The United States to the Filipinos
The United States to the Filipinos
Original Text
The Poetry of Father Tabb: John Banister Tabb, ed.
Francis A. Litz (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1927): 390.
PS 2965 A2 1928
2To do whate'er we choose,
3Or clean extermination
4If you venture to refuse.
Notes
1] The American Anti-Imperialist League, which included Andrew Carnegie, William James, and Mark Twain, profoundly objected to United States actions insuppressing Philippine rebels who declared their island a republic on Feb. 4, 1899. Thisinsurrection followed the Treaty of Paris, which transferred to the United States suchterritories as Guam, Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico following the Spanish-Americanwar, declared by Anmerica on April 25, 1898, and ended on Dec. 10, 1898, in Paris. USforces under Arthur MacArthur, the Governor of the Philippines, seized Luzon onNovember 24, 1899, but anti-war pressures at home softened the US military position.Insurgents were granted an amnesty on June 21, 1900, and the war ended a year later. ThePhilippines finally gained autonomy from the United States in 1934 and completeindependence in 1946. See also William Vaughn Moody's "An Ode in Time of Hesitation." Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1900
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2002
Rhyme