Analyze historical facts and interpretations
Analyze and compare political, geographic, economic, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual institutions, structures, and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures
Recognize and articulate the diversity of human experience across a range of historical periods and the complexities of a global culture and society
Draw on historical perspective to evaluate contemporary problems/issues
Analyze the contributions of past cultures/societies to the contemporary world
Skills
The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills that are essential for your success in this course, in college, in the field of History, and in your professional life beyond college:
Analyzing and synthesizing primary documents
Comparing and contrasting experiences and perspectives
Thinking critically about written information
Knowledge
This assignment will also help you to become familiar with the following important content in this discipline:
The debate in the United States over the ratification of the Treaty of Paris (1898)
The arguments made by the imperialists in the United States
The arguments made by the anti-imperialists in the United States
Task
Read the excerpts from the materials documenting the debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists found in Content under Conflicting Viewpoints as CV I. Complete and submit a ten-paragraph written assignment based on this content (and this content alone) addressing each of the four topics below and following the instructions and format for each topic:
Compare and contrast the arguments for the Treaty of Paris (1898) and the acquisition of the Philippines made by Senate candidate Albert Beveridge and the counterarguments made in opposition to both by the American Anti-Imperialist League:
Address the major theme of Beveridge’s The March to the Flag speech. Identify the source from which the U.S. derives its authority and imperative toward imperialism? List the instances as related by Beveridge in which the U.S. has successfully pursued its Manifest Destiny. (Paragraph one)
Identify and explain two other reasons Beveridge maintains that the U.S. must continue to successfully pursue imperialism that includes the acquisition of the Philippines, a necessity he describes as “the very predestination of reciprocity-a reciprocity.” (Paragraph two)
Address the major theme of the Platform for the American Anti-Imperialist League. Explain why the members of the League believe imperialism is hostile to the concept of liberty and everything the U.S. stands for. (Paragraph three)
Identify and explain two other reasons why the members of the League oppose the current U.S. policy in the Philippines. (Paragraph four)
Contrast the imperialist hero of Beveridge’s speech, Thomas Jefferson, with the Abraham Lincoln touted by the American Anti-Imperialist League. Explain what each man stands for in the respective documents in which they are invoked. (Paragraph five)
Compare and contrast the views of authors Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain on American imperialism and the current events in the Philippines:
According to Kipling, what is The White Man’s Burden? Explain how his poem reinforces Beveridge’s primary theme and why you think the poem is often called the “Anthem of Imperialism?” (Paragraph six)
Explain how Twain’s narrative of events in his To the Person Sitting in Darkness portrays a pattern of betrayal on the part of the U.S. In what ways did the U.S. mislead the Filipinos and for what purpose? (Paragraph seven)
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie and the New York World advance new arguments opposing the acquisition of the Philippines and US imperialism around the globe:
Explain the two arguments Carnegie makes in his Distant Possessions: The Parting of the Ways in opposition to the imperialism and the acquisition of the Philippines. What is his concern about “alien races” and what does he see as the additional costs of imperialism? (Paragraph eight)
Address the essential point pictured in the New York World’s “Civilization Begins at Home.” To illustrate that point, what is happening outside the window and why is Lady Justice drawing the curtain to show President McKinley? (Paragraph nine)
Take a side! Would you have been an imperialist or an anti-imperialist in 1898? What would have persuaded you to take that side?
Take one of the two sides, imperialism or anti-imperialism, and list and explain two separate and valid reasons, from the source material (this document set), as to why you chose your position. (Paragraph ten)
Criteria for Success
A submission that follows the instructions provided in the Task above will contain ten paragraphs. No introductory or closing paragraph is required.
The name of the assignment, Analyze, Synthesize, and Compare and Contrast: Imperialism vs. Anti-Imperialism and the Treaty of Paris (1898), should appear at the top of the submission.
This assignment is worth up to 100 points. Each paragraph will be scored by content based on the specific instructions for each – see the rubric for point values. Each paragraph should be concise but complete. Make sure you have addressed the questions as they were asked. Your submission should also be written in complete sentences, be grammatically correct, and contain no spelling errors. Points will be deducted for multiple misspellings, incomplete sentences, and grammatical errors.
One or two direct quotes from each document excerpt are permissible but should be brief. Do not include more than one sentence, or partial sentence, in a quote. When you choose to use a direct quote, you should identify the source by name within the paragraph (you do not have to provide endnotes or footnotes). Examples:
Beveridge describes the U.S. as “a greater England with a nobler destiny.”
The Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League quotes Abraham Lincoln as declaring: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it.”
Andrew Carnegie frames the essential question as this: “Is the Republic to remain one homogeneous whole, one united people, or to become a scattered and disjointed aggregate of widely separated and alien races?”
