Anti-imperialists believe that "all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," and they reject the notion that "might makes right," asserting that "a self-governing state cannot accept sovereignty over an unwilling people." They argue that the "subjugation of any people is ‘criminal aggression’" and that it is essential to "rescue" American principles from those who betray them.
“Anti-Imperialist Platform”
At the National Conference of Anti-Imperialists in Chicago, October 17, the following address to the people of the United States was adopted:
“The War Is a Criminal Aggression”
“We regret that it has become necessary in the land of Washington and Lincoln to reaffirm that all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We maintain that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. We insist that the subjugation of any people is ‘criminal aggression’ and open disloyalty to the distinctive principles of our government.
“We deplore the sacrifice of our soldiers and sailors, whose bravery deserves admiration even in an unjust war. We denounce the slaughter of the Filipinos as a needless horror. We demand the immediate cessation of the war against liberty begun by Spain and continued by us. We urge that Congress be promptly convened to announce to the Philippines our purpose to concede to them the independence for which they have so long fought and which of right is theirs.
“The United States has always protested against the doctrine of international law which permits the subjugation of the weak by the strong. A self-governing state cannot accept sovereignty over an unwilling people. The United States cannot act upon the ancient heresy that might makes right.
“Imperialists assume that with the destruction by American hands of self-government in the Philippines all opposition here will cease. This is a grievous error. Much as we abhor the ‘criminal aggression’ in the Philippines, greatly as we regret that the blood of the Filipinos is on American hands, we more deeply resent the betrayal of American institutions at home.
“The real firing line is not in the suburbs of Manila. The enemy is of our own household. The attempt of 1899 is to destroy its fundamental principles and noblest ideals. Whether the ruthless slaughter of the Filipinos shall end next month or next year is but an incident in a contest that must go on until the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are rescued from the hands of their betrayers.
“Those that dispute about standards of values while the foundation of the Republic is undermined will be listened to as little as those who would wrangle about the small economics of the household while the house is on fire.
“We propose to contribute to the defeat of any person or party that stands for the forcible subjugation of any people. We shall oppose for re-election all who in the White House or Congress betray American liberty in pursuit of un-American ends, and hope that both our great political parties will support and defend the Declaration of Independence in the closing campaign of the century.”
—In Freedom’s Name No. 3, Anti-Imperialist League, Washington, D.C., 1899
Identify the beliefs of an anti-imperialist in two sentences using only what I provided and what I provided is all as well as use quotes from what I provided
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