Dear Fellow Senators

Dear fellow Senators,

How would you feel if a nation took over your freedom, religion and culture? Well, in 1898, that’s what our great nation did. We went to war with Spain and claimed the Philippines for ourselves. The filipinos had been fighting for their independence with Spain for such a long time, that when Spain was defeated, it was not clear to them if the United States had come to liberate them or take over. Although freedom, religion and culture was taken from the Filipinos, there was no other choice. Should we have annexed the Philippines? Yes. It was the better choice because the Philippines would have been stolen by another country, the Filipinos were unfit for self-ruling and the benefits of spreading Christianity.

If we were to not annex the Philippines, they would have been snatched by Germany, England, Japan or even reclaimed by Spain due to the lack of Government stability. This would have given more power to other empires when we, as a successful nation, want to help struggling countries. The Philippines provided a spot for naval bases and coaling stations to be established. Also, the U.S. could trade more and with countries with better supplies through the Philippines.

Without the U.S., the Philippines weren’t capable of self-government. As President McKinley said, we could not leave them to themselves. If a part of our country was in trouble, do you think we would leave them to fend for themselves? No, we wouldn’t because it would affect the rest of the nation as a whole. If we let the Philippines fend for themselves, it would result in anarchy and misrule, worse than when Spain was in charge.