George Boutwell, Brady-Handy photo portrait, ca1870-1880

The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established on June 15, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an

insular area In the law of the United States, an insular area is a U.S.-associated jurisdiction that is not part of the 50 states or the District of Columbia. This includes fourteen U.S. territories administered under U.S. sovereignty, as well as three so ...

. The anti-imperialists opposed forced expansion, believing that imperialism violated the fundamental principle that just

republican government Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

must derive from "

consent of the governed In political philosophy, the phrase consent of the governed refers to the idea that a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is justified and lawful only when consented to by the people or society over which that political pow ...

." The League argued that such activity would necessitate the abandonment of American ideals of self-government and non-intervention—ideals expressed in the

United States Declaration of Independence The United States Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America, is the pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Pennsylvania State House ( ...

George Washington's Farewell Address Washington's Farewell Address is a letter written by American President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States. He wrote it near the end of his second term of p ...

and Abraham Lincoln's

Gettysburg Address The Gettysburg Address is a speech that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered during the American Civil War at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the ...

. The Anti-Imperialist League was ultimately defeated in the battle of public opinion by a new wave of politicians who successfully advocated the virtues of American territorial expansion in the aftermath of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

and in the first years of the 20th century.

Organizational history

Forerunners

The idea for an Anti-Imperialist League was born in the spring of 1898. On June 2, retired Massachusetts banker Gamaliel Bradford published a letter in the ''

Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...

'' in which he sought assistance gaining access to historic

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others ...

to hold a public meeting to organize opponents of American colonial expansion. An opponent of the

, Bradford decried what he saw as an "insane and wicked" colonial ambition among some American decision-makers which was "driving the country to moral ruin." Bradford's organizing efforts proved successful, and on June 15, 1898, his protest meeting against "the adoption of an imperial policy by the United States" was held. The June 15 meeting gave rise to a formal four member organizing committee known as the Anti-Imperialist Committee of Correspondence, headed by Bradford.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States,'' pg. 126. This group contacted religious, business, labor, and humanitarian leaders from around the country and attempted to stir them into action to stop what they perceived as a growing menace of American colonial expansion into

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and the former colonial possessions of the

Spanish empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

. A letter-writing campaign attempting to involve editors of newspapers and magazines was initiated. This initial pioneering effort by Bradford and his associates bore fruit on November 19, 1898, when the Anti-Imperialist Committee of Correspondence formally established itself as the Anti-Imperialist League.

Structure

The Anti-Imperialist League was administered by three permanent officers—a President, Secretary, and Treasurer—working in conjunction with a six-member Executive Committee.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States'', pg. 127. Unsurprisingly given the localized origins of the organization, the initial members of this leadership group all hailed from the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

metropolitan area. Chosen as the high-profile President of the League was former Massachusetts Governor, Congressman, and United States Senator George S. Boutwell, who would remain in the position until his death in 1905. Practical day-to-day executive operations were placed in the hands of Secretary Erving Winslow. In addition to its Boston-based governing center, the Anti-Imperialist League also included a large list of public figures of national reputation who were enlisted as Vice-Presidents of the organization. This post was essentially ceremonial but was important in providing legitimacy to the organization. A total of 18 Vice-Presidents were named at the time of the November formation of the league, including among them former President of the United States

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, ex-US Senator and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz, industrialist

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

, and labor leader

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

. During the first half of 1899 the number of "paper" Vice-Presidents of the League was boosted to 40, with a number of leading politicians and intellectuals added to the League's letterhead.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States,'' pg. 128. Included among these were religious philosopher Felix Adler, former Iowa Governor William Larrabee, Republican Congressman Henry U. Johnson, and Stanford University president David Starr Jordan. Shortly after this expansion the Executive Committee of the League voted to move the offices of the organization to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, to be better situated for influencing American political leaders. Despite this decision to establish a nexus in the nation's capital, main operations of the organization remained in Boston. The decision to move to Washington was made moot with the establishment of an autonomous Washington Anti-Imperialist League in the fall of 1899. This affiliated group concentrated its efforts upon the lobbying of national politicians and removed any need for the Boston-based national organization to shift its headquarters. The Anti-Imperialist League would remain based in Boston for the duration of its existence.

Local organizations

The Anti-Imperialist League attempted to establish a network of local organizations in an effort to decentralize and expand the group's propaganda efforts. The group's largest and most influential local affiliates were located in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States'', pg. 133. In February 1899 the national office of the Anti-Imperialist League would peg the group's total membership at "considerably over 25,000." The total number of local branches of the group was reckoned as "at least 100" by November of that year. Local groups maintained a substantial degree of autonomy and often had unique local monikers, including the American League of Philadelphia and the Anti-Imperialist League of New York.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States'', pp. 134–135. The roster of officers of the New York branch was nearly as expansive and impressive as that of the original Boston organization, including a corps of 23 Vice-Presidents.

