The year of 1898 marked the beginning of United States imperialism and their efforts in expanding onto the grounds of other powerful nations. The United States joined the efforts of the Cuban rebels in an effort to get the Spanish out of the nation and allow Cuba to have their independence. As a result of the Spanish-American War, known as the “splendid little war”, the United States was able to succeed in their efforts, while going beyond their initial goal of just getting Cuba their independence. However, this caused controversy due to the fact that the in the treaty of to end the war, the United States would be taking over the Philippines, a Spanish owned territory, which was against the ideals of many Americans at the time. Although there …show more content…
While the discussion of ratifying the treaty was going on, there were deals being made on the side with the Democrats. During that time period, it was mainly a Republican goal to expand the boundaries of the United State further beyond its borders. This can be seen with the political cartoon, “The Expansion Policy”, depicting the G.O.P. Elephant benefitting off the “Territorial Expansion Dinner” while the Democratic Donkey was left with an empty plate. (Doc A). Therefore, convincing had to be done in order to get Democrats to vote for ratification. In an effort to get this done, people such as Marcus Hanna and Benton Elkins talked to the Democrats with mentions of business deals that could be made after the treaty was passed. In a conversation with Washington correspondent, Arthur P. Dunn, Arthur P. …show more content…
The idea of a Filipino to an American citizen was similar to any depiction of an outsider in the way of getting what they wanted, a savage. Therefore, to many, the idea of taking control of the Philippines was not seen as an act of harm towards the nation. Rather, some saw it as a way to take care of the Filipinos and help them become a happier nation. This seemed to be obvious in the way Orville Platt explained it as he said in a speech, “I am one of those who believe that we shall not ring the doom of this country when we shall place over our inhabitants of our conquered territory legislation which will confer upon them the blessings of happiness and prosperity” (Doc G). With this statement made, it is clear that the Senators wanted to paint an image of philanthropy with getting involved with the Philippines. They wanted to paint it as something positive that not only benefitted us, but the Filipinos as well. This is seen further with the poem, “White Man’s Burden”, that describes the act of helping this defenseless and savage nation as more of a responsibility for the United States than an act of imperialism (Doc I). By getting involved with the Philippines, the nation was seen as helping those that were in need, not taking over their lands. However, the real influence towards the Senate when it came to the