during the movement. The main difference is that the European nations primarily focused on Asia and Africa for their expansion, but the motives and results were quite similar in the Pacific islands. The United States began to colonize some of the islands, starting with the Samoan islands, and would soon move on to claim the Hawaiian Islands, which was used as a naval station. The similarities between the European nations and the United states can be found in the fact that the U.S. was motivated by economic gain and religious reasons. When President McKinley said that there was an obligation “to educate the Filipinos and uplift and Christianize them,” he shed some light on the general attitude towards expansion by the American people. Rather than being viewed as cruel and thoughtless, it was seen as an obligation or a duty, something that simply had to be done. There is a tremendous amount of irony in the fact that a nation could claim to value freedom and liberty so much in one breath, but then turn around and take those very things from less powerful
during the movement. The main difference is that the European nations primarily focused on Asia and Africa for their expansion, but the motives and results were quite similar in the Pacific islands. The United States began to colonize some of the islands, starting with the Samoan islands, and would soon move on to claim the Hawaiian Islands, which was used as a naval station. The similarities between the European nations and the United states can be found in the fact that the U.S. was motivated by economic gain and religious reasons. When President McKinley said that there was an obligation “to educate the Filipinos and uplift and Christianize them,” he shed some light on the general attitude towards expansion by the American people. Rather than being viewed as cruel and thoughtless, it was seen as an obligation or a duty, something that simply had to be done. There is a tremendous amount of irony in the fact that a nation could claim to value freedom and liberty so much in one breath, but then turn around and take those very things from less powerful