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Essay On How Far Was The United States Justified Or Unjustified?

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In 509 BC the Romans took over a small chunk of Italy leading to the beginning of the Roman Empire. But this is not the last time a country took over another one and ruled it; another time was on December 10, 1898 when America gained Cuba, and the Philippines as well as Guam from a treaty with Spain. But were they justified in doing so? Some people may argue that they were justified in doing so because they were freeing the Filipinos from the oppressive Spanish rule and that America believed that it was their God given right to expand outwardly right to do so. Other people argue that America was unjustified because they did it for purely racist reasons, while also going against what the country was built on. Two historians, Walter Lafeber and …show more content…

As stated by Walter LaFeber in his essay ‘Splendid Little War’, “the United States went to war for humanitarian reasons, to free the Cubans from the horrors of Spanish policies and to give the Cubans democratic institutions. This initial impulse resulted within ten months in an American protectorate over Cuba and Puerto Rico, annexation of the Philippines, and American participation” (pg 1). This quote is trying to present the idea that the American public wanted to save the Cuban people from being oppressed and had no intention of ruling over the …show more content…

Hofsteder talks about this in his essay when he says, “They saw that a new phase of imperialism had opened in the Western world at large, and they were fearful that if the United States did not adopt a policy of expansion and preparation for military and naval struggle, it would be left behind in what they referred to as the struggle for life or the march of the nations” (Hofstadter). In his quote, Hofstadter says that America felt the need to expand outward because if they didn't, the rest of the world would leave them behind. Historical evidence of America using manifest destiny to justify things is how the idea was used to push natives out of their homelands so that American settlers could move into the land. This all shows that America was justified in expanding outward because it was their god-given right to expand out of North

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