Assume the role of a participant in the debate over Philippine annexat

Assume the role of a participant in the debate over Philippine annexation in 1900. Would you be in favor or opposed to annexation? Why? What strategic, economic, political, social, and moral considerations cause you to hold this view?

What will be an ideal response?

ANSWER
Imperialist: a naval base in the far Pacific; a stepping stone to the China market; a fulfillment of our duty and destiny as a “chosen” people to dominate, uplift, civilize, and Christianize inferior peoples; if we don’t take the Philippines, a rival power will.
Anti-imperialist: the distant Philippines would be hard and expensive to defend; Filipinos were “inferior” people, but they deserved their independence; Filipino immigrants would cheapen American labor; annexation would run counter to the republican tradition.