Buloan, Julian2023-05-312023-05-311926-05-24https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2835698 pagesThere is a general agreement among American statesmen and historians that the acquisition of the Philippine islands, at the time of Dewey’s brilliant victory at Manila Bay, was unforeseen and unexpected. It is also stated that the administration that embarked on a war with Spain to free Cuba had no knowledge, no idea, nor information of the existence of Spain’s rich possessions in the Far East. President McKinley, speaking at Youngstown, Ohio, October 18th, 1899, said: “When Dewey sank the ships at Manila, as he was ordered to do, it was not to capture the Philippines – it was to destroy the Spanish fleet, the fleet of the nation against which we are waging war, and we thought that the soonest way to end the war was to destroy the power of Spain to make war, and so scent Dewey.” Even more striking is the statement of Dewey himself. While on his way to take command of the Asiatic Squadron, he devoted part of his time to reading information about the Philippines.enCreative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-USexpansion in the pacificpeace treatyratificationThesis / Dissertation