Mark Twain, it must be recalled, was the "Jane Fonda" of his
day, railing against the American adventures in the
Philippines under McKinley. The USA spent more time and lives
"liberating" the Philippines from the locals than it did in
fighting the Spanish.
One quote from the day. "Caloocan was supposed to contain
17,000 inhabitants. The Twentieth Kansas swept through it,
and now Caloocan contains not one living native". Looking
back, McKinley is seen as the start of Empire, and Gore Vidal
makes that very clear in his wonderful series. There is
another wonderful quote from McKinley at the time. The USA
had to "uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by
God's grace do the very best we could by them, as for our
fellow men for whom Christ also died". When reminded that
most Philipinos were Roman Catholics and not pagans, McKinley
replied "Exactly".
Isn't useless information fun!
Willow
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