Theodore Roosevelt was a bit of a Kant
Studying the societal climate and political motivations surrounding the annexation of the Philippines by the United States, historians, often use political source documents from the period to gain insight. Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 while giving the stump speech National Duties in Minnesota, twelve days before being elected the 26th president, articulated his views on the topic of the Philippines. Historians Nell Irvin Painter and Kristin L. Hoganson offer their interpretations regarding the rationales that contributed to the annexation of the Philippines. In Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars Hoganson argues that male-centered
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In fact, Painter, describes this belief to be so strong that “expansion was the inevitable result.” Starting off the passage Painter expresses that this desire for expansion was wholly unfounded stating that the recent issues of “foodstuffs and manufactured goods [were] reputedly overproduced.” However, the depressions of the early 1890s leaves the public lumbering into the next century wary for the future and looking heavily to the current administration for a solution. An American population that has been fed time and again by the expansions of the country. While not yet the full belief of the country, the idea of expansion was pushed fervently by American businessmen hungry for access to foreign markets. Painter goes on to describe, “American businessmen for decades… included the novel expectation that the government of the United States should play an active part in fostering exports.” This desire to look outward for answers to problems was a much easier pill to swallow than to accept the failings of the American …show more content…
Furthermore, the ruling elite convinced themselves that to annex this new colony was the duty of a “maturing” nation that carried with it the “responsibilities” and “obligations” of the responsible nation to usher others to preeminence. Hoganson interprets this ideal through the lens of a gender historian whereby “physically powerful men who would govern unmanly subordinates with a firm hand.” In effect deriding the Filipino populace as incapable of self-governance. Leading the Filipino people via the American-Way subsequently becomes a moral duty, opening the door for expansionism, not as the conquering and subjugation of a foreign people but “as civilizers and authoritative heads of household.” According to Hoganson this permits the American imperialists the justification required for “American men to develop their ability to govern.” Accordingly, this would thrust American society forward as a more mature
The first reason the United States should have annexed the Philippines is because it is our duty to as a country to spread the values of democracy overseas. For example, as stated here in Albert J. Beveridge’s campaign speech he says, “ Do we owe no duty to the world?… it is ours to save for liberty and civilization (Doc B).” He is saying that it is our duty as a sovereign nation to help an uncivilized nation modernize, industrialize, . another example, is from William Mcki...
At the turn of the century, and after gaining our independence, the United States land mass more than doubled through the use of purchasing, annexing, and war. However, the foreign policy of our government took a predominately isolationist stand. This was a national policy of abstaining from political or economic relations with other countries. General Washington shaped these values by upholding and encouraging the use of these principles by warning to avoid alliances in his farewell speech. The reasoning behind these actions was that the Republic was a new nation. We did not have the resources or the means to worry about other countries and foreign affairs; our immediate efforts were internal. Our goals that were of primary importance were setting up a democratic government and jump-starting a nation. The United States foreign policy up to and directly preceding the Civil War was mainly Isolationist. After the war, the government helped bring together a nation torn apart by war, helped improved our industrialization, and helped further populate our continent. We were isolationist in foreign affairs, while expanding domestically into the west and into the north through the purchase of Alaska. However, around 1890 the expansionism that had taken place was a far cry from what was about to happen. Expansionism is the nations practice or policy ...
In my opinion The United States ordeal with Annexing the Philippines and the idea that we had of going into war with them was great mistake and should have been avoided. The Filipinos and Americans were deadlocked in war with each other. This all became a controversy with the two nations in 1898 when the Treaty of Paris between Spain and the United Stated ceded all seven thousand islands of the Philippine archipelago to the United States, for just a mere twenty-million dollars. Congress had approved the treaty with Spain, by February of 1899. Mckinley was on the verge of calling for the annexation of the Philippines which brought on a bloody two year struggle. In my opinion the United States was the cause of all of this because of three different reasons, for one our government would not...
In Chapter 8 of Major Problems in American Immigration History, the topic of focus shifts from the United States proper to the expansion and creation of the so called American Empire of the late Nineteenth Century. Unlike other contemporary colonial powers, such as Britain and France, expansion beyond the coast to foreign lands was met with mixed responses. While some argued it to be a mere continuation of Manifest Destiny, others saw it as hypocritical of the democratic spirit which had come to the United States. Whatever their reasons, as United States foreign policy shifted in the direction of direct control and acquisition, it brought forth the issue of the native inhabitants of the lands which they owned and their place in American society. Despite its long history of creating states from acquired territory, the United States had no such plans for its colonies, effectively barring its native subjects from citizenship. Chapter 8’s discussion of Colonialism and Migration reveals that this new class of American, the native, was never to be the equal of its ruler, nor would they, in neither physical nor ideological terms, join in the union of states.
