150 word discussion response each (2)

Do not grade or critique add to conversation only. Do not be rude you are reply to students as a student.

First response

Reading both arguments by Josiah Strong and Emilio Aguinaldo, they have two widely difference of opinions on the matter. Josiah Strong sentiment was probably reflective of the era at that time. Josiah Strong published Our Country and an updated version of manifest destiny and American expansionism strongly connected to ideas of racial superiority and a Christian missionary impulse (Foner, 2017). Strong felt like the Anglo-Saxon race was superior to all other races, supported his beliefs with Christianity. This line of thinking resonated throughout the US by the way people of color was treated. Mr. Strong’s thoughts were reflected by politicians as well. I feel it was evident when the US liberated the Philippines from Spain just to occupy the country. I feel like the US used this type of thinking to validate oppressing the Filipinos.

The US government entered the war with Spain to free Filipino’s from the oppression by Spain. I do feel this is odd by the same country that allowed slavery for over two hundred years. After winning the war against Spain in the Philippines, the US government decided the locals was not able to govern themselves. Aguinaldo was bitterly disappointed that McKinley did not recognize the Filipinos’ right to self-government (Fonor, 2017). The locals felt like they gained freedom from one opposer just to lose it to another oppressor. After another bitter war for total control of the Philippines, the US government imposed the US way of life on the Filipinos’. Arrogant US made the Filipinos grow corn over rice without understanding the environmental factors on the island. Though the intentions may have been good, the US didn’t give the locals the benefit of doubt.

Foner, E. (2017). Give me Liberty!: An American history(5th ed., Vol. 2). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Second response

The Spanish-American War of 1988 originated from the United States wanting to protect its business interests in Cuba, Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain, and the mysterious explosion of battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana Harbor (Foner, 2017a). The war between Spain and the United States took place in the Philippine Islands, and resulted in the United States’ victory. Spain then ceded authority over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. These islands, specifically the Philippines welcomed American intervention because they admired their democratic ideals, and believed it would lead to social reform and political self government (Foner,2017a).

Emilio Aguinaldo declared himself president of the Philippines, and created a constitution that was similar to what the United States had in place. However, President McKinley of the United States decided to retain authority over the Philippines rather than grant it independence. Aguinaldo published an article in a well-known magazine called the North American Review; he expressed how the United States contradicted their traditions of self-government by refusing this same right to the Philippines (Foner, 2017b). It was not long before Filipinos realized that they traded one colonial power for another, and began rebelling against the United States which led to the Philippine War. Aguinaldo was the voice for Filipinos, and wanted the leaders of the United States to know that they were not inferior or uneducated people, and had the ability to govern themselves.

The Congressional minister Josiah Strong published Our Country, which is known as his most notable and influential works. In Our Country, Strong expressed the importance of American expansionism through his updated idea of manifest destiny. Strong believed that the Anglo-Saxons were a superior race, and urged them go on missions to spread their Christian beliefs and values to inferior races throughout the world (Foner, 2017b). By using this practice of assimilation, he felt that this would be benefit the economy, and also prevent the inferior races from facing extinction.

Foner, E. (2017a). Give Me Liberty!: An American History (5th ed., Vol. 2). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Foner, E. (2017b). Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History (5th ed., Vol. 2). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.