Spanish Imperialism

In 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was published by president James Monroe that stated that any effort of European nations to try to colonialize any parts of North America or South America would be seen as unfriendly by the United States. The expansion of the Monroe Doctrine to include Olney Corollary which said that it gave the U.S authority to mediate conflicts in its own hemisphere This corollary foreshadowed the the events of the Spanish-American War because which ended in 1898 with the Spanish ceding the Philippines and Cuba. The need for the United States to gain territory and intervene led to the war with the Philippines because after the Philippines was ceded to the United States, the Philippines didn’t want another colonial ruler so they sought independence by a war with the United States (Engel, Lawrence and Preston, 47). Imperialism caused the U.S to intervene with the Spanish which then angered the Filipino because they didn’t want a new colonial ruler. The Philippines created an opportunity to project American power into the pacific. With the Filipino leader, Aguinaldo, as president demanded independence but Washington refused so Aguinaldo declared war. The U.S didn’t want to give land away that they just received as well as the Philippines was considered a hotspot because it would allow the U.S to refuel on their long journeys back from Asia

There were initially two to ten million natives in the United States prior to European contact. Those numbers dwindled down drastically in the years that Europeans came and started colonizing. The Europeans came to explore the New World in search of land, spices, gold, God and glory. Among these colonists were the Spanish and they colonized most of the southwest of the United States. Evidence of their settlements can still be seen today in the missions scattered across the land. These missions were started with the purpose of converting the Native Americans to Christianity. Now, imagine living your entire life with a particular set of beliefs, based on your ancestors and culture, and a group of foreigners come and proclaim that your views are all wrong and that you must follow their beliefs for the salvation of your soul. This is exactly what the Spanish did to the Natives. The relationship between the two parties were strained and rife with tension due to the conversion of the natives and the constant abuse doled out by the Spanish. This subsequently led to the disintegration of native life and culture.

The part of the world where the Philippines lies was one of the most volatile and dangerous in the world. That being said, it also had some of the most profitable trade routes, richest resources and was a vital part of the world to have a stronghold. By following through with the annexation of the Philippines, the Americans were able to gain a stronghold on the other side of the world, enrich themselves by gaining access to the valuable resources that were so plentiful and to take the time to help spread freedom and democracy. William McKinley clearly believed and stated that “ we could not turn them over to France and Germany – our commercial rivals in the Orient – that would be bad business and discreditable.”

Imperialism is the acquisition of new territories by a state and the incorporation of these territories into a political system through diplomacy or military force. The goals of imperialism, as seen by the Europeans and the United States, were to provide raw materials, harbors for vessels, and to purchase the surplus production of farms and factories, but the differences between them were based on motivation, acceptance, time, and ultimately size. The result of the Spanish-American War caused the U.S. to acquire Cuba, which led the U.S. feel that it had the military strength to rival any European colony. After entering into the ideals of imperialism, American imperialism was a far different method that the form of any European nations mainly

1). The Nations of Europe sought to expand their empire because they were on the verge of overpopulation.Between 1550 and 1600 the population grew from three million to four million people. Also, England and Spain were at a war for power. The Spanish attempts at colonizing the New World had been extremely successful, for they had gained both wealth and power. The English did not see such success, as their ships would crash, be lost to the seas, or their colonization efforts would cease to be useful. Through the Spaniards control over the Americas they had gained a massive naval army, noted as the Spanish Armada. The Spanish attempt to invade England in 1588 failed which lead to the beginning of the fall of the Spanish empire in the New World.

