|
THE
DEBATE OVER THE PHILIPPINES, 1898-1900 A Documentary Source Problem On April 19, 1898, the U.S. Congress
declared war on Spain. The Congress proclaimed Cuba to be free, demanded
Spain withdraw from Cuba, directed the President to use armed force to insure
this demand, and denied any intention by the U.S. to take Cuba. Spain’s rule over Cuba had been cruel, and
Americans were outraged by it. American newspapers run by Joseph Pulitzer and
William Randolph Hearst exaggerated the Spanish atrocities in order to sell
more papers, and the American public began to demand war with Spain. Then the
U.S. battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk in Havana harbor, with a
loss of over 250 officers and men. American anger reached the boiling point. Congress promised not to annex Cuba because
it wanted to assure the American people that this war was to be a selfless
humanitarian crusade to defend the Cubans. It also wanted to help American
sugar companies by keeping Cuban sugar out of the U.S. (or: Congress wanted
to assure the.....[and at end,] therefore Congress promised not to annex
Cuba.) The war, however, began in the distant
Philippine Islands. When war was declared, the Asiatic Squadron of the U.S.
Navy, under the command of Admiral George Dewey, sailed immediately for the
Philippines. There it surprised and destroyed the Spanish fleet in a
"glorious victory" that astonished and thrilled the American people
and government. The dilemma for Americans was this:
Congress had pledged no annexation of Cuba. But what about other Spanish
territories that might be conquered during the war? What about the
Philippines? American troops occupied Manila, the Philippine capital. At
first they cooperated with Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of the rebel
Philippine forces against Spain. With time, however, U.S. wishes conflicted
with Aguinaldo’s hopes for Philippine independence........... DOCUMENT #1 Judge P.S. Grosscup in The Chicago
Tribune, May 3, 1898. "The Latin race...is a diminishing
race; the Anglo-Saxon, pre-eminent in all the arts and ambitions that make
this age powerful, is an increasing race. It is the only race that has, since
the beginning of time, correctly conceived the individual rights of men, and
is, on that account,...surviving, by fitness, the other races... "The twentieth century
will...undoubtedly cleanse and advance the stagnant peoples [of Asia]....Into
this field the moral purposes and commercial courage of the Anglo-Saxon are
bound to project themselves....This war has shown that we need a home port in
Asiatic waters. The strategy of war has compelled us to obtain a temporary
foothold in the Philippines. I believe we will find a way to make it
permanent." DOCUMENT #2 Wm. Jennings Bryan, Presidential Candidate
of the Democratic Party, 1896 and 1900, June 14, 1898. "History will vindicate the position
taken by the United States in the war with Spain....If, however, a contest
undertaken for the sake of humanity degenerates into a war of conquest,
we...have added hypocrisy to greed. "Shall we contemplate a scheme for the
colonization of the Orient merely because our ships won a remarkable victory
in the harbor of Manila? "Our guns destroyed a Spanish fleet,
but can they destroy that self-evident truth, that governments derive their
just powers not from superior force, but from the consent of the
governed?" DOCUMENT #3 Wm. James, philosopher and psychologist,
June 15, 1898. "Our disclaiming all idea of conquest
is sincere... Congress denied any project of conquest in Cuba [and] it meant
every word it said....But here comes in the psychologic factor: once the
excitement of action gets loose, the taxes levied, the victories achieved,
the old human instincts will get into play....We shall never take Cuba;...but
Puerto Rico, and even the Philippines, are not so sure. We had supposed
ourselves (with all our crudity and barbarity in certain ways) a better
nation morally than the rest, safe at home and without the old savage
ambition....Dreams! Human Nature is everywhere the same; and at the least
temptation all the old military passions rise..." DOCUMENT #4 Senator J.S. Morrill, June 20, 1898. "We cannot afford to denounce and
forbid all acquisitions of territory in the Western hemisphere by European
governments...and forthwith embark in a thus be-damned enterprise
ourselves....We must practice what we preach." DOCUMENT #5 Henry Watterson, newspaper editor,
interviewed in The New York Herald, June 22, 1898. "To surrender territory acquired by
the outlay of so much blood and treasure would be a wanton and cowardly
