America's Role In The Spanish-American War

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Introduction The scene is set; America is the great power in the western hemisphere. Post Spanish-American War, America is faced with a dilemma of annexing the Philippines. In the winter of 1899 following the annexation of the Philippines, America had a problem. Filipinos had been fighting for independence from Spain and did not want to be seceded (83). Despite the Filipino objection, the United States displayed their assertion on the land. In conflict, both the Filipinos and American had many meetings with death. There were consequences and repercussions from invoking the American power on this foreign land. The American victory in the Spanish-American War helped propel the nation. Thesis: Although met with conflict from the natives, the …show more content…

The first cartoon, “Recommended by Hoar”, shows Uncle Sam feeding a child in his arms wrapped in a blanket labeled the Philippines and a bowl of soup labeled civilization and education(90). Uncle Sam is taking care of the child while the smaller man named, Hoar, is trying to convince him to give the child to the nurse. The nurse labeled Philippines Independence is riddled with degrading names such as ignorance, theft, piracy, and murder. An observation of Uncle Sam’s height to the height of Hoar presents an example of gender qualities in this print. Also, a man, Uncle Sam has to step in when the woman, Philippines Independence, is not a good influence. Although, the commentary on this cartoon states, “opposition of Massachusetts Senator George Hoar to Philippines Annexation”, this cartoon is stating the need for America to separate Philippines from such societal problems. The second cartoon, “The Anti-Expansion Ticket for 1900”, displays the lack of masculinity of Senator Hoar by characterizing him to be a woman playing a drum(91). Characterizing Senator Hoar as a woman alludes to his lack of patriotism and poor stance on Imperialism. The third cartoon, “The White Man’s Burden”, shows a largely masculine man with large stride carrying an indigenous person up the hill toward a schoolhouse(92). This displays the need for the manly American in the uneducated and …show more content…

After analyzing the primary articles, this author read the closing argument of Hoganson’s arguments. This author continues to agree with Hoganson’s claim and evidence that the annexation of the Philippines was an answer to the degradation of masculinity. It is clear there is a direct appeal to a need for masculinity, but in many other factors to annex the Philippines, masculinity is displayed. The need to show the world the masculine qualities of American men had a large role in the actions in annexing the Philippines. If America did not annex, another country would take over that land and leave Americans with a weak name. The gender concerns were of high value because they had roots in many other factors to ultimately make the decision America

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