McKinley's Foreign Policy: Closing Activity 1

Read the following two McKinley quotes. Some people have suggested that the change that occurred in McKinley's foreign policy from the time of his inauguration to the end of the Philippine-American Conquest show that his words do not fit his actions. Some have even called him a hypocrite.

Extended Constructed Response (ECR):

Assume you are an American citizen living in 1901. Write an ECR responding to McKinley's actions. You may write a letter directly to the president, or you may write an editorial in a newspaper. In your response, reflect on and explain the changes that have occured from his inauguration in 1897 to his statement in 1901. You must state and explain why you either support or oppose his actions in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines.

To fully develop your answer, you may need to reread the First Inaugural Address and the description of McKinley's conquest of the Philippines. You may also consider the interview in which McKinley describes his decision to annex the Philippines.

We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. William McKinley's First Inaugural Address, 1897

I have been criticized a good deal about the Philippines, but I don't deserve it. The truth is . . . they came to us as a gift from the gods. William McKinley, 1901