How Have Native Americans Supported The Spanish American War?

The Spanish American War was short and fought over a period of 10 weeks. Most Americans supported the war because we were freeing the natives in territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spanish rule, but our definition of freedom was to only make money. "But freedom was above all economic in nature for most Americans: it involved private property, free enterprise, and opportunities for material gain. Most Americans thought that political rights, civil liberties, and private enterprise were all of a piece and that it was not possible to have one without the other” (Boller 200). The press told the public that the war was for a good cause. It was to show the natives American ideals, but this was a lie. What ideals would we teach?

All we wanted was more land to expand our empire. By doing so, we could open more private factories to make large profits at little costs by taking the native people 's resources. Also, the only people that could open factories were the rich. Anyone on a lower social status was considered a fool to think they could make money in these foreign lands. Furthermore, the Spanish American War created more racism in our country. Since slavery became illegal after the Civil War, many Americans needed to get their anger off in other ways. "Frederick Douglass’ son Lewis, saw the war as an extension of America’s racist ideology, for it resulted in 'in the acquisition of an empire containing millions of colored people '" (203). With more colored people part of the American empire, white supremacy was increased. Not only did whites have black people to oppress, but also millions of brown people in the former Spanish lands. All this led to more verbal abuse and murders of colored people. The Spanish American War was said to educate the native people, but it actually created more racism in our