The Annexation Of The Philippines

In August of 1898, the Spanish army surrendered to the Philippines and Americans. Following this brief war, there will be debate on how the Philippines should be divided and who should lead the nation. After confusion over territory of land, Emiliano Aguinaldo attempted to lead a revolt against the Americans, but miserably failed. With the success overseas, many people questioned the reasoning for fully annexing the Philippines. Anti-imperialists argued annexation went against traditional American values and was morally wrong. Pro imperialists argued that imperialism would greatly improve the Filipino lives and that the country was seized justifiably. The U.S. spent 100s of years spreading the idea of self-government, however they are in the

This was the argument during the 1700’s when Americans were saying “no taxation without representation”. They were the people trying to gain independence from a foreign nation that tried to rule from across an entire ocean. To put the powerful minority above the weak majority with no consent is seen as a disgrace to the founding fathers by many Americans. The U.S. has brought many good things to the world, but also many bad things. Some Americans thought it was their duty to colonize and industrialize the Philippines. According to Immmerwhar, how they did that was to burn any town that supported its own country. This counteracts the argument of morality for the pro-imperialists. Their people were shot, starved, and tortured. Anti-imperialists viewed this as going against American and human values. Due to the dissimilarity between rights for Americans and Filipinos, anti-imperialists thought America just came in and educated the Philippines, “and let them mock us for our inconsistency”(William Jennings Bryan). They concluded that the Americans “courageously” fought against the British and removed themselves from tyrannical

They said no matter what happens in a conflict between two nations, no sane person would want to limit the death count. Especially civilians who are not participating in the war. It is estimated that “as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence, famine, and disease”(The Philippine-American War). Especially for acts that could have been prevented by helping the Filipino people. A death toll of such high numbers would not be worth the gain from Americans and the Phillipinos. Anti-imperialists argued that no matter how much gain the U.S. would receive, it was morally wrong to end so many lives. In June 1898, Emiliano Aguinaldo(Filipino rebel leader) established himself as a dictator of the entirety of the Philippines. Aguinaldo stated that once the war was over, the Philippines would have independence (Immerwahr 89). When anti-imperialists heard this from Aguinaldo and found out that the U.S. was indeed attempting to take over the Philippines. There was an outcry, he said. They argued that the U.S. government had directly lied to the face of the Filipino people for their own benefit. To their benefit, this would be heavily opposed by the league of nations