National Railway Publication Company. 1914. \u201cGeneral Railway Map: The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba\u201d New York City, NY.<\/p>\n
Railway and navigation maps are particularly illuminating when analyzing the economy and business strategies of America at the turn of the 19th Century as the majority of American domestic commerce was driven by railway expansion and steam power (Foner 2017).\u00a0 At this time in particular, one of the major goals of American Business was to connect the East and West coast by rail line through the \u2018transcontinental railroad.\u2019\u00a0 The National Railway Publication Company map picture above shows the completed transcontinental lines, bu includes Canada and inserts of train lines in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba in addition to the American lines.\u00a0 Considering an analysis of the drive for expansion from U.S. business during this same time period, one can clearly identify the most important regions for the U.S. domestically and in the Northwestern Region of the globe\u00a0 (Santamarina 2000).\u00a0 Furthermore, this map allows the viewer to contextualize U.S. expansionist goals at the end of westward expansion as railways connect the East and West coast by the time of publication.<\/p>\n
\n“When next I realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps I confess I did not know what to do with them. I sought counsel from all sides\u2014Democrats as well as Republicans\u2014but got little help. I thought first we would take only Manila; then Luzon; then other islands perhaps also. I walked the floor of the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way\u2014I don’t know how it was, but it came: (1) That we could not give them back to Spain\u2014that would be cowardly and dishonorable; (2) that we could not turn them over to France or Germany\u2014our commercial rivals in the Orient\u2014that would be bad business and discreditable; (3) that we could not leave them to themselves\u2014 they were unfit for self-government\u2014and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died. And then I went to bed, and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the War Department (our mapmaker), and I told him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States [pointing to a large map on the wall of his office], and there they are, and there they will stay while I am President!”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Rusling, General James. 1903. \u201cInterview with President William McKinley,\u201d The Christian Advocate 22 January 1903, 17.<\/p>\n
Following the Spanish American War, President William McKinley received some criticism for his decision to assume control over the Philippines, especially following the outbreak of war in order to keep them under U.S. control (Malchow 2016).\u00a0 In response to these criticisms, President McKinley argues that he had no choice but to annex the Philippines for the United States (Johnson 2005).\u00a0 In his opinion, following Spanish withdrawal, a new government would need to take over to ensure the successful development of the Philippines who could not redevelop their nation or self-govern.\u00a0 While this argument was extremely hypocritical, as the U.S. had just fought Spain in part due to the colonial policies in Cuba, many people at the time accepted this argument and even supported the efforts to \u2018develop\u2019 the Philippines (Johnson 2005).\u00a0 When considering the location of the Philippines, however, one cannot ignore the strategic importance of the countries location in the Pacific for the transportation of goods across the Atlantic, which inevitably influence the American decision to expand there.<\/p>\n
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American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. 1901. \u201c25th Infantry.\u201d Jersey City, NJ. Alexander Street: America in Film. Film: 68 seconds.<\/p>\n
This clip of film showing the 25th Infantry during the Philippine War has two levels of importance in analyzing the influence of American Economic Principles and American Business in expansionist movements.\u00a0 First, this film clip allows one to observe actual U.S. troops deployed to the Philippines during the war, declared by McKinley as he justifies above, on their march back from a battle in a war to acquire more territory for America.\u00a0 Despite many arguments by the United States government that they were forced to govern the Philippines following the Spanish American War, the use of force by the Americans clearly illustrates that the United States made a conscious decision to expand their empire against the will of the Philippines (Santamarina 2000).\u00a0 In addition, this regiment in particular is made up almost entirely of African American soldiers commanded almost entirely by white officers and certainly does not include any of the business men lobbying Congress to fight the war (Foner 2017).\u00a0 Again this displays the efforts of the United States to promote the interests of the wealthy by exploiting African American soldiers who would not benefit from the war they were fighting.<\/p>\n
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