 | Redoedo (39)
11/01/2003 |  President Roosevelt's greatest crises stemmed from the concessions of Spain following their defeat in the Spanish-American War. As a result of the war, the United States gained control of several Spanish territories including Cuba and the Phillipines. President McKinley had authorized the installment of puppet governments in both nations. As a result, in the Phillipines in 1898, Filipino nationalists revolted in what would become a four year guerilla war for Filipino Independence. Eventually, the leader of the rebellion was captured and order was restored. Roosevelt, like his predacessor, authorized the internment and slaughtering of hundreds of Filipino rebels. I find this to be absolutely inexcusable. The Filipinos were completely deserving of their own government after years of oppressive Spanish rule. However, Roosevelt's imperialist agenda conflicted with this, and in what was declared as the Roosevelt Doctrine, Roosevelt declared that the United States had the right to step in and give a country a spanking if it stepped out of line. To his credit, the Filipino War was already a huge conflict by the time that Roosevelt assumed office. However, Roosevelt personally ordered the deployment of more troops to the area. He did something similar in Cuba by pushing forward the Platt Amendment which established that the United States assumed full military control of Cuba. A puppet government was installed during McKinley's term, and several revolts broke out during Roosevelt's term, prompting him to authorize military action which led to intability in Cuba for decades. With regards to resentment of America's imperialist policies, Roosevelt failed greaty in dealing with these crises. Political instability continued in the Phillipines, Cuba and elsewhere. On the domestic front, for the most part, Roosevelt also failed to exhibit much crisis leadership, espescially with regards to Civil Rights. Roosevelt secretly supported anti-lynching laws, but failed to get behind the cause and address the issue of African American oppression in fear of alienating the South. Thus, the situation simply grew worse. However, in one domestic situation, Roosevelt experienced considerable success. In the spring of 1902, laborers had walked off the job in the coal mines in Pennsylvania, deserving an eight-hour work day and higher wages. The strike had the potential to turn into a crisis with the winter months looming. Roosevelt, using bold executive force, threatened to use federal troops to operate the mines unless the owners agreed to the demands of the strikers. The owners backed down and granted higher wages and a shorter workday for workers. The move was a huge political success for Roosevelt. While critics argue that Roosevelt's action was unconstitutional, I believe that it reaffirmed Roosevelt's commitment to fight for every American citizen, including the working citizens. So, in the final analysis, Roosevelt's supposed victories in Cuba and the Phillipines were in fact not victories at all. Resentment of American imperialism continued and political instability lasted for decades. On the home front as well, Roosevelt failed to deal with the major issues of the day. Indeed, Roosevelt's actions in response to several crises provided no long-term solution to the problems facing the nation and the world.
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