Isolationism
Part of the history of the United States is characterized by armed conflicts both internal and external and motivated by different interests and ideologies. The position of the US as a lone world superpower has ensured that it’s involved virtually in any conflict in the world. Participation of the US in armed conflicts and the adoption of a vigorous, interfering, and interventionist foreign policy was preceded by a period of isolation that was purposely pursued by American leaders who believed that the principles of freedom and democracy could be achieved without the use of war. The isolationist policy ensured the US’s minimal participation in wars and conflicts spearheaded by European alliances.
Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, a period referred to as the progressive era, the US began relaxing its isolation policy by engaging in conflicts primarily aimed at sowing seeds of imperialism and becoming a world power. The Spanish-American war though brief carried significant political and diplomatic consequences to the US. The conflict acted as a launchpad for the active participation of the US in world politics and marked the initial journey to universal imperialism. American sympathy for the Cuban revolution against the Spanish had led to the clash between the Americans and the Spanish especially after a US naval ship was sunk in Havana1. In his book, Silbey describes the end of one war and the beginning of another2. The defeat of the Spanish in the Philippines presented a challenge to the US leadership who didn’t have a ready plan on what to do with the freed Asian nation. Subsequent US actions will later lead to the American-Philippines war.
For some time up to mid-20th century, the US policy of isolation did persist till growing pressure from the public and domestic politics changed led to its abandonment. The events of the early 20th century however was important in the US’s changed foreign and isolation policy. The Spanish-American war, the US occupation of the Philippines, and the American-Philippines war served to highlight the beginning of the US’s expansionist policies into the western pacific as well as global domination. This paper will particularly concentrate on the Philippine-American war and its significance in analyzing American foreign policy and its role in the world from the beginning of the 20th century.
The Philippine-American war
The peace treaty between the US and Spain that ended the Spanish- American war did not provide much help to the Cuban’s quest for independence. It effectively placed the Philippines at the centre of American foreign policy. The treaty coupled with the purchase of the Philippines by the US ended one conflict while brewing another.
On May 1st 1898, Commodore George Dewey destroyed a Spanish naval base in Manila Bay3. In December the same year, Spain agreed to sell the islands to the US at a cost of twenty million dollars4. On June 12th 1898, after the purchase of the islands by the US, General Emilio Aguinaldo established an independent Asian republic in the Philippines. The aim of the General was that the newly formed country will become a US protectorate. However, this was not to be.
The isolation policy in the US was waning and pressure to adopt a more aggressive expansionist policy in the US was growing. There was intense pressure on President William McKinley to annex the island to ward off other powers like Japan and Germany who were interested in it5. There was also interest from France, Great Britain. Initially, the Americans were welcomed by the Filipinos as liberators. However, after some time, the intentions of the Americans became clear to the newly independent republic. The Filipinos suspected the Americans wanted to assert control over the islands. An insurgency broke out between Filipinos and the US troops stationed in the Islands. The war that broke out on 4th February 1899 between American troops and the Army of Liberation left 59 Americans and over 3000 Filipinos dead. The conflict dragged on for some time and historians agree that the American military did commit many war crimes against the local populations in the islands6.
The bloody conflict marked the beginning of the US’s active involvement in Asian politics and the establishment of the country as a power in the Western Pacific. Though the conflict was initially motivated by the support of the Cuban revolution by the US, it was also fueled by the desire by America to become a world power, thanks to the forces of expansionism in the US. This war despite its heavy toll on both sides served to define American policy and its involvement in the internal affair of other countries internal affairs, like it did in Vietnam.
The Philippines war and rise of the US Empire
The Philippines war was not the first armed conflict that the US was involved in. Even with the isolationist policy, the US had been involved in various interventions in foreign lands because of national interests that most of the time were motivated by business. The Spanish-American War and later the Philippine-American war only acted as the first step towards the admission of the US to the club of European and Asian powers. The direct confrontation with Spain and the ensuing forceful annexation of foreign land in the Philippines only displayed the drastic shift in policy that highlighted the lengths the US was willing to go to achieve global domination in the following century.
The Spanish Empire was crumbling and its fall was about to create huge benefits for any power that could fit in its shoes. The replacement was projected by American architects to be long-term, lasting throughout the century and possibly beyond, and American businesses were lined up to reap from the growth of the US Empire. The Philippines, therefore, provided the best opportunity to replace the Spanish Empire while launching long-term Imperialist policies. That set the precedent for American policy for the next hundred years. Today, it’s not difficult to notice that the same reasons that influenced the Philippines-American war still influence similar US actions.
Domination also involved the cultivation of American culture in the areas where the US ventured, just like other colonial powers had done. That is why part of the reasons why the Philippines offered the best chance to rule people who were not fit to rule themselves and Christianize the Filipino pagans, who by the way were Catholics by the time the Americans arrived.
In the century that followed, the US flexed its imperial powers in Vietnam, the world wars, and the Persian Gulf wars. a strategy that was used in the Philippines conflicts gained momentum and established itself firmly in the US’s play book-that of inciting a conflict in order to rally the public behind the government, the businesses or the economy and political system.
An important of the US imperial domination that started with the Philippine war was that of employing double standards in foreign policy and the threat and actual use of military force whenever the US interests were at risk. Once General Aguinaldo was perceived as the enemy, the US had to get rid of him. Also presidents McKinley and Woodrow Wilson sensationally claimed to respect the right of nations to determine their courses while at the same time interfering in Mexico and Cuba. The US ignored the atrocities that took place in Eastern Europe only to react when its interest was threatened by the Japanese encroachment. The same trend was noticed by the support of various governments who were friendly to the US during the cold war no matter what their record was. The only condition was their opposition to communism. The above cases are later 20th-century approaches employed by the US and whose goals are similar to those that led to the Philippine –American war.
In a nutshell, the Philippine-American war ushered in a concept based on extending subtle US authority over other countries whose territories would as a result be open to American interests. In the approach, any country that moves to challenge the US bears the consequences like Iraq, did. It’s, therefore, safe to conclude that the foreign policies of the US are not unconnected from the US’s Philippines experience. It explains the US’s actions in the last century where the country has gone the extra mile to accomplish its goals including the creation of American dominance abroad to enable the continued profiteering of American businesses and by extension, the American nation.
Conclusion
The Philippines war preceded many conflicts that the US would be involved in and help shape throughout the 20th Century. There is sufficient reason to believe that the acquisition of territory far away from the Americas where the US had engaged in other expansionist projects provided a different view and approach to American expansionism. Many scholars fail to acknowledge the fact that American conflicts with other countries in North America amounted to expansionism. The only difference with the Filipino experience was the fact that it provided the US with the window of entry into the Asian region and acted as the prototype approach to dealing with later conflicts seeking to establish American supremacy in the world. Many of the policies that the US adopted in the Philippines looked like more or less those of the Spanish Empire.
The war was a precursor to Vietnam, Korean and Iraq conflicts. Many European nations were weakened by continuous conflicts that shattered their economies. The ensuing struggle for supremacy between the US and USSR after the Second World War forced the US to adopt strategies geared towards global dominance. The US considered the Filipino war largely successful on its part. The declaration of success in 1902 by the US encouraged further pursuance of aggressive expansionist policies throughout the world that effectively designated the US as an empire.
Bibliography
David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902.New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.
Footnotes
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 30-66.
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 126-169.
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 30-66.
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 30-66.
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 30-66.
- David J. Sibley, A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902 (New York: Hill and Wang, 2007), 170-206.