The Debate over Annexation (C) Nena Bossellar

            A big conflict in the United States in 1898 was the debate over annexing the Philippines emphasized the economic and military benefits of taking the islands. The supporters of the annexation said that America had duty to help “less civilized people” and to rescue them to the savage, bloody rule of pillage and extortion. Their adversaries argued that the cost of an empire far outweighed the economic benefits it provided; they were also worried that competition from cheap Filipino labor would drive down American wages and William Jennings Bryan said as well that imperialism finds no warrant in the bible and that it violated American principles. Even though the annexation had a lot of adversaries, President MCKinley decided to annex the islands. His reasons were that they would have to take them because they couldn’t give them back to Spain, because it would be cowardly and dishonorable, they could not get them to France or Germany because it would be bad for business and discreditable and they also couldn’t leave them to themselves since they were “unfit for self-government”.  On December 10, 1898 the United States signed a treaty with Spain; it was called the Treaty of Paris. It included the independence from Cuba, but the United States got Puerto Rico and Guam and they agreed to pay Spain $20 million for the Philippines. This treaty got ratified in February 1899 after intense debates. The United States had become an imperial power.