In Support of an American Empire Speech is a primary source concerning American imperialism in the Philippines. Within this essay the primary sources value will be based on the author’s credibility, the validity of the source, and the bias presented in the address from the author. The source is an address from Albert J. Beveridge called In Support of an American Empire Speech accessed through the ABC-CLIO databases. The source provides an excerpt from the address. . The address In Support of an American Empire Speech, was delivered by Republican senator Albert J. Beveridge in favor of imperialist action against the Philippines. Beveridge was an American historian, an intellectual leader, and a biographer where he later won a Pulitzer Prize …show more content…
The purpose of In Support of an American Empire Speech is to convince his senators to endorse U.S. imperialism. Beveridge has extremely ethnocentric viewpoint and throughout the address he calls the Filipino people children and savages. He believes that its Americas divine duty to bring the benefits of civilization to the world saying, “We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee, under God, of the civilization of the world” (In Support of an American Empire Speech, Beveridge). Being the Senator of Indiana and a Republican pushing imperialism he is not only well known but also not a neutral party. The author leaves out all that is anti-imperialism due to morals, as he states that self government is not a necessary component of civilization and says to the Senate“and treasure already spent a profitable loss than to apply any academic arrangement of self-government to these children. They are not capable of self-government. How could they be? They are not of a self-governing race. They are Orientals, Malays” (In Support of an American Empire Speech, Beveridge). In justifying the imperialism on the Philippians, he says that they cannot govern themselves due to their origins. This view was widely accepted for those who supported imperialism, but not generally accepted as the American people were divided on the