Aguinaldo's View of the US and its Actions in the Philippines


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History
America is known for its role in participating in many wars during the nineteenth century. The Filipino-American war is one of the significant wars, because it was a continuation of the Filipino struggle for independence that took several years. Not all Americans supported these wars; Mark Twain, an American author, expressed his disappointment of the church through his prayer. Mark Twain's war prayer was a response to the Spanish American war; he presented his viewpoint on the military, and the war itself.
In his prayer, Twain shows his displeasure about the war, using satire to bring to attention the hypocrisy of the church (Blain, 2014). Twain argued that the church preached mercy and love, yet they fully supported the war. Twain begins his prayer in a hopeful and optimistic tone to create a sense of pride for the American people including the soldiers (Blain, 2014). In his prayer, he demonstrates how the war is romanticized and praised in America using vivid imagery, showing a high degree of patriotism expressed by Americans (Blain, 2014).
In the first part of his prayer, he praises the soldiers and prays for victory (Blain, 2014). In the middle of the prayer, his tone shifts as he condemns the church for its contradictory position on the war. Twain view the American war as selfish because any prayer that seeks special benefit for one group means, requesting to deny the same benefit to anyone who does not belong to the same group portrays someone as being selfish (Blain, 2014). The stark contrast shows ...