Anti-Imperialist League

Anti-Imperialist League Definition

The Anti-Imperialist League was a citizen group formed on June 15, 1898, to protest against the American annexation of the Philippines and Puerto Rico. The League was founded in Boston as the New England Anti-Imperialist League when Gamaliel Bradford called upon like-minded people to meet and organize a protest against the US actions after the Spanish-American War. The group quickly grew from a small meeting to a national organization with around 30 branches all over the nation and was renamed the Anti-Imperialist League. At its largest, it contained over 30,000 members.¹

The Anti-Imperialist League was against imperialism as a general concept but is most well known for its protest of the US annexation of the Philippines.

Anti-Imperialist League Purpose

The Anti-Imperialist League was founded as a response to the actions taken by the US government during the Spanish-American War when the US was inspired to support Cuba in its independence from Spain, both for economic and moral reasons.

The Spanish-American War (April 1898-August 1898)

Towards the end of the 19th century, the Spanish-controlled colonies in Cuba and the Philippines had begun the process of fighting for their independence. Cuba being at war with the Spanish was especially worrisome to President William McKinley, as the country was close to the US geographically and economically.

The battleship U.S.S. Maine was stationed in Havana to protect US interests, where it was destroyed on February 15, 1898. The explosion was blamed on the Spanish, who denied the accusation, and the loss of the U.S.S. Maine and the 266 sailors on board fired up the American people both for the cause of Cuban independence from Spain and an American war against Spain. In a decision popular with the American public, President McKinley declared war on Spain on April 20, 1898.

Fig 1. A postcard featuring an image of the sunken USS Maine in the Havana harbor. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The position of the US was that they were fighting for freedom and democracy of the Spanish colonies: Cuba in the Caribbean and the Philippines in the Pacific. The US did most of their fighting in the Philippines, where they worked with the Filipino revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo to defeat the Spanish army. The short-lived Spanish-American War lasted from April to August 1898, with a US victory.

The war was declared over in August 1898, and the Treaty of Paris, which heavily favored the US, was signed in December. As part of the Treaty, the Kingdom of Spain ceded its Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam territories. The US paid Spain 20 million dollars for the Philippines. Cuba was declared independent, but built into their new constitution was the clause that the US could interfere with their affairs if something were to happen that would negatively affect the US.

Anti-Imperialist League Platform

Carl Schurz published the platform of the Anti-Imperialist League in 1899. The platform outlined the purpose of the League and why imperialism was wrong in general and then precisely wrong for the US in the Philippines. It was published in protest of the Treaty of Paris.

The Anti-Imperialist League maintained that expanding the US into an empire would go against the very principles that the US was founded upon. These principles, outlined in the Declaration of Independence, state that

• all countries should have liberty and sovereignty, not subdue other countries,
• another should not govern all nations, and
• the government needs to have the consent of the people.

The platform also accused the US government of planning to economically and militarily exploit the colonies.

Further, the colonies acquired by the US as part of the Treaty of Paris were not given the constitutional rights of American citizens. This was decided in a series of Supreme Court cases called the Insular Cases. Schurz wrote in the platform below:

While the Anti-Imperialism League fought against purchasing and annexing the colonies, they were unsuccessful. American forces stayed despite the fact that the Philippines had declared itself an independent nation.

Anti-Imperialist League Members

The Anti-Imperialist League was a diverse and large group, with people from all political standpoints. The group included authors, scholars, politicians, business people, and everyday citizens. The first president of the Anti-Imperialist League was George S. Boutwell, a former Massachusetts Governor, followed by activist Moorfield Stoney. Mark Twain was the vice president from 1901 to 1910.

The group attracted famous names such as banker Andrew Carnegie, Jane Addams, and John Dewey. Members used their platforms to write, speak, and teach about anti-imperialism.

Fig 3. Andrew Carnegie was one of the most famous members of the Anti-Imperialist League. Source: Wikimedia Commons

However, while they held the same opinion about the US staying away from the colonization of other countries, their beliefs clashed. Some members were isolationists and wanted the US to stay out of global affairs entirely. Many others believed the US should be involved in diplomatic relations with other countries without expanding their authority into an empire or adding more states to the nation.

Anti-Imperialist League Significance

The Anti-Imperialist League was unsuccessful in stopping the US from annexing the Philippines and continually lost steam before disbanding in 1921. Despite this, their platform fought against the imperialist actions of the US, which had followed in the footsteps of many European nations. The members of the Anti-Imperialist League believed that any form of American empire would undermine and weaken the principles on which the US was founded.