In 1898, the United States switched to imperialism by taking Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and Hawaii, then to make the mark, the Philippines. For the most part of history the United States of America was in opposition to the idea of taking and claiming colonies, they believed that colonies had the right to be self-governed. However, it was the motivation by the overproduction of economy that drove America into imperialism. Cuba would become independent from Spain, with the intention that US occupation forces would eventually leave Cuba to become a free nation, as the Teller Amendment had promised. Also, the US would get Guam, a small Spanish island colony that the US had taken by surprise attack, as well as Puerto Rico. The people that were for annexing the islands argued that there were business interests in…
the United States left the Philippines to themselves the result would be "anarchy and misrule"…
I firmly believe that the United States should have annexed the Philippines. I believe the United States should have annexed the Philippines because, if you how more power go take over countries and conquer them. Also if you have places conquered you can deploy your army and troops to spots closer to the enemies and you’re a more powerful country so less countries will try to fight you if you are a major world power. The United States should have annexed the Philippines for more power.…
The first reason why the United States was right to annex the Philippines is because the Filipinos are not capable of governing themselves. William McKinley makes an excellent point, “That we could not leave them [Philippines] to themselves- they were unfit for self-governing- and they would soon have anarchy and misrule…” (Document C). The Philippines would have messed up if they would govern themselves. Albert J. Beveridge says, “The rule that all just government applies only to those who are capable of self-government,” (Document B). The Filipinos need the United States to help govern them. Both those men were right, the Filipinos were not ready.…
Throughout the 3-year war that cost $400 million, many deaths among Filipino rebels and civilians occurred, supported by the fact that, “20,000 Filipino rebels (but countless more civilians) killed, 4,000 U.S. troops killed” (Text Summaries page 12). This shows that the violence affected everyone, including people who weren't directly involved in fighting. It also mentions that many U.S. soldiers died and a lot of money was spent on the war. This shows that annexing the Philippines cost a lot in terms of both lives and money for the United States, providing a reason that annexation was unjustified. In conclusion, when the United States took over the Philippines in the late 1800s, it caused a lot of arguments and problems, starting a heated debate.…
Even though America was annexing the Philippines for more land and power, the American annexation drastically changed the Filipinos culture. The Americans and Filipinos had a cultural confrontation…
Before the Philippines were even considered being annexed there were some debate on whether or not to annex them. The people that were for annexing the islands argued that there were business interests in thoughts of new markets and fields of investments, the United States wanted to become an empire and so they wanted to expand more. USA, especially, didn’t want to lose these islands to Japan or Germany.But some people did argue against annexing the islands. One of the biggest things that stood out was that the islands were 6,000 miles away from the Pacific Coast. Another reason that people argued against this was that some senators thought that annexation was a violation of American tradition and this lead other people to follow them. Since the senators had power.…
Throughout the history its been argued whether the United States had been expansionistic oriented or not, due to its limited presence only in the North American continent. In the late nineteenth century, the United States emerged the drive in expanding to the outside of the continent. The idea of imperialism in the Philippines became popular under the parole of protecting the world from Spanish rule, which was just a cover-up for the real reasons for the presence on these islands. This policy caused much controversy among politicians as well as the citizens. There were many reasons behind these imperialistic urges. One of the main reasons is that the United States sought to expand to foreign markets, and needed the Pacific islands as refueling stations for their ships. The other important reason for the expansion was to spread the Christianity among the heathen (Carnes page 576). In addition, the final reason for these imperialistic urges is that the U.S. had the necessity to annex some overseas properties.…
At the time the decision to annex the Philippines was made, there were other countries waiting and ready to attack and takeover the control that Spain had lost to the Americans. American rule allowed human rights, freedoms and quality of life that would not have been possible had America walked away and allowed the fledgling country try and rule itself. Germany, England, Japan and even Spain would have jumped at the opportunity to take over control of the Philippines and its many resources. Many important and profitable trade routes utilized the Philippines as a gateway to trade their goods and wares. Although it was profitable for the Americans to control this area and have access to the trade routes and resources, they were helping prepare the Filipinos to one day self rule and govern themselves as a free and independent country. Definitely not an opportunity they would…
We helped them gain independence from Spain, however “we had full knowledge that they were fighting for their own independance” (Document D). The leader of their army was Emilio Aguinaldo, who was very helpful in winning the war. However, when we won, we refused to let him march with our armies. He was going to use his armies to rebel against us. Having a rebellious territory would do no good for the United States. We would lose things like trade, military help, and peace. We could keep all of those things if we gave them independence, and formed an alliance. If we annexed them, it would do more harm than good, as we would have to fight our own rebelling territory like we did in the Civil War.…
Around 1900, imperialism became the most talked about issue within the United States. After the Spanish-American war ended and the U.S. gained many Pacific islands as a result, most Americans became concerned over whether to annex the Philippines or not. The Americans who wanted to annex the Philippines believed that they were in there as legally as the citizens themselves. Taking them was not wrong at all, nor was it violating the Declaration Of Independence (Doc 6). Albert…
Expansion into the Philippines meant different things to different leaders. Some leaders believed in expansion for economic reasons while others believed in spreading American idealism. Finally, during a time when America had gained political and economic strength, Spain was oppressing their people and American leaders argued that the U.S. needed to provide humanitarian aid. In this essay, I will exam three instances of motives used to justify expansion into the Philippines.…
While Americans did not usually claim that they anted to maintain rule of other territories for American Profit, it was a factor. Some saw the Pacific Ocean as the key to thriving trade in the future; by holding claim to that ocean though ruling the Philippines they would hold “the power that rules the world.” (Doc 5) The country was also needed to meet the US’ growing production demands (Doc 2) For the States to turn the land they acquired over to France or Germany – who were commercial rivals to the US- would harm their own trade. (Doc 3)…
Philippines - During the Age of Imperialism, America seeked out to expand how much power and land they had, and the Philippines was an asset they did not want to go without. In December 1898, the island was the sold to the United States. Upon making plans of annexation, the Filipinos retaliated with war, leading to the The Philippine-American War. Over the course of the war over one eighth of the native population had died, and the country had become unable to continue fighting, allowing for the U.S. to finally control the island. It was then turned into a fueling station, as it had been intended when it was first…
when annexation was proposed. Indeed the Philippine insurrection against the U.S. was more costly in terms of money and American lives lost than had been the Spanish-American war. Nor was everyone in the U.S. in favor of Philippine annexation. Anti-imperialists claimed that the Philippines might involve us in a war in the Far East, and that forced annexation violated the traditional American belief in "government by the consent of the governed." American labor leaders joined in opposition to acquisition lest it lead to the introduction of cheap Philippine labor. American racism also rallied against acquiring…