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Philippines Imperialism

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Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. During the 19th century America had a belief called Manifest Destiny, which is the belief that American expansion westward and beyond is both justifiable and inevitable. The belief that the American way of life and its ideals are superior to others and should be spread across the world, gave Americans the justification for becoming one of the world’s strongest imperialist nations throughout the century. In 1898, the Spanish-American War ended and as a result, America purchased 20 million dollars’ worth of land from Spain in The Treaty of Paris. One of the nations that America purchased was the Philippines. America led the people …show more content…

After the Spanish-American War the archipelago known as The Philippines was liberated from Spanish control in the late 19th century, just to fall the control of another foreign empire. American control over the land expanded American influence and economy by seeing the benefits the Philippines has to offer. The Philippines is located right under China, being a huge consumer of American made products, which opened new trade ports in Asia that helped America to expand their foreign markets. The Philippines was known to the world as the “stepping stone to the Asia” creating fueling ports to aid the transfer of goods between America and Asia. American rule of the islands promoted an intensely dependent export economy. America strongly encouraged a free market economy, so that it can exploit all the raw material they needed and the Philippine need for finished products. The Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909 established free trade and also set a yearly quota limit on exports to the United States that the

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