abandonment of obligations and opportunities literally heaven-sent....We
cannot remand the Philippines to Spain, or commit them to a population
incapable of self-government, to become a prey of Europe... "The traditional stay-at-home and
mind-your-own-business policy laid down by [George] Washington was wise for a
weak and struggling nation...But each of the centuries has its own tale of
progress to tell....The United States from now on is destined to be a world
power... "From a nation of shop-keepers we
become a nation of warriors. We escape the menace and peril of socialism and
agrarianism, as England has escaped them, by a policy of colonization and
conquest...We risk Caesarism, certainly; but even Caesarism is preferable to
anarchism..." DOCUMENT #7 New York Herald, Aug. 21, 1898. FILIPINOS
WORSE THAN
THE INDIANS Described
by the Herald's Correspondent as
Repulsive in Appearance and
Brutal in their Warfare WOMEN
PRISONERS CRUELLY
TREATED Huts
of the Natives in the Bamboo Thickets
Filled with Hoards of
Plunder CUNNING
AND UNRELIABLE Passes
signed by "General" Aguinaldo Bear
Such Titles as "the August Dictator" "The native Filipino is much a Malay,
a good deal a Chinese and more of a Jap, with more or less Spanish meanness
thrown in....None of the women are even good looking. They have very
expressive eyes and the younger ones have good white teeth, and that's
all." DOCUMENT #8 Revs. W.C. Steele and J.P. Peters, in
"Preachers Say Hold Philippines", New York Herald, Aug. 22,
1898. "The dead nation [Spain] is evidence
of the wrath of God. We have conquered them because we we were fighting for
humanity and God. The American idea is divine. The red, white and blue
represents what the cross represents -- equality." "Selfishness and exclusiveness act to
the detriment of the individual....In the past the United States government
has offered an asylum for the oppressed of all nations....The refugees have
come to us. Now we have stepped outside of our own borders to aid other
people in the march of freedom and the upholding of human rights." DOCUMENT #9 Rev. A.B. Leonard, "Prospective
Mission Fields", Gospel in All Lands (Methodist publication),
Aug., 1898. "Had Spain pursued an enlightened
policy in politics and religion...she might rank now with Great Britain,
rather than with decaying nations such as China and Turkey....She has kept
her masses in dense ignorance and under the influence of blind
superstition... "An overruling Providence has thrust
us out to the 'uttermost parts of the earth', there to break the power of
Spanish despotism....Great opportunities are suddenly open before the
Christian Church for advancing among long-oppressed peoples the kingdom of
God....The Christian Church must follow the army and occupy the territory
conquered by the war power of the nation." DOCUMENT # 10 J.G. Carlisle, ex-Secretary of the Navy,
"Our Future Policy", Harper's Magazine, Sept. 1898. "Our political institutions were not
designed for the government of dependent colonies....This was intended to be
a free republic, composed of self-governing States and intelligent,
law-abiding, and liberty-loving people....The new policy [of annexing the
Philippines] will demand large standing armies and great navies with
consequent burdensome taxation..." DOCUMENT #11 Charles Denby, U.S. Minister to China,
"Shall We Keep the Philippines?" Forum, Sept. 1898. "Dewey's victory has changed our
attitude before the world. We took no part in international questions. We had
no standing in the council of nations..... "I recognize the existence of a
national sentiment...against the acquisition of foreign territory; but...we
have to compete with the commercial nations of the world in far-distant
markets. Commerce, not politics, is king....There is a boundless future which
will make the Pacific more important to us than the Atlantic....The
possession [of the Philippines] gives us standing and influence. It gives us
also valuable trade both in exports and imports....We are taking our proper
rank among the nations of the world." DOCUMENT #12 Samuel Gompers, Presient of the American
Federation of Labor, Dec. 1898. "If the Philippines are annexed, what
is to prevent the Chinese, the Negritos and the Malays coming to our country?
If these new islands are to become ours,...can we hope to close the
flood-gates of immigration from the hordes of Chinese and the semi-savage
races coming from what will then be part of our own country?" DOCUMENT #13 Sen. G.F. Hoar (R-Mass.) and Sen. O.H.
Platt (R-Conn.) in U.S. Senate, Jan 9, 1899. Mr. HOAR. The Monroe Doctrine is gone.