Three leagues become one

In October 1899 a Chicago group inspired by the Boston organization which had previously styled itself as the Central Anti-Imperialist League held a convention merging with another organization to form the American Anti-Imperialist League.Tompkins, ''Anti-Imperialism in the United States,'' pg. 134. This organization would in turn merge with the Boston-based Anti-Imperialist League in the following month, rechristening the Boston organization as the New England branch of the American Anti-Imperialist League. Despite this formal organizational change, the Boston office remained the leading center of the anti-imperialist movement nationwide. In 1904, the vital Boston organization was reestablished as headquarters of the organization. Throughout it all, the loosely affiliated local Leagues would conduct their own activities, electing their own officers and producing their own publications.

Publications

One of the primary activities of the Anti-Imperialist League was the production of political leaflets and pamphlets meant to propagandize against American imperialist activities. These publications began to emerge immediately in 1898. Included among these were a series of "Broadsides" which made use of extensive quotations from founding fathers of America such as

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, and

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

, attempting to demonstrate a fundamental contradiction between the ideas upon which the American republic was founded and designs for colonial expansion being advanced by the nation's contemporary political leaders. Mark Twain, perhaps the most prominent member of the league, offered his voice through the publication of his essay " To the Person Sitting in Darkness," which appeared in the North American Review in February 1901. In his essay, Twain satirically portrayed the moral and cultural superiority of Americans compared to Filipinos to comment on what he believed to be the great irony of the Philippines annexation. Twain successfully gained popular support for the Anti-Imperialist League by claiming that America's international role was not to subjugate other nations for material gain, but to see "a nation of long harassed and persecuted slaves set free." The Anti-Imperialist League of New York was particularly prominent in the production of propaganda pamphlets, drawing upon the impressive array of writers, public intellectuals, and politicians among its membership. The war that erupted in 1898 with Spain had its origins in the First Cuban Insurrection (1868–1878). The Cuban rebels had formed relationships with small groups of Americans committed to their cause. Many of these Americans supported the filibusters who attempted to run military supplies to the insurrectionists on the island. War had nearly erupted between the United States and Spain in 1873 when the Spanish captured the filibuster ship Virginius and executed most of the crew, including many American citizens. The Treaty of Zanjón signaled a temporary peace, but American sympathies remained with the Cubans desiring independence. When the reforms promised by the treaty proved illusory, the insurrectionists and their American supporters prepared for a new round.

Election of 1900

The 1900 presidential election caused internal squabbles in the League. Particularly controversial was the League's endorsement of

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...

, a renowned anti-imperialist but also the leading critic of the

gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the l ...

, a position which alienated a substantial segment of the organization's leaders. A few League members, including Storey and

Oswald Garrison Villard Oswald Garrison Villard (March 13, 1872 – October 1, 1949) was an American journalist and editor of the ''New York Evening Post.'' He was a civil rights activist, and along with his mother, Fanny Villard, a founding member of the NAACP. I ...

, attempted to organize a third party to both uphold the gold standard and oppose imperialism. This effort led to the formation of the National Party, which nominated Senator

Donelson Caffery Donelson Caffery (September 10, 1835December 30, 1906) was an American politician from the state of Louisiana, a soldier in the American Civil War, and a sugar plantation owner. Biography Caffery was born in Franklin, Louisiana, the seat of S ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The party quickly collapsed, however, when Caffery dropped out of the race, leaving Bryan as the only anti-imperialist candidate. Following the death of George Boutwell in 1905, prominent lawyer and civil rights activist

Moorfield Storey Moorfield Storey (March 19, 1845 – October 24, 1929) was an American lawyer, anti-imperial activist, and civil rights leader based in Boston, Massachusetts. According to Storey's biographer, William B. Hixson, Jr., he had a worldview that embod ...

would serve as President of the organization, filling that role from 1905 until the League dissolved in 1920.

Dissolution

Despite its anti-war record, the League did not object to U.S. entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(though several individual members did oppose intervention). By 1920, it was only a shadow of its former strength, and it disbanded on November 27, 1920.

Prominent members

Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Arm ...

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

* Felix Adler * Edward Atkinson * George S. Boutwell *

* John G. Carlisle *

* Theodore L. Cuyler * John Dewey *

Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley ...

* George F. Edmunds * Edwin Lawrence Godkin *

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

* Henry U. Johnson * David Starr Jordan * William Larrabee *

Josephine Shaw Lowell Josephine Shaw Lowell (December 16, 1843 – October 12, 1905) was a Progressive Reform leader in the United States in the Nineteenth century. She is best known for creating the New York Consumers League in 1890. Seth Low's biographer descri ...

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of ''Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

William Vaughn Moody William Vaughn Moody (July 8, 1869 – October 17, 1910) was an American dramatist and poet. Moody was author of ''The Great Divide'', first presented under the title of ''The Sabine Woman'' at the Garrick Theatre in Chicago on April 12, 1906. Hi ...

* Hazen S. Pingree * Carl Schurz *

John Sherman John Sherman (May 10, 1823October 22, 1900) was an American politician from Ohio throughout the Civil War and into the late nineteenth century. A member of the Republican Party, he served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. He also served as ...

* Morrison I. Swift * William Graham Sumner * Mark Twain *

* Benjamin Harrison