This week, we focused on trade and International business. What do you suppose that Americans thought about the idea of making colonies in the Philippines? Do you think that any were against the idea due to being British colonies before the Revolutionary war? I feel that many people would have been against the idea of colonizing the Philippines because of that event. We read about the argument that Mr. Beveridge shared with the President. He mostly claimed that the Philippines could not govern themselves and I quote, "They are not capable of self-government" (2) in the section, The Filipinos Are Children. I think that he was being very racist in this comment to get the President to agree with him. I believe that most of his argument was geared towards things that would benefit him the most. Although he did include many things that would benefit the country as a whole. He used things like trading and military bases to convince the President that he should choose to colonize the Philippines. I think that after helping free the Philippines it was very odd to try to control them. I personally think that an alliance by choice would have been better. Just literally ask to form a treaty, and perhaps they would have agreed considering that America helped them. Although I do suppose that since their was a chance that they could have disagreed, they went for total control...
Sunday, December 7, 2014
American Colonies?
This week, we focused on trade and International business. What do you suppose that Americans thought about the idea of making colonies in the Philippines? Do you think that any were against the idea due to being British colonies before the Revolutionary war? I feel that many people would have been against the idea of colonizing the Philippines because of that event. We read about the argument that Mr. Beveridge shared with the President. He mostly claimed that the Philippines could not govern themselves and I quote, "They are not capable of self-government" (2) in the section, The Filipinos Are Children. I think that he was being very racist in this comment to get the President to agree with him. I believe that most of his argument was geared towards things that would benefit him the most. Although he did include many things that would benefit the country as a whole. He used things like trading and military bases to convince the President that he should choose to colonize the Philippines. I think that after helping free the Philippines it was very odd to try to control them. I personally think that an alliance by choice would have been better. Just literally ask to form a treaty, and perhaps they would have agreed considering that America helped them. Although I do suppose that since their was a chance that they could have disagreed, they went for total control...
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I agree that it seems as if an alliance would have been easier, but after being occupied by Spain for so long, I'm not sure how interested the Philippines would have been. They were most likely worried that another foreign power would attempt to take them over, whether this was in the form of military action or a treaty.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mr. Beveridge was talking mostly about things that sounded like they would benefit him, however I think he is just sincerely incredibly patriotic, to a point where he feels like the persona of the United States of America. Another thing I would point out is that while he does seem very racist it not in a xenophobic or blatantly hateful way, but rather a patronizing type of racism.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mr. Beveridge made an argument that talked about benefits for the United states or maybe even began too sound racist. However I felt that the biggest point in Mr. Beveridge's argument was his religious points.
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of the United States' main motivations for their involvement in the Philippines was the promise of potential control and influence. Although it sounds nice to the public when you portray your involvement as a liberation of the oppressed, simply freeing them doesn't yield much benefit to your country other than a stronger bond with the liberated country. There was likely already intent to take control from the Spanish, as opposed to returning it to the Filipinos themselves
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