As the US marks its 250th birthday, it operates an empire in all but name
The opposition to the US’ imperialistic actions at the turn of the 20th century by prominent intellectuals should offer Americans today food for thought
The American Anti-Imperialist League counted among its members philosopher William James, industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and Mark Twain, perhaps the most popular writer of the age. For years they lobbied to preserve America’s founding values and resist the path of European colonialism. They failed in their short-term objective against empire. The Philippines became an American colony in 1898 and remained so until its own independence in 1946.
Even so, they argued against government transgression more powerfully than anything heard at conferences today. The league’s official platform said that “subjugation of any people is ‘criminal aggression’ and open disloyalty to the distinctive principles of our government”, warning that an administration free to “organise a truth-suppressing censorship and demand of all citizens a suspension of judgment” would imperil representative government itself. If more Americans read this work, they might recall that patriotic dissent is the highest form of loyalty.
An American empire was never inevitable. It was hotly debated after the Spanish-American War, fought to liberate Cuba from Spanish colonial rule and settled when the United States bought the Philippines for US$20 million. Hong Kong was the staging ground from which America’s Asiatic Fleet sailed to its swift and decisive victory at Manila.