America Annexing the Philippines Just imagine living life in a cold and deserted state. In 1898 the United States went to war with Spain because of their poor treatment of the Philippines. The U.S. was not sure what to do with the Philipines, but they needed to make a choice. The U.S. had three choices which were to hand the islands back to Spain, give the Philippines its independence, or annex. The decision to annex was passed by one vote, it was a very split decision. Now the big debate was whether or not the U.S. should have made the Philippines apart of their rule. The United States should have annexed the Philippines because they needed to protect them from other countries, annexing was the only choice, and to help them rebuild and get …show more content…
itself. Above all the critique that America was enduring, they chose to do what was the best for both of them at that time. In Doc B it says “ We can not retreat from any soil where Providence has unfurled our banner; it is ours to save...for liberty and civilization.”(Beveridge 149). They had already gotten involved, they beat the Spanish and they were not about to turn away a land that was in need. Back in the U.S. citizens were evenly split on the decision as well. Not only did the help the Philippines but one of the main reasons that annexing was the only choice was that America needed to keep their own status on track. In Doc C it says “ we could not turn them over to France and Germany-our commercial rivals in the Orient-that would be bad business and discreditable”McKinley 151). America didn't want to turn them over to their own allies, this could cause a number of different problems. It would have been dishonorable for the United States to fight for them and just leave them. In all circumstances the United States had only a few choices and evidence has shown that annexing was the best for both the Philippines and