Argumentative Essay: The Annexation Of The Philippines

Annexation Of The Philippines

In 1898, the United States warred with Spain on two fronts; Cuba and the Philippines. This was under the pretext that the Spanish government was treating the natives of both island nations badly,and that the two nations did not deserve to be ruled unjustly. Of course, there were other reasons for the initiation of the war, but keeping with that, the United States ousted the Spanish in a short amount of time from both countries. Then, with the liberation of the countries, America had a choice of how to exert their influence upon those states; Cuba was shortly granted their independence, but the Philippines were another matter. In October of the same year the U.S. went to war, and they decided to annex the Philippines; gain control of the country and install an American Government upon it. Therefore U.S. should have annexed the Philippines because it was Manifest Destiny and, because of the strategic location that allows to strengthen themselves both economically and militarily.

Firstly the U.S.

should have annexed the Philippines because the annexation keeps rival countries like Germany, France, And especially Spain from getting the strategic location of the Philippines that provide an advantage both for trading and warfare. The Philippines provides a direct and near trade route to the southern coast of China, whom are one of the biggest trading forces in the world. The U.S. were already trading with China, but it took much more resources to ship from North America to China. With the Philippines being so close to China, the annexation of the Philippines would greatly increase the amount of profitability for America. The products would take less money and time to ship which in turn would allow more products to be traded because the quicker America ships the products, the quicker China will have those

products.
Second, the U.S. should have annexed the Philippines because of Manifest Destiny; which is the 19th-century doctrine or belief that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was both justified and inevitable because that's what God wants. As Albert J. Beveridge stated; “ Wonderfully has God guided us ( the U.S.).... We can not retreat from any soil where Providence has unfurled our banner; it is ours to save … for liberty and civilization.” Similarly William McKinley said; “ 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, as our fellowmen for whom Christ also died.” Therefore the U.S. should have annexed the Philippines because of Manifest Destiny.
In a case such as this, it is majorly dependent on the subject, and what that subject would consider relevant. Which does one value more, the principal of civil liberties and the right to self-govern, or an “ends justifies the means” argument, one that claims that intervention which denies these rights which consequently benefits the denied in some way that is greater than that which has been taken from them is justified. If one decided to value the sovereignty of the Philippines more than a belief that we could help them more than they could help themselves despite objectionable methods, than it matters very little what actually happened; the right answer would be to have been annexing the Philippines.
So, it cannot be said that the Philippines were not enormously benefited by the United States Annexing it succeeding the decades of its dependence. In fact, it was likely that it was the best thing that ever happened to the Philippines bar none. Yet still, the original ques
tion is asked, “should the United States have annexed the Philippines?” Looking back on it from the position of the triumphant descendants, the answer could easily be written down as yes, but in times when the legislature is newly decided, it was not so certain, and, in context, it could easily be considered morally reprehensible. In the end, it boils down to the greatest benefit to the U.S. which the annexation heavily benefited the U.S. Therefore U.S. should have annexed the Philippines because it was Manifest Destiny and, because of the strategic location that allows to strengthen themselves both economically and militarily.