The advancements in communication, growth of emancipation and the spread of education has enabled our society to reach an echelon of civilization that not long ago would have seemed impossible. If one looks but a little over a hundred years ago in the past, they would see a world in which western Europe and the United States exploited numerous countries all around the world for their resources. To the blind eye, religion and race were the motivating factors for the explosion of imperialism in the nineteenth century, and although they played a role, it was the drive for profit that kept these nations in the hunt for more land to conquer. It is imperative to acknowledge the roles that religion and race did play in the growth of imperialism. …show more content…
An American senator by the name of Albert Beveridge advocated the idea of an American Empire in the Philippines, and used a colorful combination of racism and religion to convince the American people that an empire is a good idea. Beveridge suggests that the “almighty God has marked us as his chosen people” and that the Filipinos are “not capable of self-government”. By employing racism and religion, Beveridge claims that the United States can lift the uncivilized Filipinos into a society that can rival that of the Anglo-Saxons, but as is the pattern with the previous examples, this line of reasoning was a cover-up. The importance of the Philippines in the United States economy cannot be understated, Beveridge himself claimed that “our largest trade henceforth must be with Asia”. This claim would become incredibly accurate in the coming century, for Beveridge knew that “the pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future”. It is obvious how important it would be for the United States to control an Island nation not far from the important trade network that China and Southeast Asia present. The economic gains the United States could reap from this were massive, and Beveridge wisely disguised the economic importance of the Philippines as not only a civilizing mission but also a religious one given to the American people from god