An American Empire - Jenn

             At the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, America had acquired the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico.  The Philippines remained a gray area because America could not decide what to do with them.  If they annexed them, then that would mean that America would lose its republican ideals and gain imperial control over a country forcefully without agreement with its people.  People who supported the annexation thought that having control over the Philippines would give economic and militaristic benefits.  Some of them also believed that it was imperative to help the “less civilized” country.  On the opposite side of the totem pole were the anti-imperialists, which included a few notable people including Andrew Carnegie and Mark Twain.  Carnegie spawned an excellent argument that seizing control of the Philippines would cost more money than what would be profited from the economic benefits of selling and distributing goods there.   In the end, President McKinley agreed to annex the Philippines by paying Spain $20 million and became an imperial power. 

                Another problem faced by the United States was Cuba.  With the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the United States reluctantly granted Cuba their independence, but in a way they had to keep Cuba linked to them for political purposes.  President McKinley allowed them to write their own constitution with the exception of an added amendment.  This amendment, called the Platt Amendment, required Cuba to keep its ties with other nations limited to the United States,  gave the United States the right to buy and lease naval stations there, kept Cuba’s debt low, and allowed the U.S. to intervene when Cuba’s independence was threatened.  Soon after, Congress passed the Foraker Act to establish a civil government for Puerto Rico.  Things were peaceful, for a short time.

                The Philippines were not content with the new annexation, so they rebelled in the Philippine-American War.  This war lasted for around three years, and there were 4,300 American casualties and 50,000-200,000 Filipino casualties.  The United States turned to hypocrisy and used the same military tactics that they had convicted Spain for when they used them on Cuba.  They established reconcentration camps and separated the guerrillas (Filipino soldiers) from the innocent civilians.  Many people died from disease and starvation.  William Howard Taft, the future president and the first governor of the islands, tried to win back the respect of the people by implementing education, transportation, and health care into their society.  A month after America captured the leader of the guerrillas, they surrendered, and the war ended.  It wasn’t until 1946 that the Philippines were granted independence from the U.S.