Should The United States Annex The Philippines

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The Annexation of the Philippines

America won the war, but what would become of the Philippine islands! In the summer of 1898 the United States (U.S.) went to war with Spain. America went to war in response to Spain's mistreatment of the Filipino people. America won the war and with that victory came all of Spain's colonies. Many colonies were dealt with quickly but the Philippines was another matter. Much controversy surrounded one question: Should the United States annex the Philippines? Annex means that a little country joins a larger country to become stronger. The word annexation means to add to another country. The United States Should annex the Philippines because the Philippines was not fit for self government, others countries …show more content…

“that we could not leave them to themselves--they were unfit for self-government--and they would soon have anarchy and misrule worse than Spain's was;”(Bryan 153) If they were to self govern there would be anarchy and misrule. America would annex them so that does not happen. “We govern the Indians without their consent, we govern our territories without their consent, we govern our children without their consent.”(Beveridge 149) This quote says peoples that do not have enough knowledge are not fit to self govern. The Philippines are like the children. The children do have enough knowledge to govern himself so, we govern without their consent. In the same way we guide our children to be independent we can eventually teach the Filipino people to be independent or govern themselves. In conclusion these are the reasons why the Philippines were not fit to self …show more content…

President William McKinnley said,”And then I went to bed, and went to sleep and slept soundly.”(Rusling 151) Normally if you do not know what you are doing or did something wrong you would be awake all night thinking about it. He knew that what he was doing was right because he slept soundly. “that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance”(Rusling 151) He also knew what he was doing because he got the guidance from God and God is the ultimate source of guidance. So, overall he knew he was making the right decision. In conclusion, The United States should have annexed the Philippines because people who wanted to annex the philippines knew that they were doing the right

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