What explains the imperialist impulse?
Roosevelt, Beveridge, and Lodge had plenty of company in glorifying imperial policies for their effects on character. Similar strains of thought can be seen in the statements made by many of their fellow imperialists, in- cluding even President McKinley. After resisting the pressures for war with Spain in the early months of 1898, McKinley caught a mild dose of war fever. “What a wonderful experience,” he said of the Spanish-American War. The success of the war and his own increased status made McKinley more receptive to taking and holding the Philippines. Though never an ardent imperialist, McKinley went along with the affirmations put forth by such imperialists as Roosevelt, Beveridge, and Lodge. Echoing their assertions, he explained his decision to take the Philippines by saying, “The progress of a nation can alone prevent degeneration. There must be new life or there will be weakness and decay.” McKinley proffered the Philippines as a chal- lenge with great potential, as “the mightiest test of American virtue and capacity.” Like a number of other imperialists, he concluded that aggres- sive Philippine policies would build character in American men. “We have not only been adding territory to the United States,” he declared in 1899, “but we have been adding character and prestige to the American name (continued applause).”
Driven by a desire to build character in American men, imperialists wel- comed the Philippine War as a great challenge. Behind their noble-sounding talk of U.S. obligations to the Filipinos lay a self-serving motive: the belief that the Filipinos were opportunities as well as responsibilities. The imperialists’ calls to duty, calculated to appeal to Americans’ sense of mission, masked the less benevolent idea that conquering and governing the Philippines would benefit American men. The stereotypes of the Filipinos [mentioned] earlier can reveal much about these self-interested concerns if they are interpreted with their implications for American men foremost in mind. . . .