1. A PERSONAL VOICE LUIS MUÑOZ RIVERA “ You, citizens of a free fatherland, with its own laws, its own institutions, and its own flag, can appreciate the unhappiness of the small and solitary people that must await its laws from your authority.... when you acquire the certainty that you can found in Puerto Rico a republic like that founded in Cuba and Panama... give us our independence and you will stand before humanity as... a great creator of new nationalities and a great liberator of oppressed peoples.” —quoted in The Puerto Ricans Luis Munoz Rivera was a Puerto Rican statesman. He spoke to Congress in 1916.

2. San Juan, Puerto Rico Havana, Cuba The United States went to war with Spain stating it only sought to free Cuba From Spain, so that nation was given its freedom. But the US Passed the Platt Amendment which made Cuba a U.S. protectorate. This is how our nation came to acquire the Guantanamo Naval Base. Cuba may not get that back unless the U.S. wants to leave. American-owned businesses were protected at the expense of Cuba. Puerto Rico became an American possession with military rule, but eventually (1917) Puerto Ricans were allowed to become citizens of the United States. They retain this status today.

3. Wounded American Soldiers U.S. Soldiers & Filipino women Emilio Aguinaldo Many Filipinos took President McKinley’s decision to annex their country as a betrayal. Aguinaldo had been helped into the country by the U.S. based on a promise of independence. This betrayal led to a war of independence which the Filipinos ultimately lost. Filipino rebels had little to fight with but they engaged in successful guerrilla tactics in a long drawn out war against the Americans. There were many atrocities on both sides in the war. 70,000 troops were sent there and 4000 of them lost their lives. Filipino casualties were much worse, 20,000 soldiers and 200,000 civilians died in that brutal 8 year conflict.

4. President Roosevelt eventually sent his friend William Howard Taft to govern the Philippines, and the country was granted limited self rule, with the promise of full independence in 1946. Nobody could imagine what would happen in the years just before Philippine independence… Continued… William H. Taft Political cartoon “Kill every one over ten.” Filipino dead at Manila, 1899 (future president)

5. In the 19 th Century China had been divided between European colonial powers and now the U.S. wanted its share. In 1899 Secretary of State John Hay issued the Open Door Notes, which called for equal access to the China trade. It was a limited success. In 1900 a secret group known as the Boxers led a rebellion aimed at killing foreigners, businessmen, and missionaries. In response a multinational force comprised of European, American, and Japanese troops invaded. China lost, showing its weakness against foreign invasion and internal strife. More U.S. trade was opened to China. International Peacekeeping Force

6. A PERSONAL VOICE MARK TWAIN “ Shall we go on conferring our Civilization upon the peoples that sit in darkness, or shall we give those poor things a rest?... Extending the Blessings of Civilization to our Brother who Sits in Darkness has been a good trade and has paid well, on the whole; and there is money in it yet... but not enough, in my judgment, to make any considerable risk advisable.” —quoted in To the Person Sitting in Darkness _____________________________________________________________________ Anti-Imperialism had some famous backers like Mark Twain and Jane Addams, but in the election of 1900 the Imperialists, led by William McKinley and his new Vice-presidential candidate and war hero Theodore Roosevelt, won out and the United States became a new world power with many territorial possessions.