Every European nation, every European alliance, has the right to acquire
dominion in this hemisphere when we acquire it in the other....Our fathers
dreaded a standing army; but the Senator's doctrine...renders necessary a
standing army... Mr. PLATT. The literal application of the
Senator's doctrine would have turned back the Mayflower from our coast
and would have prevented our expansion westward to the Pacific Ocean. He
announces the doctrine that we must not attempt to govern any people except
with their consent. Mr. President, what did we do with the Indians of this
country?...Providence brought about...the great force of Christian
civilization on earth. I believe the same force was behind...our ships in
Manila Bay, that was behind the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. I
believe that we have been chosen to carry forward this great work of
uplifting humanity on earth...The English-speaking people...is charged with
this great mission...We propose to proclaim liberty and justice and the
protection of life and human rights wherever the flag of the United States is
planted. Mr. HOAR. You have no right at the cannon's
mouth to impose on an unwilling people your Declaration of Independence and
your Constitution and your notions of freedom and notions of what is good....The
[Filipino] people...have got a government, with courts and judges, better
than those of the people of Cuba, who it was said, had a right to
self-government...and it is proposed to turn your guns on them and say, 'We
think that our notion of government is better than the notion you have got
yourselves'. DOCUMENT #14 Wm. Jennings Bryan, "Will It
Pay?", New York Journal, Jan. 15, 1899. "Who can estimate in money and men the
cost of subduing and keeping in subjection eight millions of people, six
thousand miles away, scattered over 1200 islands, and living under a tropical
sun?.... "Let us consider for a moment the
indirect cost of annexation. Grave domestic problems press for solution; can
we afford to neglect them...to engage unnecessarily in controversies
abroad?...Monopoly can thrive in security so long as the inquiry, 'Who will
haul down the flag?' on distant islands turns public attention away from the
question, who will uproot the trusts at home?" DOCUMENT #15 Sen. Tillman (D-S.C.) and Sen. Nelson (R-Minn.)
in the U.S. Senate, Jan 20, 1899. Mr. TILLMAN. You are undertaking to
annex...islands inhabited by ten millions of the colored race, one-half or
more of whom are barbarians of the lowest type. It is to the injection into
the body politic of the United States of that [corrupted] blood, that debased
and ignorant people, that we object... Mr. NELSON. The fear of the Senator from
South Carolina...is to a large extent based upon the idea that if we annex
the people of these territories they become voters, full citizens in every
respect. That is not true. A person may become a citizen of the United States
and [be] entirely deprived of the right of suffrage. A minor is a citizen of
the United States;... a woman is a citizen of the United States... DOCUMENT #16 A.L. Lowell, President of Harvard Univ.,
"The Colonial Expansion of the United States", Atlantic Monthly,
Feb., 1899. "For many Americans the word
['colony'] has disagreeable associations....[However,] since the
Revolutionary War the inhabitants of the United States have increased
twentyfold...and one-half live in communities that have at some time been
organized as territories -- in other words, that have been founded by the
process of colonization. ...Therefore, the United States has been one of the greatest
and most successful colonizing powers the world has ever known... "If our colonies are to thrive and add
to our own prosperity, we must select only thoroughly trained
administrators....It is necessary to create a permanent and highly paid
colonial administrative service, which shall offer an honorable and
attractive career for young men of ability." DOCUMENT #17 Wm. James, letter to Boston Evening
Transcript, Mar.1, 1899. "We are now openly engaged in crushing
out the sacredest thing in this great human world -- the attempt of a people
long enslaved to attain to the possession of itself, to organize its laws and
government....Why, then, do we go on? First, the war fever; and then the
pride which always refuses to back down....[Our] national destiny must be
'big' at any cost....We are to be missionaries of civilization!...The
individual lives are nothing...Could there be a more damning indictment of
the whole bloated term 'modern civilization' than this amounts to?" DOCUMENT #18 Sen. Carl Schurz (R-Mo.), "The Policy
of Imperialism", Oct. 17, 1899. "I am not in sympathy with those...who
would sacrifice our National honor and the high ideals of the Republic, and
who would inflict upon our people the burdens of...militarism for a mere
matter of dollars and cents...But I will, for argument's sake,...ask: Will it
Pay? "Tropical countries like the
Philippines may be field of profit for rich men who can hire others to work
for them, but not for those who have to work for themselves....The profits of
the trade with the islands...can never amount to the cost of making and
maintaining the conquest of the Philippines...[and] many imperialists admit
that..." DOCUMENT #19 Theodore Roosevelt, Gov. of New York,
"Expansion and Peace", The Independent, Dec. 21, 1899. "The growth of peacefulness between
nations...has been confined strictly to those that are civilized....Whether
the Barbarian be the Red Indian on the frontier of the United States, [or]
the Afghan on the border of British India,... civilized man finds he can keep
the peace only by subduing his barbarian neighbor... "Every expansion of a great civilized
power means a victory for law, order and righteousness,...whether...France or
England, Russia or America. "Nations that expand and nations that
do not expand may botrh ultimately go down, but the one leaves heirs and a
glorious memory, and the other leaves neither. The Roman expanded and he has
left a memory which has profoundly influenced the history of mankind." DOCUMENT #20 Wm. Jennings Bryan, "New Peoples Must
Be Raised", New York Journal, Feb. 11, 1900. "The theory that half of our people
can be free and half vassal...will blossom into the doctrine that some strong
man has the divine right to rule the American people, and then the people at
home will be targets for the large army raised to support a policy of
exploitation in other lands." DOCUMENT #21 Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge (R-Mass.) in U.S.
