Should have the Philippines been annexed? The U.S annexed the Philippines in 1898. In 1899 the U.S and the Philippines went to war. This long and brutal war ended in 1902 . America had won the war with 4,200 casualties. This victory is why the Philippines was now part of the United States at the time. The U.S recognized the Philippines as an independent state in 1946, and established diplomatic relations with it. Should have the United States added the Philippines to their country. Although it was equally right for the U.S not to annex the Philippines, the U.S annexed the Philippines because they needed to strengthen their economy , wanted more power, and to rescue the Philippines from Spanish rule. One of the reasons the U.S annexed the Philippines was to strengthen their economy. At the Time the United States economy was weak. By taking over more territories the U.S could Strengthen their economy. They could take more land, that would give them more land for people to live in and for people to farm and harvest. By taking the Philippines there could be certain resources that the U.S couldn't obtain. With more resources, the government could make money off those goods and make back the money the U.S spent on overtaking the Philippines. With …show more content…
The other world powers wanted the Philippines. America on the other hand really did need the power of taking the philippines. “ Shall we turn these peoples back to the reeking hands from which we have taking them? Shall we abandon them, with Germany, England, Japan hungering for them.” ( Pg. 149 Beveridge) America came out and stated that they did not want the 3 world powers to take control of the philippines. Would the people that called the Philippines their home agree to have the three powerhouses come and take over their land. The Spanish was known for their bloody rule. If they were to take over the Philippines there would be death to anyone who disagreed with their way of rule. The U.S
Economic self-interest was more effective in driving American foreign policy because the U.S wanted to protect their property. As described in War and other Essays The U.S needed to choose not to be rulers and to let Filipinos and Spanish Americans live their own lives without ...
Rodolfo Acuña and Norman A. Graebner take opposing standpoints on this topic. Acuña takes the standpoint that the Americans took advantage of the Mexican government, which was young and unstable at the time. He argued that the United States waged an unjust war solely for the acquisition of new lands. His excerpt from Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, 3rd Edition provided the basis for his argument. On the other hand, Graebner took the standpoint that President James Polk pushed a policy, enforced by a stronger nation, to force Mexico to sell New Mexico and California and recognize the annexation of Texas to the United States without starting a war. His argument was taken from his article “The Mexican War: A Study in Causation”. Both sides of the American Imperialism argument contain their own strengths. However, after the examination of the articles, Graebner proposes a more convincing
Dear fellow senators: Yesterday, February 6, 1899 was a big day in United States history; we decided as a nation to annex the Philippines. The Philippines is an island country in Southeast Asia, and was independent until 1565 when the Spanish colonized the islands. I have one question for you, my fellow senators, should the U.S. have annexed the Philippines? The United States should have annexed the Philippines for three reasons: our duty to spread the values of democracy overseas, the Filipinos natural inability to govern themselves, and saving the Philippines from the tyranny of Spain or other European countries. The first reason the United States should have annexed the Philippines is because it is our duty as a country to spread the values of democracy overseas.
In 1900, delivering a speech in Indiana, Bryan defended his approval of the Treaty of Paris, which had annexed the Philippines (as well as Guam and Puerto Rico) from Spanish rule; stating that he “thought it safer to trust the American people to give independence to the Filipinos than to trust the accomplishment of that purpose to diplomacy with an unfriendly nation.” (Bryan, “Imperialism”) Essentially, his view was that the Ph...
Through Manifest Destiny, the U.S. conquered many new territories. Ever since the U.S. became its own country, they always wanted more land. They thought that the Manifest Destiny gave them the right to expand and conquer more land. The United States were offered a deal known as the Louisiana Purchase which doubled their size. Even after they received this land, they were thirsty for more. They wanted to have Texas as their own. After Texas got their independence from Mexico, President Polk annexed it. Polk had his eye set on California next. But before he could get California, he had to deal with border dispute in Texas, leading to the war with Mexico. So, did the United States have a good reason to go to war with Mexico? The answer is simple, the U.S. was not justified into going to war with Mexico. This is proven through the Manifest Destiny, border disputes, and an American viewpoint on the war.
3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Why did we annex the Philippines? Answer: Following the Spanish-American war, it was America’s duty to help them form a civilized society.
