God's Arbiters: Americans and the Philippines, 1898-1902 (Imagining the Americas)

When the U.S. liberated the Philippines from Spanish rule in 1898, the exploit was hailed at home as a great moral victory, an instance of Uncle Sam freeing an oppressed country from colonial tyranny. The next move, however, was hotly contested: should the U.S. annex the archipelago? The disputants did agree on one point: that the United States was divinely appointed to bring democracy--and with it, white Protestant culture--to the rest of the world. They were, in the words of U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge, "God's arbiters," a civilizing force with a righteous role to play on the world stage. Mining letters, speeches, textbooks, poems, political cartoons and other sources, Susan K. Harris examines the role of religious rhetoric and racial biases in the battle over annexation. She offers a provocative reading both of the debates' religious framework and of the evolution of Christian national identity within the U.S. The book brings to life the personalities who dominated the discussion, figures like the bellicose Beveridge and the segregationist Senator Benjamin Tillman. It also features voices from outside U.S. geopolitical boundaries that responded to the Americans' venture into global imperialism: among them England's "imperial" poet Rudyard Kipling, Nicaragua's poet/diplomat Rub???n Dar???o, and the Philippines' revolutionary leaders Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini. At the center of this dramatis personae stands Mark Twain, an influential partisan who was, for many, the embodiment of America. Twain had supported the initial intervention but quickly changed his mind, arguing that the U.S. decision to annex the archipelago was a betrayal of the very principles the U.S. claimed to promote. Written with verve and animated by a wide range of archival research, God's Arbiters reveals the roots of current debates over textbook content, evangelical politics, and American exceptionalism-shining light on our own times as it recreates the culture surrounding America's global mission at the turn into the twentieth century. When the U.S. liberated the Philippines from Spanish rule in 1898, the exploit was hailed at home as a great moral victory, an instance of Uncle Sam freeing an oppressed country from colonial tyranny. The next move, however, was hotly contested: should the U.S. annex the archipelago? The disputants did agree on one point: that the United States was divinely appointed to bring democracy--and with it, white Protestant culture--to the rest of the world. They were, in the words of U.S. Senator Albert Beveridge,'God's arbiters,'a civilizing force with a righteous role to play on the world stage. Mining letters, speeches, textbooks, poems, political cartoons and other sources, Susan K. Harris examines the role of religious rhetoric and racial biases in the battle over annexation. She offers a provocative reading both of the debates'religious framework and of the evolution of Christian national identity within the U.S. The book brings to life the personalities who dominated the discussion, figures like the bellicose Beveridge and the segregationist Senator Benjamin Tillman. It also features voices from outside U.S. geopolitical boundaries that responded to the Americans'venture into global imperialism: among them England's'imperial'poet Rudyard Kipling, Nicaragua's poet/diplomat Rubén Darío, and the Philippines'revolutionary leaders Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini. At the center of this dramatis personae stands Mark Twain, an influential partisan who was, for many, the embodiment of America. Twain had supported the initial intervention but quickly changed his mind, arguing that the U.S. decision to annex the archipelago was a betrayal of the very principles the U.S. claimed to promote. Written with verve and animated by a wide range of archival research, God's Arbiters reveals the roots of current debates over textbook content, evangelical politics, and American exceptionalism-shining light on our own times as it recreates the culture surrounding America's global mission at the turn into the twentieth century. Mark Twain Called It 'pious Hypocrisies'. President Mckinley Called It 'civilizing And Christianizing'. Both Were Referring To The Us Annexation Of The Philippines In 1899. Drawing On Documents Ranging From Noah Webster's 1832 History Of The United States To Congressional Speeches And Newspaper Articles, And The Anti-imperialist Writings Of Mark Twain, This Book Assesses The Attitudes Of Americans And The Moralistic Rhetoric That Governed National And International Debates Over America's Global Mission At The Turn Into The Twentieth Century. Introduction: A Christian Nation -- Section 1: American Narratives -- Citizenship And The Philippine Debates : The Religious Factor -- Citizenship And The Philippine Debates : The Racial Factor -- Section 2: Creating Citizens -- A Connecticut Yankee In The Philippines -- The National Christian -- Section 3: The Eyes Of The World -- The White Man's Burden, The Philippines, And The Anglo-american Alliance -- Saxon Eyes And Barbaric Souls : Non-anglo Responses To The American Annexation Of The Philippines -- Noli Me Tangere : Filipino Responses To Annexation. By Susan K. Harris. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. When the U.S. liberated the Philippines from Spanish rule in 1898, the exploit was hailed at home as a great moral victory, an instance of Uncle Sam freeing an oppressed country from colonial tyranny. Mining letters, speeches, textbooks, poems, political cartoons and other sources, the author examines the role of religious rhetoric and racial biases in the battle over annexation. Discussing the debates' religious framework and of the evolution of Christiannational identity within the U.S. The book looks at the personalities who dominated the discussion, figures like the bellicose Beveridge and the segregationist Senator Benjamin Tillman. It also features voices from outside U.S. geopolitical boundaries that responded to the Americans' ventureinto global imperialism: among them England's "imperial" poet Rudyard Kipling, Nicaragua's poet/diplomat Ruben Dario, and the Philippines' revolutionary leaders Emilio Aguinaldo and Apolinario Mabini Table of Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Introduction: A Christian Nation 16 Section I: American Narratives 52 1. Citizenship and the Philippines Debates: The Religious Factor 54 2. Citizenship and the Philippines Debates: The Racial Factor 75 Section II: Creating Citizens 96 3. A Connecticut Yankee in the Philippines 98 4. The National Christian 117 Section III: The Eyes of the World 156 5. “The White Man’s Burden,” the Philippines, and the Anglo-American Alliance 158 6. Saxon Eyes and Barbaric Souls: Responses to the American Annexation of the Philippines in Europe and Latin America 183 7. Noli Me Tangere: Filipino Responses to Annexation 207 Epilogue 226 Notes 234 Bibliography 264 Index 278 A 278 B 279 C 279 D 280 E 281 F 281 G 281 H 281 I 282 J 282 K 282 L 282 M 282 N 283 O 284 P 284 R 284 S 284 T 285 U 285 W 286 9780199740109 Oxford University Press God's Arbiters provides a rich cultural history of Americans' attitudes toward empire-building in the wake of the Philippine-American War, illustrating how the conflict affected views of U.S. imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century.