US Secretary of State John Hay called the American victory over Spain, “a splendid little war.” After the war, President McKinley justified colonizing the Philippines by saying, “we could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government.” Given these statements, what is the significance of these two primary source readings? How might William James respond to the Secretary of State John Hay’s assessment of the Spanish American War? What would Galicano Apacible say to McKinley’s assertion that Filipinos were unfit to govern themselves? What do these two sources have in common and why are they important?

US Secretary of State John Hay called the American victory over Spain, “a splendid little war.” After the war, President McKinley justified colonizing the Philippines by saying, “we could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government.” Given these statements, what is the significance of these two primary source readings? How might William James respond to the Secretary of State John Hay’s assessment of the Spanish American War? What would Galicano Apacible say to McKinley’s assertion that Filipinos were unfit to govern themselves? What do these two sources have in common and why are they important?