During the 18th and 19th centuries, many European countries expanded their authority by colonization and imperial rule. Britain had territories in India, the Dutch had laid claim to many islands in the West Indies, and many others had participated in the Scramble for Africa. However, it wasn't until 1898 that the US ended a long period of isolationism and entered the imperialist stage.
After the Spanish-American War in 1898, the US annexed Puerto Rico and the Philippines, making them US colonies. The idea of an American empire did not sit well with many, and the Anti-Imperialist League sprang into existence.
Anti-Imperialist League Definition
The Anti-Imperialist League was a citizen group formed on June 15, 1898, to protest against the American annexation of the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The League was founded in Boston as the New England Anti-Imperialist League when Gamaliel Bradford called upon like-minded people to meet and organize a protest against the US actions after the Spanish-American War. The group quickly grew from a small meeting to a national organization with around 30 branches all over the nation and was renamed the Anti-Imperialist League. At its largest, it contained over 30,000 members.1
The Anti-Imperialist League was against imperialism as a general concept but is most well known for its protest of the US annexation of the Philippines.
Anti-Imperialist League Purpose
The Anti-Imperialist League was founded as a response to the actions taken by the US government during the Spanish-American War when the US was inspired to support Cuba in its independence from Spain, both for economic and moral reasons.
The Spanish-American War (April 1898-August 1898)
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Spanish-controlled colonies in Cuba and the Philippines had begun the process of fighting for their independence. Cuba being at war with the Spanish was especially worrisome to President William McKinley, as the country was close to the US geographically and economically.
The battleship U.S.S. Maine was stationed in Havana to protect US interests, where it was destroyed on February 15, 1898. The explosion was blamed on the Spanish, who denied the accusation, and the loss of the U.S.S. Maine and the 266 sailors on board fired up the American people both for the cause of Cuban independence from Spain and an American war against Spain. In a decision popular with the American public, President McKinley declared war on Spain on April 20, 1898.
Fig 1. A postcard featuring an image of the sunken USS Maine in the Havana harbor. Source: Wikimedia Commons
The position of the US was that they were fighting for freedom and democracy of the Spanish colonies: Cuba in the Caribbean and the Philippines in the Pacific. The US did most of their fighting in the Philippines, where they worked with the Filipino revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo to defeat the Spanish army. The short-lived Spanish-American War lasted from April to August 1898, with a US victory.
The war was declared over in August 1898, and the Treaty of Paris, which heavily favored the US, was signed in December. As part of the Treaty, the Kingdom of Spain ceded its Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam territories. The US paid Spain 20 million dollars for the Philippines. Cuba was declared independent, but built into their new constitution was the clause that the US could interfere with their affairs if something were to happen that would negatively affect the US.
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