American Imperialism In Hawaii Chapter 1 Summary

This week, we discussed the U.S occupation of the Philippines and the arrival of Europeans that created a discourse in Hawaii. The Philippines was illegally ceded to the United States from the Treaty of Paris, along with Cuba and Puerto Rico. The Filipino-American War resulted as the United States attempted to establish control over the islands. The war lasted for more than 10 years, resulting in the death of more than 600,000 Filipinos. Our readings described it as the "first Vietnam", where US troops first used strategic tactics to "pacify" the natives. In class, we viewed the images of water-curing as a form of punishment for the natives. These images were so pristine that they almost looked staged. However, we were given a second hand account of what they endured. Americans who advocated annexation had a variety of motivation. For example, there was the desire for commercial opportunities in Asia, and since the Filipinos were incapable of self-rule, they feared that if the United States did not take precedence of the islands, another might do so. Meanwhile, the opposing American side argued that it was morally unjust for the U.S to engage in colonialism. In relation to the reading pertaining to Hawaii and the invasion of European foreigners, this ideal …show more content…
The ideologies of imperialism gave Westerners a sense of righteousness. This was expressed through cultural superiority, white supremacy, and the mere “reserved right” to take advantage of all resources that they deemed theirs. It’s very interesting connecting this to the Hawaiian ideal of nature and natural resources. To the “outsiders”, the abundance of resources such as sugar cane was a means of capital. But to the Hawaiians, it was a means of harmony and peace. Land use was not defined based on discrete individuals and discrete space. However, it was rather it was “fluid and diffuse” as defined by need for the natural resources