The United States should not annex the Philippine islands, the Philippines, already a country of their own should not be forced to adapt to American culture and civilization. Prior to the annexation of the Philippines, America had major conflict with Spain in order to free Cuba from their brutal tactics for dominance. Tension continued to rise, until President Mckinley decided to take action and go to war against Spanish forces to enable a more stable government as well as provide protection for the citizens of Cuba. After months of fighting, the Spanish admitted defeat and began discussing peace terms of the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty Cuba was guaranteed independence, also the Spanish were forced to give up Guam and Puerto Rico. They Spanish also complied to selling the Philippines to the U.S for 20 million. However, the Filipinos wanted independence, not just a change in who governed them, this desire led many Philippine citizens to break out, beginning the Philippine- American war, which lasted three years, and caused the death of over two hundred thousand American and Filipino citizens.
United States expansionism in the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century is both a continuation and a departure of past United States expansionism. Expansionism in the United States has occurred for many reasons. Power (from land), religion, economics, and the ideas of imperialism and manifest destiny are just a few reasons why the U.S. decided to expand time and again throughout the course of its 231 year history. Expansionism has evolved throughout the years as the inhabitants of the country have progressed both socially (the Second Great Awakening, the women's suffrage movement, the populist party and the early 19th and 20th century social reformers) and economically (factories, better farms, more jobs, etc.) Expansion changed from non-interference policies to the democratic control of the government as the United States grew in both size and population. Through the use of the documents and events during two major-expansion time periods (1776-1880) and 1880-1914), I will display both the continuation and departure trends of United States expansionism.
After analyzing the primary articles, this author read the closing argument of Hoganson’s arguments. This author continues to agree with Hoganson’s claim and evidence that the annexation of the Philippines was an answer to the degradation of masculinity. It is clear there is a direct appeal to a need for masculinity, but in many other factors to annex the Philippines, masculinity is displayed. The need to show the world the masculine qualities of American men had a large role in the actions in annexing the Philippines. If America did not annex, another country would take over that land and leave Americans with a weak name. The gender concerns were of high value because they had roots in many other factors to ultimately make the decision America
Many causes fueling America's need to expand and acquire new lands existed. One of the reasons was Americans were experiencing "a large birthrate increase due to immigration. And because agriculture provided the primary economic structure, large f...
A reason America wanted to expand was because they wanted their economy to thrive. After the Spanish American war, Hawaii became extremely important to the US for business uses. Eventually, Hawaii and the US signed a trade treaty which allowed Hawaiian sugar to be sold in America. Soon after, President Mckinley decided to annex Hawaii because there were a lot of factors about Hawaii that could benefit America. The annexation of Hawaii allowed America to create more naval stations in order to protect it’s world trade. The growth of America’s economy was partly because of Hawaii's goods. The economy of the US would not be as successful as it is today if we did not expand our borders. The US had the most advanced economy, but that didn’t stop them from trying to achieve more success which leads to my second evidence. America needed new markets to sell US-made goods as well as raw materials like sugar and oil. So America’s plan was to trade with China and expand their trade routes. America didn’t want to risk the chances of losing trade opportunities with Japan, Africa, China and other nations so they had the intention of expanding abroad. Furthermore, the US was able to have a successful and wealthy economy by expanding
Blood has been spilled all over the ground of the Philippines. The United States fought a small war with Spain in 1898. The United States ended up getting Cuba and the Philippine Islands as a war prize. Cuba got their independence, but the United States decided to keep the Philippine Islands by annexing them (Background Essay). Should the United States have annexed the Philippines? Annexed means to join or combine a smaller country with a bigger country. The United States should have annexed the Philippine Islands because they needed guidance to become a better country, couldn't give the Philippine Islands to other countries, and there was nothing else the United States could do with them.
At first, we were a nation of immigrants that prospered in a way that people have never seen. America is known as the land of opportunity, we have innovativeness, and when you really work hard you can definitely make a change for yourself. Turner coins American development by the westward movement. Moving west, and tapping the resources given to us is what made us different. Turner’s thesis is, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain[s] American development. The idea that success came from moving west. This idea wraps up how America became the nation to be.
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.
The truth is I didn’t want the Philippines, and when they came to us, as a gift from the gods, I did not know what to do with them.… I sought counsel from all sides— Democrats as well as Republicans—but got little help. I thought first we would take only Manila; then Luzon; then other islands perhaps also. I walked the floor of the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way… that we could not give them back to Spain… that we could not leave them to themselves— they were unfit for self-government… [and] 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, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them.” (Thomas G. Paterson and Dennis
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.
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.