Ap-American War Dbq

Change in American government was imperative in expanding the nation. It is ludicrous to believe that as other nations were growing, America would just sit back and watch. Governmental involvement made "the Philippines ours forever" (Document 1). The United States' plan was to take the Philippines, educate, uplift, and civilize them (Document 2). Such a "noble deed" seemed to benefit both the filipinos and americans. During this time, as mentioned in document eight, "we had duties to others and duties to ourselves". Government's changing role made these relationships available to the

America 's annexation of the Philippines was not a necessary decision. Supporters of the annexation believed it would benefit America economically. However, Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan stated in a speech, "It is not necessary to own people in order to trade with them" (Document D). Trade with the Philippines could have been accomplished without occupying them. In addition, pro-imperialists exhibited a patronizing attitude toward the Filipinos; for instance, Albert J. Beveridge described the Philippines as "ours to save" (Document B). Many

Now, we’re involved in a possible conflict with Spain.  It is possible that we might engage in an epic naval battle with the Spanish fleet in the Philippines. Hawaiian Islands provide us with the perfect coal station for our Navy and supply ships on the way to the Philippines. It is in America’s best interest to annex Hawaii as soon as possible.  If we do not act quickly, the British might annex Hawaii.  There’s no time to waste. The Filipinos have been fighting against the Spanish rule for some time now. Are we going to help them achieve their independence from Spanish rule?  If we deem that they’d be better of being independent, we will assist them.  But, if we deem that they’d benefit from being annexed, we might go ahead and add the Philippines to our oversea possessions. Like with the Hawaiians, the Filipinos will benefit from the Christianization of their islands. With the influx of American values, cultures, and language, we will be doing any country annexed a favor by allowing them into our nations cultural and economic prosperity.

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. When the white man governs himself, that is self-government, but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government - that is despotism [rule by a tyrant].” In annexing the Philippines, we were being conquistadors, comparable to Spain, who we were fighting at the time. The Filipinos knew exactly what they were risking by trying to receive independence, they knew they may have been too weak to govern themselves. It is completely against the foundation of the US to seize freedom from another man. I believe the United States should have never annexed the Philippines without the Filipinos’ total consent.

The third reason the United States should annex is because the Filipinos were not capable of self government. According to the text, it stated “that we could not leave them to themselves - they were unfit for self-government - and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was;” (Rusling, 1903). This is important because the Filipinos were not capable of self government, nor were they ready

I believe the Philippines should’ve been annexed by the United by many reasons. One of them being that the Philippines had a weak government, they weren’t capable of maintaining a country. They were not ready to be alone as a country. However, if the U.S. did not annex the Philippines, then other countries including Japan and Germany could’ve taken the country away. If the United States would’ve annexed the Philippians they were going to educate their people because everyone should have the right to get an education. The United States wanted to give the Philippines an opportunity to be independent and to be self-government. The United States would’ve had many trading goods and the markets

According to the United States, democracy and Christianity were principal elements of a successful society. During the end of the eighteen-hundreds and throughout the beginning of the nineteen-hundreds, America tried to colonize and reform less fortunate nations. Following a social-Darwinist point of view, Americans took their “God-given” superiority to those who were incapable of establishing their own self-government (Doc. H). After much debate, American foreign policy towards the Philippines and Cuba was that it is our duty to rule them until they could rule themselves. We pledged to save the indigenous people from their savage, bloody, and corrupt ways of life. President McKinley’s foreign policy towards the Philippines stated that “they would soon have anarchy and misrule…there was nothing left to do but take them all, educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them” (Doc. A).

