I was rather impressed how the United States could own so many island territories. At the same time, I was a bit surprised why America would bother with so small, albeit, tiny, island possessions.
From this map showing the perspective of imperialist America looking at the full spread of the Pacific Ocean, it is clear what the game plan was. The adversary of the Filipinos during the Philippine-American War planned to control the expanse of the Pacific, including the gateway to the Oriental markets, our islands, for military and commercial gain. The U.S. government, so great in its greed, planned its empire with the Pacific as key.
As early as the turn of the 20th century, the imperialist U.S. of A. planned to be the world's power. And the Philippines was seen as an important strategic possession. And racism, white civilization supremacy ek ek were used to justify the immoral acts of invading other people's lands, including ours.
U.S. Sen. Albert J. Beveridge's words sum up the imperialist vision that also explain the real motivation behind the aggression against our nation during the Philippine-American War (1899-1914):
Lines of navigation from our ports to the Orient and Australia, from the Isthmian Canal to Asia, from all Oriental ports to Australia converge at and separate from the Philippines. They are a self-supporting, dividend-paying fleet, permanently anchored at a spot selected by the strategy of Providence, commanding the Pacific. And the Pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future. Most future wars will be conflicts for commerce. The power that rules the Pacific, therefore, is the power that rules the world. And, with the Philippines, that power is and will forever be the American Republic.
ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE : In Support of an American Empire See More
Ngayon, mga isang siglo ang lumipas, mukhang malapit-lapit nang maghingalo si Kalbong Agila, ready to mutate into a lesser or smaller, less dangerous species. When that happens, the Pacific people, the Filipinos/Taga-Ilogs included, would have been liberated.
________
Photo credit:
America's History. Chapter 21: An Emerging World Power, 1877-1914
"But to hold it will be no mistake. Our largest trade henceforth must be with Asia. The Pacific is our ocean. More and more Europe will manufacture the most it needs, secure from its colonies the most it con-sumes. Where shall we turn for ...consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer. She is nearer to us than to England, Germany, or Russia, the commercial powers of the present and the future. They have moved nearer to China by securing permanent bases on her borders. The Philippines give us a base at the door of all the East.
ReplyDelete"Lines of navigation from our ports to the Orient and Australia, from the Isthmian Canal to Asia, from all Oriental ports to Australia converge at and separate from the Philippines. They are a self-supporting, dividend-paying fleet, permanently anchored at a spot selected by the strategy of Providence, commanding the Pacific. And the Pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future. Most future wars will be conflicts for commerce. The power that rules the Pacific, therefore, is the power that rules the world. And, with the Philippines, that power is and will forever be the American Republic. "
ALBERT J. BEVERIDGE : In Support of an American Empire
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ajb72.htm.
para ba kasing sa atlas hindi pinakikita yang perspective shown in attached map kaya ang dating sa subconscious walang talagang imperial plans ang u.s.
ReplyDelete