ATTEMPTING THE IMPOSSIBLE: RECONCILING AMERICAN IMPERIAL CULTURE AND COLONIAL REALITY AFTER THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 1897-1905 ____________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Chico ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in History ____________ by Kevin Dewey Summer 2012 ATTEMPTING THE IMPOSSIBLE: RECONCILING AMERICAN IMPERIAL CULTURE AND COLONIAL REALITY AFTER THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 1897-1905 A Thesis by Kevin Dewey Summer 2012 APPROVED BY THE DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND VICE PROVOST FOR RESEARCH: _________________________________ Eun K. Park, Ph.D. APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: _________________________________ _________________________________ Gwendolyn J. Sheldon, Ed.D. James Matray, Ph.D., Chair Graduate Coordinator _________________________________ Jeffery Livingston, Ph.D. _________________________________ Judith Raftery, Ph.D. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract....................................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER I. Introduction.............................................................................................. 1 II. Historiography.......................................................................................... 5 III. Buildup and Causes .................................................................................. 21 IV. Aftermath and Colonial Empire ............................................................... 50 V. Managing the Philippines......................................................................... 81 VI. Conclusion................................................................................................ 110 Bibliography............................................................................................................... 112 iii ABSTRACT ATTEMPTING THE IMPOSSIBLE: RECONCILING AMERICAN IMPERIAL CULTURE AND COLONIAL REALITY AFTER THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, 1897-1905 by Kevin Dewey Master of Arts in History California State University, Chico Summer 2012 In 1898, the United States declared war on the decrepit Spanish empire. Originally, to protect Cuban nationalists who shared the original U.S. desire for self- determination, the war quickly developed into an excuse to obtain an empire for the United States. Propaganda-induced war fervor, fueled by Spanish atrocities, the destruc- tion of the U.S.S. Maine and U.S. military superiority allowed a quick, relatively blood- less war. However, the political aftermath of the war and the intellectual debate con- cerning an American Empire persisted long after. Various anti-colonial organizations, which would eventually coalesce into the Anti-Imperialist League very quickly began to criticize the McKinley administra- tion’s attempts to annex the Philippines as a U.S. protectorate. They argued from many iv different perspectives, though generally focused on American exceptionalism, idealism and racism. There were even some who contended for annexation while still maintain- ing an anti-imperialist mindset. As the Filipinos revolted in 1899, U.S. policymakers attempted to crush the revolt using a variety of proven European colonial tactics. Reconcentration camps and the inclusion of Filipino auxiliaries greatly disrupted the country and led to a prolonged, brutal war. The bloodiness of the campaign, and the subsequent political occupation after its end, proved that the United States had created a colonial empire. However, the United States did not enter the Philippines to satisfy the needs of a business cabal as previously thought. Instead, it was a mixture of exceptionalism, idealism, and racism that drove Americans into the distant archipelago. v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Spanish-American War breathed new life into the United States. The final years of the nineteenth century had been brutal to the young nation with constant labor strife, poor economic times, and an anxious young generation. After the war, Americans could enter the twentieth century aware that their nation had entered the world stage as an equal partner after defeating Spain. Commodore Dewey’s amazing victory, when combined with the minimal losses and quickness of the war, spelled out to most Americans that the United States was destined for greatness. But the war initiated great change. It is the cause and degree of this change that has prompted historians to spill so much ink in explaining it. Yet, it was less the war itself than its outcome that has garnered the attention of historians. As one author writes, “the elation of victory over Spain combined with the perceived dictates of ‘duty and responsibility’ to break down the traditional aversion of Americans to foreign entanglements and the acquisition of colonies.”1 This departure from traditional, continental-based U.S. expansionism disgusted many, but excited many more. Again, a frontier was open for “rugged individuals,” so eloquently praised by Frederick Jackson Turner in his Frontier Thesis, to explore, dominate, and exploit. The 1 Joseph Smith, The Spanish-American War: Conflict in the Caribbean and the Pacific, 1895- 1902 (London: Longman, 1994), 216. 1 2 United States, once confined to a single continent, could now comfortably stretch its legs and expand across the Pacific Ocean and into the Caribbean Sea. It seemed shortly before the turn of the century that the United States was quickly deteriorating. There was a general feeling that men needed a war to rebuild their lost masculinity; a “martial spirit,” as Walter Millis puts it, was required to reintroduce classic American ideals of individualism, hard work, and an entrepreneurial spirit.2 Furthermore, the recent Civil War had produced a not fully united nation, still so even after the South’s victory during Reconstruction and the resumption of black subjugation. Shortly after the Spanish-American War ended, President William McKinley in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lauded the newfound unity that it produced: No development of the war has been more gratifying and exalting than the complete unification of the nation. Sectional lines have been obliterated; party differences have been hushed in the great chorus of patriotism which has been heard from one end of the country to the other.3 Clearly, McKinley had found a use for the war, a unifying utility that could only help him politically. This thesis does not seek to provide a traditional account of the Spanish- American War or the subsequent Philippine occupation. It denies the superiority of politically or nation-centered histories that explain all foreign policy through the actions of government elites and realpolitik decisions. Rather, it asserts that the cultural and intellectual influences of a particular time—in this case the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century—hold far more importance in 2 Walter Millis, The Martial Spirit (Chicago: Elephant Publishing, 1959). 3 “Speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, October 11, 1898,” in Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley (New York: Doubleday and McClure, 1900), 88. 3 understanding the decisions of various nations concerning imperialism and foreign relations more generally. It will describe the influence of prominent thinkers and taken- for-granted assumptions about the various players involved in the American decision to join the imperial game. In this manner, it is a top-down history, but one that assumes a certain class of society occupies a position of importance and reverence. This intellectual elite—at this time mainly political, academic and military—possessed significant relevance in manipulating the attitudes of the majority of the public. The battle between their conflicting opinions determined the generalized trends of American thought regarding foreign affairs. The cultural, racial, and intellectual climates of the time, as the following pages will show, produced a populace much more sympathetic to overseas expansionism. Moreover, this populace possessed a desire to wage a war to prove their masculinity and to silence doubts as to the apparent decline of the nation’s physical, psychological, and martial well-being. The United States entered the Spanish-American War not to possess colonies, but to prove its fighting prowess and humanitarianly rescue the island of Cuba. But the swiftness of victory and the lure of colonial possessions such as the Philippines quickly changed the mind of once-reluctant policymakers. They viewed these new colonies as a chance to show the benefits of American civilization to a “savage” island population. However, U.S. leaders did so without universal support. In fact, a sizeable, articulate, and increasingly vocal majority would permanently resist. Moreover, the experiences of the Philippine occupation would sour many others to the benefits of imperialism. 4 American imperialism following the Spanish-American War was not a premeditated plan to occupy foreign markets, or the will of a closed group of influential businessmen. There certainly were supporters of expanding American markets, but they did not create policy. Rather, the American Empire exists because of unexpected historical outcomes, eventually transforming into arrogant colonialism through the cultural, intellectual, and racial beliefs of the leading political figures of the time. A description of the classic buildup of the war, an understanding of the cultural and intellectual context of the time, coupled with an examination of the Philippine