Remaining Loyal to the Foundations of the US
In Carl Schurz's article Imperialism Hostile to Liberty, he believesd that the United States violated it's own beliefs by staying in the Philippines and not handing the government over to the people of the Philippines. He calls this "criminal aggression" and disloyal to the people of the United States.
The Spanish-American War, although fought internationally, created a national dispute within the United States. There were those who believed, like Schurz, the US should have not been in the Philippines. America was founded on the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Another of our nations foundations is the idea that governments receive their power from the consent of the people. By staying in the Philippines we contradicted our own foundations and natural rights. But there are those who believed that being in the Philippines were helpful to both the Philippines and the United States (economically). The "savages" of the Philippines would have an opportunity to be civilized and the US would have a new market to sell it's goods and earn more capital. These two different ideals created a divide in Americans, which Schurz compared to the Civil War.
"The attempt of 1861 was to divide the country. That of 1899 is to destroy its
fundamental principles and noblest ideals"
posted by e.schaefer at 1:18 PM
1 Comments:
A good post.
You are addressing the issue of the debate over the war directly. That is fine, but try to specifically discuss the ways the pro and anti war forces attempted to convince the public. What kinds of rhetoric and symbolism were used? What were the arguments being used? What kind of language? What kind of images? What are the similarities between the pro and anti-war propaganda? What are the similarities to today's debate over the war and America's role in the world?
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