In the 19th century the scramble for control was under way when the Americans, Japan, and the Germans entered, other countries struggling with their empires. In the late nineteen century became a new age of imperialism in where technology and communications brought empire’s within reach. Many counties were joining the hunt fort new colonies, Americans preferred an indirect imperialism. The concept was first popularized during James K. Polk presidency, where he led the United States into the Mexican-American War of 1846. America’s version was that to “export products, ideas, and influence”, they viewed it as a “pure” version so they can share their values of democracy, and Christianity.

century, the outcome of the Spanish-American war divided Americans into those for and against the annexation of the Philippines. The masses supporting it saw the islands as a strong foothold for the country in Chinese markets, compared to the minority which believed the United States was founded to escape oppression and should not lead to doing the same upon others. America becoming an imperial power shifted the world stage, and opened opportunity in trade on the other side of the world. Annexing the Philippines changed how other countries saw the United States, but more importantly it changed how Americans feel about their country; citizens rallied around the flag after defeating Spain because surpassing the empire’s navy gave them something positive to think of after all the turmoil over the past hundred years (and still at the time over working/living conditions and inequality between races/genders). It gave the public a reason to be patriotic. If the United States did not annex the Philippines when it did, it would not have had the ability to become the strongest government in the world and increase exports throughout Asia, but at what cost? American leaders decided it would be a good power move, but did

In Victors and the Vanquished, Schwartz poses the question of “How can we evaluate conflicting sources” (ix)? Through reading historical events such as the “Conquest of New Spain” there is an undeniably large amount of destruction of cultural material and bias testimonies of events recorded several years after they occurred. After analyzing the Spanish Conquest of Mesoamerica there is a debatable amount of evidence from the Mesoamericans and Spanish explanations of this event in history. The intentions of each explanation created a conflict to historians, art historians and anthropologists on which viewpoint holds to accuracy. There is also the issue of not only inaccuracies, but the motives behind each bias account. As many of these aspects are taken into consideration, interpreting each justification between both sides of history in Mesoamerica as a clash of ethnocentrism between two different cultures that causes an uncertainty of what actually happened in history.

1899 marked the year when America set its sites from the Spanish to the First Philippine Republic plunging American into yet another war ending with the temporary annexation of the Philippine Islands spreading American imperialism to the Far East. Within one year of winning their independence from

“We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort." 1899, from his book, The Strenuous Life. On December 10,1899 in the treaty of paris the US buys the Philippines for $20 million. Then on July 4th of 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt declares victory in the Philippines. The United States should have annexed the Philippines because the U.S. educated, civilized the Filipinos, the Philippine land brought recourses and economic gain, and the U.S. led the Philippines to a self-government.

The United States needed to create an empire because the Philippines could not govern themselves. Document C says that “ that we would not give (The Philippines) back to Spain- that would be cowardly and dishonorable”. We would be cowardly and dishonorable if we gave the Philippines away, the Philippines could not manage on their own. If the United States gave the Philippines back to Spain they would not be able to manage on their own. The Philippines are an unstable for self-government and soon would fall apart. Creating an empire was the best option for the United States because it gave America to become closer and be more civil.

The Spanish war gave the United States an empire. At the end of the Spanish war the United States took Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and many other islands. The creation of the American Empire leads to the end of the Spanish Empire. The United States wanted to build up the countries so that markets would open up and purchase American goods and to improve the American economy.

Imperialism and then colonialism opened the floodgates that are troubled race relations, racism, and misguided societal values. Race has played a vital role in how Americans view each other, and themselves, and the experiences that they have. We constantly hear about institutionalized racism, the school-to-prison pipeline and police brutality on the news. The topic of race has such an enormous presence in our society that it simply cannot be ignored. But what is rarely talked about is how these conditions are incredibly similar to those that people in Latin America have to endure as well. Racism does not end at the borders of the United States, and in fact, they only seem to get worse in countries that are less developed.

1. Three arguments’ that Juan Gines de Sepulveda used to justify enslaving the Native Americans were for gold, ore deposits, and for God’s sake and man’s faith in him. 2. Three arguments that Bartolome de las Casas gave in attacking Spanish clonial policies in the New World were the Indians eating human flesh, worshiping false gods, and also, he believed that the Indians were cowardly and timid. 3. For comparisons that Sepulveda used, in lines 1-7, to express the inferiority of the Indians was their prudence, skill virtues, and humanity were inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or even apes to men. Comparisons he used to dismiss the significance of the Indians

After the Spanish colonization for about 360 years, America came and made the Philippines an independent country. US then turned on them and colonized