Fighting for Ameican Manhood

Omar Perez-Velazco Hist. 460 Dr. McDonough February 18, 2013 Since the beginning of time the emergence of hu humanness sexual activity its differences has been a moot subject that always attracts attention. After the Spanish-American War, many another(prenominal) men were seen as heroes, some make up put into grand positions in our nations government. man mogul like McKinley and Roosevelt, for example, used such kudos and recognition to reinforce their positions of President and, later on on, Vice President, respectively. One of the men who benefited from this landmark of thought was President McKinley, who no uncertainty was delighted to find that beingness a commander in chief during a war restored his image as a capable leader (110). Roosevelt was a man with power, being the assistant secretary of the navy, exactly he gave it up to join first United Stated Volunteer Cavalry, more commonly known as the rambunctious Riders. He received nationwide extolment and ever yone knew him as a hero. Two age later, Roosevelts military record helped him come on the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket (112).Women held many pregnant roles during this war, such as nurses. While women were rattling to the war effort, many people did small-minded to sp picture the news. In powder magazines and newspapers of the time, stories glorifying soldiers and sailors argon onerous to miss. In contrast, stories covering womens wartime contri onlyions are difficult to find (128). How does considering gender deviate our views of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars? This is the reason that Kristin Hoganson makes in Fighting for American humankind.I believe that with off the aid of women in the camps, the wars would draw gone much differently. This book shows how supranational relations affected ideas near gender, how gendered ideas virtually political authority affected American democracy in an imperial era, and how mellowed politi cs served as a spirited locus of cultural struggle (14). I can agree with the author on all these points and I believe that women and as well as minorities during the wars had a great impact from their local factories and towns. Fighting for American Manhood collects its instruction from a wide variety f sources, some being magazines and journal articles, and others being more in depth, like family letters. at that place is also a large beat of political cartoons from the time, depicting such people as President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and the iconic Uncle Sam. close to of the primary sources, the letters, come from places like the atomic number 13 Department of Archives and History, or the Cincinnati historic Society, which provided information in the form of the cyclist Family Papers, and the Joseph Benson Foraker Papers, respectively.While a lot of these family accounts were safely in the hands of the state, many other accounts from the daytime were residing in uni versity libraries, such as the Harvard University Houghton Library, and the University of uniting Carolina Wilson Library Southern Historical Collection, from which Hoganson uses the Theodore Roosevelt Collection, from the Charles Eliot Norton Papers, and the Edward shelter Carmack Papers, respectively. The secondary sources that the author compiled were more or lessly magazine entries and newspaper articles, like those from the New York Times, or the Washington Post.The chapter that I appoint most interesting was Chapter 6 The Problem of masculine Degeneracy and the Allure of the Philippines. I was adept now amazed with the United States when our government, using the power of the accordance of Paris, decided for the Philippines that they wanted to be ceded into the United States. The peace treaty with Spain, sign-language(a) on December 10, ceded the Philippines along with Guam and Puerto anti-racketeering law to the United States. The treaty, known as the Treaty of Pari s, then went to the U. S Senate for ratification.But the Filipinos who had been fighting for freedom from Spain did not want to be ceded (133). This maddened the Filipino nationalists and almost brought an all out war. The reasons that the U. S government officials gave to try and release their takeover of these territories also surprised me and showed me just how far some countries will go to expand, both physically and mentally. Imperialists based their assertions that the Filipinos were unstable for independence on three stereotypes that gave essence to racial prejudices by drawing on ideas about gender.All three presented the Filipinos as abstracted the manly character seen as undeniable for self-government (134). These men were considered less than human, along with Native and African Americans. I well enjoyed this chapter because of all the different aspects it covers related to gender and the ceding of the Filipino territories. The chapter that I found least interestin g was Chapter 2 Cuba and the damages of American Chivalry. While the information in the chapter was important to get the main argument across, it just didnt appeal to me, and it didnt get any better in my opinion as I unploughed reading.American citizens fantasized about the Cuban rebels, about how chivalric the men were and how responsible and loyal wives the Cuban women are. In contrast to American men, who seemed to be losing sight of knightly values in their single-minded pursuit of riches, Cuban men appeared to exemplify chivalric character (47). American men force inspiration from these fantasies, often showing how Cuban men drew their inspiration from women in illustrations and cartoons. Their images as acquiescent, tralatitious women made Cuban women seem to be perfect feminine foils for assertive American women.In addition to appearing well worthy defending, Cuban women appeared eager for rescue (46). This chapter was important to getting the point across but I felt like it was descriptor of out of place. Fighting for American Manhood is a very interesting read and it really makes me think. When did anyone every really enlistment and think so deeply about how gender can affect wars? The book is unique and I recommend it to anyone who wants to survey the topic of gender affecting war.