The March of the Flag Summary

The March of the Flag SummaryAlbert Beveridge, an enthusiastic over-embellishedist, was campaigning for the atomic number 49 senator seat in 1898 when he delivered The March of the Flag quarrel. The reference, which was published ulterior in the Indianapolis Journal, was pronounced one month subsequently the write of armistice. The speech aimed at promoting US imperialism both as a divine and national complaint that originated with Thomas Jefferson. In the speech, he used unearthly rhetoric and invoked God eleven times to appeal to an audience. The audience judge politicians to know the Holy Scriptures and took divine Providence as Manifest Destiny. He envisaged the US taking a colonial which he defined in terms of a divine mission.Running as the party of prosperity, frugal stability and the gold rootard, Republicans won the 1896 presidential election. William McKinley easily defeated the populist Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan, having gotten enormous campa ign contributions mainly from big businesses. He was to usher in a long period of republican handedness in the countys politics. During the period, Cuba was experiencing a humanitarian crisis and the US intervened by attacking Spain in April 1898, quickly acquiring Cuba, the Philippines and Puerto Rico. However, in the Philippines, it took a long and condemnable contend to quell mounting internal rebellion. When the speech was being delivered, the status of the modernistic territories had not been settled. Through the speech, Beveridge put forward the idea that the US was compel to extend civilization to the conquered territories as a key platform for bolstering American scotch strength.The speech aimed at celebrating American victory. However, behind the enthusiasm target a burning desire to counter the critics of the imperialist move who boozing referred to as they in the speech ( split 10). The critics, who constituted the great proportion of the electorate, were adamantly opposed and very reluctant to embrace an idea of an imperial America. The speech starts with adulation of his country in epic terms ( dissevers 1-3). Later, he puts across the main issue behind the campaign in divides 4 to7 the end to or not to pursue an imperialist form _or_ system of government. In paragraphs 8-11, he justifies his countrys following of the imperialist policy and answers objections of anti-imperialists. The objections, he says defies the notion of patriotism and celebration of Americas power.Beveridges starting signal argument was founded on the incident that his countys geographical position gave it political and sparing power in terms of resources, size and location dividing the two imperial oceans. This assertion implied that Americas superiority was beyond that of all European powers. In paragraph 3, he refers to myth of the west in relation to the unexplored fetch or wilderness (paragraph 3). He mentions the heroes of expansionary wars and puts fo rward a mythic remark of the western conquest of the 1840s (paragraph 7).Beveridges third argument centres on racial superiority. He alludes to the blood (paragraph 2) and evokes the feeling of power associated as evidenced by the manfulness of the countrys multiplying people. In his view, the increase in American population is sue to their virility and is not related to immigration this illustrates the mythic approach that America gives to its problems. chairwoman Roosevelt would pose as an energetic and virile man on some(prenominal) occasions. This cult of force, power and energy suggests a Darwinian twist in Beverigdes ideas.He besides uses religious arguments to advance his idea of imperialism. Reading finished the speech, one can be forgiven for thinking that it is a piece of O Sullivans Manifest Destiny. The only variation is that Beveridges religious propositions were mostly expressed in a scientifically inspired language. To his country, the grace of God is feels as i nevitable. He later makes reference to natures law in regard to the divine determinism thereby directing his argument in a pseudo scientific account of imperialism. In paragraph 5, Beveridge adds yet anformer(a) dimension to his argument-that of a historic mission of duty. This suggests a traditional puritan idea of stewardship as regenerate by the gospel of wealth during the Gilded Age. Stewardship aimed at civilising people and converting them to Christianity at the same time.Along with the call to stewardship came the need to extend democracy to those comprehend to be oppressed. Ironically, the freedom that the American liberators could bring didnt go as farther as extending freedom to all. Beveridge calls it rules of liberty self-government.Beveridges insistence on the sense of mission blankets what is a major immersion for his country economical predominance. In paragraph 6, he uses the word reward in reference to the parable of Talent. This is a clever marriage of relig ious economic rhetoric. In his view, rewards were to come in form of new riches and markets- an idea preponderant in the Gospel of wealth that takes wealth for Gods blessing. This shows that the real aim behind imperialism is indeed mercantile supremacy. The recurrence of the words domination and power in last paragraph are indicators of this fact.Contextually, the approaching elections were his countrys short term preoccupation. In the long term, the preoccupation was whether the new territories would be annexed to America. Beveridge wanted even more territories to be annexed after the Philippines. His stand was that the values of the American Revolution were not contradictory to the policy of annexation and the views of those living in the annexed territories. To him, the colonised were inferior people who couldnt make merry the values of American Revolution in equal measure to the Americans. This was a flat rejection of the notion of equality (paragraph 8-10). The constitution should not follow the flag- i.e. the annexed territories shouldnt revere the constitutional entitlements of his countrys constitution.His racist mindset clearly comes to the fore in chapter 10 when he describes as inferior the people of foreign lands as savages and estrange populations. He envisaged a colonial America governing the new territories since England did it to America.Besides, he explains that the Indians experience offered ideas as to how to handle the conquered. In clearly distinctive phrasing of we versus them, he is opposed to assimilation of those savages with the mainstream Americans (paragraph 8). His mentality correlates well with that of southerners towards the blacks prior to the cultured War. Finally, he defends the Philippines conquest as a rampart to the then envious competition for territories by land powers saying that if US didnt do it, other powers would do so. The article is no doubt a celebration of American mythical and heroic founding. It featu res an explicit show of force and brutality economic domination of conquered territories, virility of the American population, racial competition and accumulation of wealth at the expense of conquered territories. It evokes the feeling of American supremacy since its founding and the brutal materialism that continues to define American way of life down to the present. The vocabulary indicates both cynicism and naivety. The militant celebration served to convince the profoundly cynical electorate to hustle in the direction of imperial America. It is naive to the fact that such imperialism deeply violated the values of America as a nation, a fact that could not resonate well with not only the electorate but also the leftist leaning statesmen of the time. To best drive his point home, he insisted on syntactical patterns and repetition of words to bring the audience to his point of focus. His patronage use of questions and answers gave the speech a polemical quality and seemed like a dialogue with his audience. This particularly made the cynical audience evaluate its stand with every posing of a question and giving of a suggested answer. The speech is highly representative ofa critical and decisive moment of muniment in the making of American nation, capturing in great colour the prevalent ideology then. The speech brought out the natural fusion of state policy and Biblical injunction (religion). Implicit in the speech is the ideology that the non-white world was inferior and unable to govern itself. It therefore needed the benevolent Americans civilizing affects.