In 1898, United States defeated the Spain and took the control of Cuba, Guam and Puerto Rico. After that, US decided to give the freedom to Cuba but to keep the hold on Puerto Rico and Hawaii. The decision to annex the Philippine and to give the freedom to Hawaii and Puerto Rico was crucial. Historians suggest that it was in the best interest of President McKinley to annex the Philippine and acquire its ownership in order to boost the routes of trade and give the strength to US foreign affairs.
The reason behind annex the Philippine is to have the better and improved trade. The export trade of United State would gain the rise in the western pacific and eastern Asia. The only way to have the clear path towards Asia is to gain the ownership of Philippine and Hawaii and that’s the reason of capturing the former one. Apart from the clear path and better trade routes, Philippine is the fertile land with many natural resources which would have benefited the American people and the people of Philippine as well by providing the skill labors and corporations to run the businesses. Both the countries will benefit with these resources which eventually leads to the strong economies(Bascara, 190).
The sole reason of not capturing the Philippine was that the people of that country wasn’t willing to have the presence of US people on their soil. Their disagreement with the US government was not a strong argument because those who were raising their voices in against the America was from the outside forces and ignoring the change which was needed at that time. The people were not in favor of another owner of their lands like they had experienced before and America wasn’t going to own the land but to acquire it for mutual benefit.
Works Cited
Bascara, Victor. “God’s Arbiters: Americans and the Philippines, 1898-1902 Empire’s Proxy: American Literature and US Imperialism in the Philippines.” (2014): 189-191.