Senate, Mar. 7, 1900. "Our immediate duty is to suppress
this disorder [the Philippine rebellion against the U.S.], put an end to
fighting, and restore peace and order. That is what we are doing... "Our Constitution gives full right and
authority to hold and govern the Philippines without making them either
economically or politically part of our system, neither of which they should
ever be. "It has been stated over and over
again that we have done great wrong in taking these islands without the
consent of the governed...The Declaration of Independence was the
announcement of the existence of a new revolutionary government upon American
soil. Upon whose consent did it rest?...All negroes...were not
consulted....Were women included in the word ‘governed’? "Under the guidance of Thomas
Jefferson...we took Louisiana without the consent of the governed, and ruled
it...Who is there today who will stand up and say that Thomas Jefferson did
not do well and rightly when he bought Louisiana? "Then came the Mexican War, and by the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo we received a great cession of territory from
Mexico....There were many Mexicans living within the ceded territory. We
never asked their consent... "The downfall of the Republic has been
constantly... foretold many times since the foundation of the Government,
...and always when a great expansion of territory took place. Never has it
come true." DOCUMENT #22 Theodore Roosevelt, Republican Candidate
for Vice President, Sept. 7, 1900. "When in 1776 the U.S. declared itself
a nation, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan formed part of Canada. Illinois and
Indiana were acquired by conquest during the Revolution....The Indian
aboriginal inhabitants of these States were not consulted in the treaty, nor
were the white inhabitants of French extraction... "Mr. Bryan and his associates cannot
say enough about the ‘consent of the governed’ doctrine as applying to the
Philippines. They dwell upon the fact that ‘no man is good enough to govern
another’. In North Carolina, and other Southern States, we see...the
disfranchisement of the negro..., the black man governed without his consent
by the white man....If our opponents are sincere they must necessarily
denounce what has been done in North Carolina... more...than what has been
done in the Philippines. "The policy of expansion is America’s
historic policy. We have annexed the Philippines exactly as we have annexed
Hawaii, New Mexico, and Alaska. They are now part of the American territory
and we have no more right to give them up than we have the right to restore
Hawaii to the Kanaka Queen or to abandon Alaska to the Esquimaux." DOCUMENT #23 Rev. Josiah Strong, Expansion, Sept.
1900. "Industrial expansion is an absolute
necessity to competitive manufacturers... "Wu Ting-fing, Chinese Minister to the
United States, said: ‘We all know that China is one of the greatest markets
of the world, with a population of 400,000,000 that must be fed and
clothed...She wants your wheat, your cotton, your iron and steel...It is a
fine field for American industry to fill these wants.’ "We [Americans] have become an Asiatic
power, close to the Yellow Sea, and we find it easy to believe that ‘There’s
a divinity that shapes our ends’." DOCUMENT #24 Bishop J.L. Spalding, "Love of
Country", 1899. "Why...should we go to the ends of the
earth to take forcible possession of islands lying in remote oceans under
tropical skies, inhabited by barbarous or savage tribes, where both race and
culture preclude the hope of ever attaining to a high degree of culture?... "What can imperialism bring us except
the menace of ruin? As men are born to die, states rise to fall. Nineveh,
Tyre, Babylon, Persia, Egypt and Greece, each had its day. States must
perish, but empires are more surely and more quickly brought to ruin. Roman
patriotism was dead when Rome became an empire." DOCUMENT #25 Andrew Carnegie, head of The Carnegie Steel
Co., "Should the United States Expand?", 1900. "It has been said that the Philippines
will be to the United States what India is to England....Do people really
know what India is to England? England in India stands today upon a volcano.
She has to keep 60,000 British troops there to hold the people in
subjection....There is scarcely a statesman of Britain who does not wish
privately: ‘Would that we were safely out of India!’ "India is the curse of Britain, and
the Philippines will be the curse of the United States. If you teach
suppressed people at all, you make them rebels. Education is fatal to the
government of a superior race. The Declaration of Independence will make
every ambitious Filipino a thoroughly dissatisfied subject." DOCUMENT #26 Interview with President William McKinley,
Nov. 21, 1899. "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 went down on my knees and prayed to
Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late
it came to me..: That we could not give them back to Spain -- that would be
cowardly and dishonorable; that we could not turn them over to France or
Germany -- our commercial rivals...; 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, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died. And then
I went to bed, and went to sleep, and slept soundly..." From: http://marchand.ucdavis.edu/lessons/HS/PhilippinesHS.htm
|