First, if the United States does not annex the Philippines then it could be a disaster for them. Without annexing the Philippines the country can fall apart even more than it already has. Plus, all of the independence that they gained from Spain would be something that the country would regret, not to mention that it would be all for nothing if their country failed. The Philippines are simply not ready. Even President Mckinley agrees

were advocates against the annexation, many believed it was the right decision. Many individuals believed that taking the Philippines would help and better the country. For example, in Document C, William McKinley states that allowing the country to be independent would be wrong because the Philippines is unfit to self-govern and it could lead them anarchy like Spain. McKinley also states that there is no where else for the Philippines to go, he says that America cannot give them back to Spain because it would be shameful and that the country cannot be given to France or Germany because it would disgraceful. Therefore, America has no other choice but annex the Philippine Islands and save it from ruin. The individuals who fought for the annexation depended their arguments on what they perceived as the right thing to

Another victory through the Treaty of Paris was the possession of the Philippines. Though the Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo had aided in the defeat of Spain in 1898, USA refused independence to the Islands and a vicious three year war ensued. A civil government was created after the capture of Aguinaldo under William Taft and this showed a drastic change in American foreign policy. They could no longer justify interference with the excuse of the islands being within its sphere of influence but McKinley argued that America had the role to “uplift and civilize and christianize [Filipinos] as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died." McKinley was either unaware or simply chose not to inform the people that, except for some Muslim tribesmen in the south, the Filipinos were Roman Catholics, and, therefore, already Christians. In reality, the annexation of the Philippines was the centerpiece of the "large policy" pushed by the imperialist cabal to enlist the United States in the ranks of the great powers.

In 1898, the United States of America was in the midst of a complete remolding of the nation's reputation. Just having recently ended the Civil War among the states in the United States and once again forging war with the Spanish-American War, the United States was after a more masculine image and reputation. Due to the nature of the country at that moment in time, the American government wanted to prove their superiority among other emerging nations and in doing so chose to colonize and annex nations such as the Philippines. Primary resources indicated that the annexation of the Philippines was indeed motivated by the lack of masculinity that was felt by the American government at the time (Hollitz, 2010). Gender roles in the United States were at a point where their stereotypical reputations were changing and women were gaining more social power. This was unlike any comparable country at the time, and the United States was taking this transition negatively as their reputation as the most powerful nation in the world was at stake. This allowed for gender to play a dominate role in the debate over the Philippines.

America’s acquisition of the Philippines was a very controversial issue in America. Though liberals and much of the country did not support imperialism, America became an imperialist anyway. The Machine, which controlled the government and economy, saw their own personal gain in imperialism. Sure enough, they influenced America to become imperialists. America saw both the benefits and the harms that can result from imperialism. Without imperialism, though, America may not be as

As soon as Spain and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, this officially handed over the Philippines to American control. With adding more troops over the years to win battles, to win the confidence, respect, and loyalty of the population, America engaged in a great deal of what is today called “nation building.” Like the European colonizers, the United States poured more into their territories it acquired than it took. Many leaders have come through setting up parties and elections and making their mark of what they’ve done. Many years following the Spanish-American War, the United States would intervene in the affairs of Caribbean islands and Latin American

The bald red, white, and blue eagle of American Democracy is coming for you Phillipines, run while you can! Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, was so infatuated with the idea of democracy, and he wanted every country to have a little taste of American freedom! After America's victory in the Spanish American War, George Dewey and his 11,000 American troops marched into manila and were unsure whether to liberate or occupy the filipino people. Thinking the they were here to help, the Filipino rebels trusted the Americans, but were soon betrayed as Dewey decided to occupy the land. The United States had three choices to determine what they wanted to do with the Philippines: Give it back to Spain, Give the filipino people their freedom, or to annex the whole country itself. With much debate ranging from artists, influential citizens, and government officials, the US ultimately decided it would annex! The United States should not have annexed the Philippines but rather should have given them their independence. While others may think the annexation of the Philippines would have benefited them, what the Philippines really needed was

In document 2, Aguinaldo argues that the United States will not let the Phillipines govern themselves because they are “unfit” and “ignorant savages” the Americans saw was that the filipinos needed to be governed but could not do it alone. “You imagined you had bought the philippines and the Filipinos for this mess of pottage. Your imperialism led you, blind-fold, to purchase, to purchase “sovereignty” from a third party who had no title to give you -- a confidence trick, certainly, very transparent, a bad bargain, and one we have had sufficient perspicuity and education to see through”. America wanted to imperialize because he saw the people as uneducated, incapable of governing themselves and rebels.