U.S. Involvement in the Philippines By Tim Caggiano and Alex Kozlowski

How did the U.S. get involved? The U.S. got involved because of their desire to take Spanish colonies. This started because they believed the Spanish blew up their ship, the Maine. This was also caused by Spain’s maltreatment of their colonies, which were potentially useful to the U.S.

What were the U.S. motives? The U.S. wanted the Philippines because it would be an effective navel base It was also a desirable spot to trade with the Asian market and cash-in on the expansion of the far-east.

Did they justify there actions? The United States’ main justification was that they wanted to “spread democracy” They believed that if a nation could not govern themselves effectively, another nation should “help.”

Reaction of the local population The Philippines’ military welcomed American troops and supported them during the Spanish-American War. After the war however, the citizens of the Philippines no longer wanted U.S. assistance. They used guerilla warfare as an attempt to fight back and regain control of their country. Filipinos were then sent to “designated areas”, where thousands died of starvation and illnesses.

The Final Result The U.S. crushed the rebellion after killing 20,000 Filipinos and losing 4,000 of their own men. They spent about $400,000,000 on the war alone. They then set up a government in which the President would select an American (i.e. William Howard Taft ) to act as governor of the island.

Superman VS Mafia Don In this case, the U.S was the Mafia Don, rather than Superman. The U.S was looking to branch out and do good for another country. They wanted to step in and show the Filipinos how great democracy could be. However, in return, they expected complete control of the Philippines as a location for easy trading with countries in Asia. This desire for control led the two countries into a bloody and pointless war, which went against what Americans had believed since they gained their independence.

Were the actions beneficial? No, the actions were not beneficial. The United States ending up spending twenty times the amount that they had originally spent on the island ($20,000,000). Many men were lost in attempt to hold onto the country. The Philippines eventually gained independence on July 4 th, 1946

Work Cited “The Americans” Textbook by McDougal Little. Various Packets provided by Ms. Weber.