Spanish American War Dbq

Imagine fighting for freedom against a country that won’t listen to you and treats you with cruelty. You don’t have much military power, so this other, more powerful country helps you gain independance. However, as soon as you win, the country that helps turns around and puts you in the same situation, just with them instead of the original country. This is what it was like in the Philippines! Before the Spanish-American war, the Philippines were a territory of Spain, along with some other countries like Cuba and Puerto Rico. Spain mistreated the people of these territories. They moved them into camps, that had shelters with no roofs. If they didn’t get there in time, they were executed. The United States stepped in and went to war with Spain for the independance of these territories. When we won the war, we got control of these
We helped them gain independence from Spain, however “we had full knowledge that they were fighting for their own independance” (Document D). The leader of their army was Emilio Aguinaldo, who was very helpful in winning the war. However, when we won, we refused to let him march with our armies. He was going to use his armies to rebel against us. Having a rebellious territory would do no good for the United States. We would lose things like trade, military help, and peace. We could keep all of those things if we gave them independence, and formed an alliance. If we annexed them, it would do more harm than good, as we would have to fight our own rebelling territory like we did in the Civil War.
If we didn’t grant the Philippines independence, it would be going against our own laws and would cause a rebellion. We helped them gain independence, and they rightfully earned it. We should have granted them independence for the most peaceful and democratic solution. Many Americans have given their lives to fight for freedom and independence. Should we let their sacrifices be in