Primary Sources from U.S. Overseas Expansion

Analyze the factors that led the United States to annex the Philippines

Cartoon Supporting Annexation 1902

Context: By mid-1902, the Philippine-American War was winding down, but debate over U.S. imperial policy remained fierce. The popular magazine Puck, which generally supported expansion, published political cartoons dismissing critics.

Illustration shows anti-expansionist Senators George F. Hoar, Carl Schurz, David B. Hill, and former Massachusetts Governor George S. Boutwell, placing their “Anti-Expansion Speech” at the feet of a huge American soldier holding a rifle and the American flag, while opposite them Filipinos place guns and swords at the soldier’s feet. Source: Library of Congress.

For more information about the political cartoon, or to access the original, visit Library of Congress.