) Miss Columbia’s School House at 1894 and Emilio Aguinaldo Criticizes American Imperialism in the Philippines at 1899 illustrates the perception of being foreigners among the Americans. Among the short male figures outside the gates, is Hawaii (the men is carrying the Hawaiian flag) and Alaska. Around the 1950’s, the two states became part of America. Miss Columbia is the teacher and is in charged among the students. But inside the school house there is somewhat chaos happening with the different diverse people. An African American is running away from the school because a white male is stabbing him with some type of weapon. In 1865, slavery was outlawed but segregation was still permitted until 1964. African American were treated poorly among
The Filipino American War began because the Americans did not want to give them back to Spain nor did they want to hand them over to their rivals, France and Germany.They also came to the conclusion that they were too weak to govern themselves. And to please the people, they told them that they were going to be Christianized and civilized. Proof of this can be found when President Mckinley said, “That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them” (313). However, America 's true motive for war was to gain a profit out of the Philippines since, “No land in America surpasses in fertility the plains and valleys of Luzon. Rice and coffee, sugar and cocoanuts, hemp and tobacco. The wood of the Philippines can supply the furniture of the world for a century to come” (314). William James was somebody who opposed the war, he wanted to, “ educate the American public about the horrors of the Philippine war and the evils of imperialism” (314). And in response, many innocent Filipino civilians would be killed. The Philadelphia Ledger reported, “our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog”
The departure from previous expansionism (up to 1880) developed alongside the tremendous changes and amplifications of United States power (in government, economics, and military.) The growth in strength and size of the United States navy gave the country many more opportunities to grow, explore, and expand both in size and money. The better range and build of ships allowed the U.S. to enter the Far East, lands of the Philippines and China, all to increase trade and to create an influx of commerce. Because of the huge production of agricultural goods and the need for outputs and markets for these goods, the United States needed to find other places for shipping, trading, buying, and selling, and these areas of interest were just the place. The idea of Manifest Destiny and placing faith in God also allowed the United States to expand farther out into what once were unattainable lands. Document C, written by Mahan the naval writer, explains the three necessary obligations of sea power, as well as expressing the extreme importance of the navy during late 1800’s expansionism. During this time period and before, it was believed that whoever retained control of the seas would maintain control over the lands. Additionally, the speech by Senator Albert Beveridge (Document E) further states the importance of the U.S. expanding into the Pacific Ocean (especially the Phillipines) and trading with eastern countries: “the pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future...the power that rules the Pacific is the power that rules the world… forever be the American Republic.
An additional argument in favor of U.S. imperialism was that of Charles Denby and his explanation of why we should not give up the ‘foothold’ we have in the Philippines. According to Denby, commerce was the most important factor to a nation’s well-being. Denby felt that by keeping hold in the Philippines China’s market was much more easily accessible. China having a very profitable market and t...
In 1898, in an effort to free Cuba from the oppression of its Spanish colonizers, America captured the Philippines. This brought about questions of what America should do with the Philippines. Soon, controversy ensued both in the American political arena as well as among its citizens. Throughout its history, America had always been expansionistic, but it had always limited itself to the North American continent. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, however, there emerged a drive to expand outside of the continent. When America expanded to the Philippines, the policy it followed was a stark break from past forms of expansionism. Despite much controversy, America followed the example of the imperialistic nations in Europe and sought to conquer the Philippines as an imperialist colony that they would rule either directly or indirectly.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Imperialism was a popular trend among the large, powerful countries. Imperialism is defined as “The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations”. Imperialism cannot be said as either good or bad, but as a general rule: If you live in an annexed country, imperialism is not good, if your country annexes smaller ones to gain profit, land, and respect, then imperialism is good. The United States was not much of an imperialistic country until we won the Spanish-American war. As a result of this war, we annexed Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived from the land bridge from Asia over 150,000 years ago. Throughout the years, migrants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia made their way to the islands of this country. In the fourteenth century, the Arabs arrived and soon began a long tradition of Islam. Many Muslims are still living in the Philippines today.
Cuba and the Philippines, leading to the acquisition of overseas territory by the United States
There were several policies in place at the time, some which were put into place before the war, some during the war, and some after. The ratification of the annexation process was long and difficult. There were debates as to how to treat the Filipino people. One suggestion was to treat the Filipinos as dependents, and not citizens, like the Native Americans came to be treated. Many of the imperialists believed that the Filipinos were savages and harsh policies would give America control. The anti-imperialists were not exactly sure whether to treat them as peers or to set them free. I would treat them as equals, as normal people, as they are like everyone else. At the time they might not have been as technologically advanced as we were, and their government may have seemed primitive to ours. I think we should have worked with them to help create a government, rather than occupy and just take over.