Grant+M.+-+PA+-+SP10

Teacher, Lawyer, Massachusetts Governor, Senator, Secretary of the Treasury, President of Anti-imperialist League
First of all, I'd like to say that America has all but forgone the words of our for fathers. George Washington urged America to avoid foreign entanglements.President Monroe declared America isolationist. The Civil War was fought and the union was preserved without any help from Europe. America has stayed out of intercourse with foreign entities and they've left us alone. It is in our annexation of the Philippines we abandon this time honored practice. Imperialism is an enemy to liberty and freedom. Abe Lincoln once said "Abraham Lincoln, that "no man is good enough to govern another man without that others consent". The Filipino people care not for Americanization. We must put aside our desires for land and raw materials and give the Filipinos what they want- INDEPENDENCE!

The reasons
-Violation of Washington's Farewell Speech/ Monroe Doctrine -The American culture is burgeoning. Our ways of life could easily supplant traditional life -Millions of dollars were spent on modernizing Filipino infrastructure -Filipinos have little experience with democracy -Many of our allies in the Spanish-American War are for Filipino Independence -The Philippines are geographically distant. It would be hard to maintain a colony there -Taking over the islands are a step towards mercantilism. We sould seek trade with the Filipinos in exchange for their raw materials in the spirit of Free Trade -A war with Filipino insurgents could be costly fought with asymmetrical warfare and guerrilla tactics -We already have a Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor