Benefits Of Spanish American War

America’s Benevolent Exploits in the Philippines The Spanish-American war was a result of Spain oppressing Cuba. America, a country who embraced their relatively new freedom, wanted to step in to show that they were willing to lend a helping hand in pursuit of Cuba’s independence. This went relatively well for Cuba, who did achieve independence eventually, but it also started the Philippine-American war which was a much less pretty situation. The Philippine-American war tested America’s ability to check their power in the face of glittering opportunity and revealed even more racism that still ran rampant in the hearts of many Americans. Though the Spanish-American war started, like many things, with good intentions, it ended in a less than spectacular fashion. The Philippines were not the main focus of the Spanish-American war. Roosevelt had ordered commodore Dewey to engage some of Spain’s small naval force in Manila Harbor in case war began nearer to home. President McKinley himself stated that to destroy the fleet was “as far as I thought then” (Doc. 14.6). The Philippines were, however, Spanish territory, so Roosevelt sent reinforcements to Dewey as he occupied Manila Harbor. At the time, the Philippines also had rebels fighting against …show more content…
14.8b). Despite many such warning remarks, the American government flexed its young power and tore apart the meaning of their own Constitution. They felt justified by their racist belief that Anglo-Saxons had a manifest destiny to enrich the world with their own culture. This matter revealed the sad truth that the Anglo-Saxons were not so pure as to be above racism or the love of money. They jumped at the opportunity to take another people’s land despite the hardship that it put upon that people and, in doing so, weakened their own countries moral