While the 1900 contest between Bryan vs. McKinley was taking place, America was bogged down attempting to end an insurrection in the Philippines. For years, there was a wonderful Philippine-American War site online. It's still available via archive.org, but it will take a while to load. For extra credit, go to this archived version of the Philippine-American War site. Choose one incident from this war that seems to you worth addressing in a presidential campaign either on the pro-war or anti-war side.
Anti-War Side (Bryan's Perspective)-
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Manila Bay demonstrated how a limited war against Spain expanded into American involvement in the Philippines. After George Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet, the United States found itself responsible for governing distant islands that many Americans knew little about. Even President William McKinley reportedly admitted he did not know much about the Philippines before the war.
An anti-imperialist campaign speech could argue that victory at Manila Bay should have ended American involvement. Instead, the United States became entangled in a costly conflict with Filipino nationalists seeking independence. Supporters of William Jennings Bryan could claim that the nation was abandoning its founding principle of self-government by denying independence to the Filipinos after helping remove Spanish rule.
One incident that I want to focus on from the Philippine-American War that would be worth talking about was during the 1900 presidential election. American soldiers would use advanced torture techniques against Filipino prisoners. Reports of this activity go on surprised many Americans because they felt like it was not like them to do that. They thought it went against the values of freedom, peace, and democracy. William Jennings Bryan thought this idea was bad because he thought America was turning into an imperial power, going against the thing we sought to destroy. This issue was worth addressing in a presidential campaign because it made people think about whether or not the war Americans were fighting in the Philippines was morally correct. Also, it made people think whether or not America was living up to what she said she would be.
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