Dbq Essay Philippines

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Independence, a thing worth fighting for and a honor to have it. It is a long journey for struggling countries to receive independence, and it makes it even harder when their allies turn against them. In 1898 the United States and Spain fought in a war that resulted in the annexation of the Philippines. The Filipinos had helped in the fight against Spain in hopes for freedom, and instead were given a new ruler, America. The United States should not have annexed the Philippines because it goes against the original American morales, America betrayed the Filipinos, and the people are not from the same ethnicity or region as Americans.
To start with, by annexing the Philippines, America went against the original guidelines that had been set for the country. The foundation of America was set on freedom and expanding from coast to coast. One of the founding fathers even mentioned that it is unwise to get tangled in issues with foreign countries. One document states “It …show more content…

As a result, the Filipinos assumed that it was to liberate them from Spain and decided to help the Americans fight. When the Americans decided to annex the Filipinos they felt betrayed and thrown aside. According to one of the documents “When we made allies of the Filipinos and armed them to fight against Spain, we disputed Spain’s title… There can be no doubt that… we had full knowledge that they were fighting for their own independence” (Document D). It mentions the fact that the Americans knew that the Filipinos were fighting for their own independence, they still annexed the Philippines. The quote also discusses the issue that the Americans made allies with the Filipinos despite the fact that they knew the Filipinos were searching for freedom, not a new ruler. Although betrayal is a good reason, nothing can top the fact that the Philippines are from a complete different region of the

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