Muslim tribesmen in the south, the Filipinos were Roman Catholics, and, therefore, already Christians. In reality, the annexation of the Philippines was the centerpiece of the "large policy" pushed by the imperialist cabal to enlist the United States in the ranks of the great powers.

Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai 'i. Kihei, Hawaiʻi: Koa, 2009. Print.

The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell is a book that provides an in-depth analysis of United States Imperialism in 1898, particularly the annexation of Hawaii and its citizens. During the year, not only did the United States conquer Hawaii, but also grew their empire in Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines, securing their status as a super power. After studying the Gilded Age and the United States’ imperialism tactics and reading Vowell’s work, it is easy to see a trend of how the U.S operated and the lengths that they went through to grow their empire. “Vowell uses her perspective and opinions to take you through the annexation of Hawaii and why it was important not only to her, but to history as a whole. The book consisted of multiple

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

1. How does the author describe racism in America towards Japan in the Second World War?

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