Essay About The Annexation Of The Philippines

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After the Spanish American War, Many Spanish territories had been ceded such as Guam, Puerto Rico, and Cuba while the Philippines islands were sold to the United States. Cuba was recognized as an independent nation, but Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines were set to be annexed. The Philippines in particular was outraged and fought a war with the United States to gain its independence. The decision to annex was not unanimous as many people, including the Filipinos, Senators, American citizens, and even colored citizens were opposed to the annexation. Emilio Aguinaldo of the Philippines argued that the United States had been lying and deceiving all along with their false promises, and that they are no better than those imperialistic nations The cartoon depicts the man giving the bath as President McKinley and the child with the spear in hand depicts the Philippines. McKinley is shown holding a brush representing education and the waters depicting representing civilization. The baby in McKinley’s hands resembles a barbaric Native American, which is trying to make the Filipinos look like uncivilized, uneducated barbarians. The baby resisting the bath represents the Philippines resisting the forced ethnic cleansing into sup par people to the whites. Ultimately, this pictures sums up the annexation of the Philippines and its forceful implementation of civilization from the point of view of a white supremacist who sees the Filipinos as barbarians unfit for It was clear that Emilio Aguinaldo and the Filipinos did not want to be ruled over by another country much like Spain had. Many of the white politicians including President McKinley favored annexation because they believed the Filipinos were lesser people that were uncivilized and simply unfit for self-government, while also desiring the resources available on the island and its strategic location. Other people including a few politicians thought that America should not force onto others their beliefs and ideals while also not allowing them to be a free nation considering the United States was in a similar state of rebellion over a century prior. The colored citizens believed that the United States should focus its attention on domestic issues such as racial

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