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Treaty of Paris Document C - William Jennings Bryan In his interview at Savannah, Georgia, William Jennings Bryan spoke on the two matters of greatest public concern, expansion and currency reform. The war was over, and he believed he could be more useful to his country as a civilian than as a soldier, he asserted. At Savannah, he said "I may be in error, but in my judgment our nation is in greater danger just now than Cuba. " he received his discharge papers and rushed to catch the first train for Washington, for "the Treaty was in danger. " The formal debate on the Treaty of Paris, which lasted from January 4 to February 6, 1899, proceeded in profound ignorance of conditions in the Philippines and was complicated by McKinley's sudden proclamation of American sovereignty over the islands on the basis of military conquest and his ordering of American troops from Luzon to other islands. Bryan failed to see the incongruity of being on McKinley's side and argued that the treaty was a solemn obligation that must be enforced. He hoped that the question of imperialism would be settled quickly, so that he could campaign in 1900 on the money and trust issues. He denied that we must govern the Philippines for their own good, that we needed the profits obtainable from trading with them, and that McKinley's "religious duty" argument was sound ( (Denna, 1930).
He declined Carnegie's request to ask his followers in the Senate to vote against the treaty and held out for both the treaty and Philippine independence. Finally, on January 24, Augustus O. Bacon of Georgia introduced a resolution which would prevent the impending rebellion and implement his policy. Whenever the Filipinos organized a stable and independent government worthy of recognition, said Bacon, the United States would transfer sovereignty of the islands to them. Through his historic interview at Savannah, Bryan had blessed America's going to war in the name of self-determination for an underdog. However, he had unequivocally declared his opposition to imperialism at a very early date; he would have opposed ratification of the Treaty of Paris if he believed it would impel the nation upon a career of expansion.
Document F- Senator George F. Hoar The Treaty of Paris was opposed by those who disapproved of the annexation of the Philippine Islands. The opposition was led by Senator Hoar of Massachusetts, Republican, who exerted his full strength to prevent what he thought, was an unjust deprivation of liberty to the Philippine people. The Democratic minority also objected to it on the issue of imperialism. Consequently the fate of the treaty was in doubt even before it was signed. Senator Hoar protested vigorously that he did not want any more Senators to appear in the Senate advocating the adoption of treaties which they themselves had negotiated as representatives of the Administration.
He then quoted the constitution to show that such an appointment was illegal and pointed out that the only escape was to rule that a negotiator was not an officer. In his judgment the meaning of Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution was clear. At the time the Senate had refused to take any action. The opponents of the treaty evidently thought that the country might be aroused on the subject (Denna, 1930), for on January 24, a motion for public debate was made but defeated. The following day unanimous consent for a vote on February 6 was obtained and on that day approval of the treaty was voted, 57 to 27, with two votes to spare. Senator Hoar was convinced that the lines of opposition had never been drawn tightly enough.
He wrote, in 1903, that the acquisition of a dependency to be held in subjection by the United States, the overthrow of the great doctrine that governments rest on consent of the governed; that all the painful consequences which have attended the war for the subjugation of that distant people, would have been avoided if the Democratic opposition had been sincere. Resources Denna Frank Fleming. 1930. The Treaty Veto of the American Senate. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
New York.
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Research essay sample on William Jennings Bryan Treaty Of Paris
