Modern World History Fall 2001
Documents on Imperialism and on US Intervention in the Philippines
This assignment has parts---do both!
Link to Part Two
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Part One is an essay by Charles A. Conant, financial advisor to Presidents McKinley. T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. Conant also served as an editor at Banking Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. In other words, Conant was an important figure in the shaping of US economic and foreign policy and a well-known expert on the capitalist economy.
The linked essay, "The Economic Basis of 'Imperialism'," was published in The North American Review in September 1898. The North American Review was a magazine aimed at a "general" educated audience--the sort of people who kept up with US government policy and had influence in their communities. Conant's essay explained the relationship between the international crisis in the capitalist economy (recurrent depressions in all of the developed countries) and the "need" for economic imperialism in the late 1890s. He was trying to help turn public opinion in favor of a US policy of imperialism at a time when there was a great debate over whether the US should be an imperialist country.
The essay contains some long sections on economic theory (pp.328-330) and a lot of economic statistics (pp. 333-336). Don't get too bogged down in these passages! Read them, but give most of your attention to the introduction (pp. 326-327) and the conclusions (pp. 337-340).
The link is to a "cover page," from which you can "click" on each page of the essay.
As you read the essay. answer the following questions:
According to Conant, what was causing the stagnation of the economy in the developed countries? What is his evidence?
What possible solutions does Conant propose to solve the problems of surplus capital (surplus savings, surplus investment, and surplus production)? Which solutions does he reject and which does he support? Why?
How does this "economic imperialism" differ from "old-style" colonialism?
What possible conflicts might you predict if the US, Germany, and other developed capitalist countries all competed for secure investment markets in "under-developed" areas?
Click here for link to "The Economic Basis of 'Imperialism,'" by Charles A. Conant (at http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABQ7578-0167-33)
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Part Two is a statement by President William McKinley on his decision that the US should annex the Philippines. As the textbook explains, the US became involved in the Philippines in the course of the Spanish American War (in 1898--the same year as Conant's essay).
Both the Spanish-American War and McKinley's decisions to annex Hawaii and the Philippines were very controversial, and there was a serious anti-imperialist movement in the US at the time.
McKinley tried to explain his decision in this short, "impromptu" speech, made during a visit to the White House by a group of ministers. He hoped that this would help turn public opinion in favor of his policies.
As you read the document, answer the following questions:
How does this statement relate the idea that imperialist policies were designed to boost national prestige and honor?
How does this statement relate the idea that imperialist policies were influenced by "social darwinism"?
How does this statement relate to Conant's idea that imperialism was linked to business interests?
The Philippines had been a Spanish colony and the Philippinos had been converted to Christianity by Catholic missionaries centuries before the US annexed them--how does this influence your opinion of McKinley's statement?
Click here for link to William McKinley, "Decision on the Philippines" (1900) (at http://occ.awlonline.com/bookbind/pubbooks/nash5e_awl/medialib/timeline/docs/sources/theme_primarysources_Military_2_6.html)