!"#!$%&'#(!)'*'#+!&%!'"#!,"&-&..&%#+!
/010"/1/2!
!"#$
February 15
The
battleship
U.S.S.
Maine
explodes in
Havana
Harbor.
!%"%!
April 19
Congress by a
vote of 311 to 6 in
the House, and
42 to 35 in the
Senate, adopts a
joint resolution for
war with Spain.
President
McKinley signs it
the
next day and
calls for 125,000
volunteers for 1
year of
active
duty.
May 25
The first
U.S.
volunteer
troops
leave San
Francisco
for the
Philippines
June 15
Hundreds of
citizens
assemble in
Boston to
oppose the
annexation
of the
Philippines
and organize
the Anti-
Imperialist
movement.
April
Filipinos
resume their
independence
struggle!
against Spain.
December 10
In the Treaty of
Paris, Spain frees
Cuba, cedes
Porto Rico and
Guam to the
U.S., and sells
the Philippines to
the U.S. for $20
million.
!%""
February 4-5
U.S. troops fire
the first shots of
the war, killing
three Filipino
soldiers triggering
fighting between
U.S. troops and
Filipino
independence
forces.
!"##
February
There were over
1,000 engagements
between U.S. and
Filipino forces in the
first year of war.
November 13
Filipinos switch
from
conventional to
guerilla war.
!"#!
February
Mark Twain
publishes “To the
Person Sitting in
Darkness”, his
satire on U.S.
imperialism in the
Philippines, in the
North American
Review.
May 1
Admiral
Dewey
destroys
the
Spanish
fleet in
Manila
Ba
y
.
September 15
The Congress
of the First
Philippine
Republic
creates the first
republican
constitution in
A
sia.
January 31 to
June 28
Senate Committee
on the Philippines
chaired by
imperialist
Republican Henry
Cabot Lodge
conducts hearings!
on the war. !
July 4
President
Theodore
Roosevelt
declares
victory in the
Philippines
but a guerrilla
war
continues
until 1915.
STANFORD HISTORY EDUCATION GROUP sheg.stanford.edu
Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden, 1899
This famous poem, written by Britain's imperial poet, was a response to the American
takeover of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. Read the poem to yourself
THREE TIMES before beginning to answer the questions.
Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
Guiding Questions:
1. According to Kipling, what is the White Man’s Burden?
2. Based on this poem, how did imperialists (people who supported annexation) think of the
people in the countries they were taking over (i.e., Cuba, Philippines, etc.)?
3. Kipling supported U.S. annexation of the Philippines. What might someone say who
opposed annexation say about Kiplings argument in the White Mans Burden?”
Vocabulary
Burden: a heavy responsibility
Breed: children
Harness: boring daily work
Fluttered: unsteady
Folk: people
Sullen: bad-tempered; gloomy
Cloak: hide
Cartoon
Source:
Publication/ Date
Is this magazine
pro or anti-
imperialism?
Context:
What else was going on at this
time that relates to this cartoon?
(Use your timeline and textbook for
background information)
Main characters/ symbols:
What do you see in this cartoon?
Overall message
Example 1
Judge, 1899
Pro-Imperialist
U.S. begins war in Philippines;
Rudyard Kipling publishes
‘White Man’s Burden’
White men (Uncle Sam and
the guy who represents
England) carrying baskets of
people of color towards
“Civilization”
America and England are helping
to “civilize” people
Example 2
Life, 1899
Anti-Imperialist
U.S. begins war in Philippines;
Rudyard Kipling publishes
‘White Man’s Burden’
SET ___
Cartoon ____
SET ___
Cartoon ___