Final answer:
President McKinley justified the US takeover of the Philippines believing Filipinos were unfit for self-rule, needed to be civilized and Christianized, and due to concerns value, while McKinley and others held paternalistic views, as reflected in William Howard Taft's reference to 'our little brown brothers.'
Step-by-step explanation:
President William McKinley justified the US takeover of the Philippines on several grounds. He deemed that Filipinos were unfit for self-rule, believing they would not be able to govern themselves properly. Additionally, McKinley claimed that the Filipinos needed to be “uplifted and civilized and Christianized.
” There was also a concern that if the United States did not take control, other imperial powers like Germany, Russia, Japan, or Great Britain might seize the Philippines. On top of these justifications, he and other expansion advocates like Theodore Roosevelt and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge saw the strategic value of the Philippines for American trade and military power.
The claim of divine inspiration was also mentioned by McKinley in his discussions with Methodist leaders, framing the takeover as an almost spiritual duty. Moreover, American sentiments of the time reflected in statements by leaders such as William Howard Taft, who paternalistically referred to the Filipinos as “our little brown brothers,” supporting the idea that McKinley and govern the Filipino people until they were ready for self-rule.
A brutal Philippine-American War ensued during which the US used harsh tactics to assert control. The US administration promised self-government when Filipinos were perceived ready, and a commission led by William Howard Taft aimed to prepare the Philippines for democratic government considering local traditions.