Should The Us Have Annexed Philippines

American expansionism was based primarily on economic concerns. As Hoganson has noted, “as the United States emerged as a world economic power, nearly 20 million workers contributed to the nation’s rising industrialism.” (Hoganson, 8) Industrialism replaced the agricultural economy of the country. Transportation became more popular as cars were becoming more reliable. A tremendous amount of jobs became available in factories. With so many people wanting to migrate to the United States for work, the United States decided to close off the borders. They did this by tariffs and immigration restrictions. Along with closing the borders off, the United States expanded military control as well. Black people became interested in joining the military in hopes of freeing Cuba and gaining equal rights for their patriotism. (Hoganson,76.)

In the 1900’s, the United States was engaged in a controversial war to gain control of the Philippine Islands. A striking speech Albert J. Beveridge: In Support of an American Empire, strongly advocates the annexation of the Philippine islands to the USA with his most striking points about the senator’s speech which are his three poorly thought out reasons justifying Americans to colonize the Philippines dealing with religion, profit, and race.

The United States annexed the philippines because they didn't not want the Philippines to be taken over by somebody else. The article states “Shall we abandon them with Germany, England, and Japan hungering for them?” This means that the United states should have taken them before someone else took them or before the Spanish took them back. The article also states “That would be cowardly and dishonorable.” This means that the United states just fought a war to get the philippines and it would be cowardly to just give them back to who ever was wanting to take them.

Lastly we shouldn't have took control of the Philippines is because the war led to the loss of many lives . McKinley said “by Gods grace do the very best we can by them our fellowmen who Christ also died” (Doc C). He is saying that God would approve of us “saving “ the Philippines but like William Bryan said , “ imperialism finds no warrant in the Bible . The command “Go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature , has no Gatling gun attachment” . He is explaining that Bible doesn't recommend violence . Lincoln strongly denounced “the slaughter of the Filipinos as a needless horror” We have murdered their loved ones and destroying families . Because of us 20, 000 rebels have died from either the bloody battle or from the

Abraham Lincoln once said “no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent... “ In this case the U.S. is not good enough to govern the Philippines when the Philippines want to be independent. The Spanish-American war (1898) occurred when a U.S. ship blew up near Cuba (was trying to gain independence from Spain). Within hours ‘yellow’ journalists were all over the story saying that it was a Spanish torpedo, and the U.S. should go to war. The United States government fell for yellow journalism and went to war. It was an easy win for the U.S. as it lasted only 4 months. As a result of the win the U.S. got an option on what to do with Philipines( also trying to gain independence from Spain), annex them, make them independent, or give them back to Spain. At the beginning of the war the United States said it would free the Philippines, because of all the help the Philippines offered, however they ended up annexing it. So, should the United States annex the Philippines? No, the U.S. should not annex the Philippines because it kills the spirit of 1776 and it goes against the golden rule.

Many people felt that imperialism is beneficial for our country. However, our country was not built to become a nation that’s main way of advancement is through imperialism. The United States is built upon liberty and democracy and we should hold firm to our beliefs and morals. Our country, with its many advancements, does not need to use imperialism to try and achieve further success. The benefits of imperialism do not outweigh the negatives when it comes to the building of a better nation.

The history of the world is one filled with war, brutality, and greed from nations exerting their might to gain power or land. Driven by greed, history is written by the wants and desires of nations to become larger, wealthier, at the expense of those smaller forms a never-ending cycle from the time of the earliest writings, to modern days. The United States is no different. From the time we occupied the east coast, driving the Native Americans west, to our westward expansion, further driving the Native Americans and Mexico out of their lands, we have never been satisfied. Once we reached the west coast, our eyes began scanning across the oceans. With the country secure, the United States needed foreign lands to establish the empire. The Philippines would provide this opportunity for us. The Spanish-American war delivered the opportunity for America’s entry into the Philippines. The annexation of the Philippines transformed the United States into an empire and better prepared the Filipino people for independence.

The reason was for the American imperialism, which was the economic profit and the belief of the American supremacy. According to Albert J. Beveridge in his speech, he believed that Filipino people were seen as bad people (considered as a not self- governing race). But the Phillipines and the United States seemed to be all about profit with the trading. The islands were the base for trade with the East and provided power over the Pacific in case of future wars They consisted of a numerous amounts of: resources, vegetable and mineral wealth. Most of the wood of the Philippines can supply the furniture of the world for a century to come and the wood, hemp, copra, and other products of the Philippines supply. The economical reasons showed a mean to develop an important commercial power, and a commercial base in the Pacific. One of the solutions would be China due to the huge market and natural customers. But nothing is so natural as trade with one 's neighbors. The Philippines make the U.S the nearest neighbors of the East. But,

The Filipinos, also, felt very unhappy about being apart of another Imperialist reign. The United States felt that the Philippines could not take care of themselves and would lead their own country into the ground. The United States had many reasons to try and gain the Philippines. They wanted to Imperialism in that region for economic, ideological, religious, and political.

As an ally of United States, it is not impossible to create enemies around the world that would lead to engagement into battles.

To fully understand Tarzan’s superiority, it is essential first to recognize the American gender ideals and racial supremacy of the late 19th century. According to John Hollitz, in the 20th century the US became an imperialistic leading global player that emphasized the need to spread “civilization” and build an empire in areas such as the Philippines. (pg. 83). In line with Hollitz, Kristin L. Hoganson argues that during the twentieth century, US annexation of the Philippines became essential for its commercial and geographically advantageous position in Asia. The US also felt it was their “God-given duty” to “guide” Filipino savages, who were “unfit” to govern themselves (99).

1. Beveridge argued that although all government derived its authority from the consent of the government, it only applied to those who were capable of self-government. According to him, the Filipino government would have nothing to turn to except the “savage, bloody rule of pillage and extortion form which we have rescued them.” If the United States proceeded to annex it, the Philippines would receive leadership from “the just humane, civilizing government of this republic.” In addition to receiving American guidance, the Philippines would also benefit from protection against other countries that were hungry to take them as their territory.

Living in the early 1900s, America should maintain its competitive edge and dominance in the world, by expanding our influences into new territories. Our population is increasing quickly as are our many industries, therefore creating a greater demand for resources. There is the possibility the existing resources will not be able to sustain these increases. William McKinley in The Acquisition of the Philippines states that “Incidental to our tenure in the Philippines is the commercial opportunity to which American statesmanship cannot be indifferent. It is just to use every legitimate means for the enlargement of American trade” Acquiring islands, such as the Philippines, will give America a large commercial opportunity and enlarge our areas of trade. This will improve the American economy, because we will have more goods to trade, and different countries to trade with, hence bringing in more goods.

The independence of the Philippines brought a new hope to the citizens that they would finally be able to govern themselves. Imperialization from the Spanish in the 1500’s, followed by U.S. control up until the end of World War II left the country hungry for economic resources and trustworthy leaders. Even with independence from the United States, they were unable to escape from unethical, elite leaders that were favored by the US government. Numerous citizens and nationalist leaders attempted to revive the economy multiple times, yet there was always some way it would fail. Although there were notable benefits in the aftermath of their independence, such as better commerce and strong leaders who brought economic progress, overall its impacts

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).