The EquivocationInfectsthe Intellectuals 53will not rest untilyou possessalsothe otherWestIndiesIslands;and whatthen?... The
gravequestionarises:is the incorporationof that partof the globeand the peopleinhabit-
ing it quitecomparablewiththe integrity,safety,perpetuity,andprogressivedevelop-
mentof our institutionswhichwe valueso highly?” WerthexplainsthatSchurz’s anti-
imperialismresultedfromhis convictionthat he had “adaptedSpencer’s argumentsfrom
the Lawof EqualFreedom—‘Everymanis freeto thatwhichhe wills,providedhe
infringesnot the equalfreedomof any otherman’—to the businessof governing.”
Thereweredisciplesof Spencer’s otherthanSchurzwhoappliedSpencer’s viewson
foreignpolicyto theirownpublicactions.WilliamGrahamSumner,writesBarryWerth,
“servedas a vicepresidentof the Anti-ImperialistLeague,laboringdespitehis weakened
state” of health“to blockU.S.expansionbecausehe fearedit wasan evolutionarystep
backtowardmilitarism.”^15 RichardHofstadterhimselfadmitsinSDATthathis own
ideological nemesis,Sumner,“attacked the imperialimpulsewithpractically all the
weaponsin the arsenalof the anti-annexationists.” HofstadtercommentsthatSumner’s
moraldamnationof the 1898Spanish-AmericanWar“hadan unquestionableringof
sincerity,particularlysinceit onceagainput in jeopardy” his Yaleprofessorship.^16
To quoteSumnerhimself,“... expansionandimperialismare at warwiththe best
traditions,principles,andinterestsof the Americanpeople,and... theywillplungeus
intoa networkof difficultproblemsandpoliticalperils.. .” Afterdamningwarfareas
“criminalaggression,” Sumnerrantedthat“we are toldby all the imperialists” thatthe
menof poorercountries“are not fit for libertyand self-government;that it is rebellionfor
themto resistour beneficence;that we mustsendfleetsand armiesto kill themif theydo
it; thatwe mustdevisea governmentfor themandadministerit ourselves.. .” Whatis
that,Sumnerasked,but the horrifyinglyimmoralpolicythatthe SpanishEmpirehad
towardits coloniesduringthe Renaissance?He judgesthatwe Americans“are brought
by our newconquestsface to face withthis dilemma:we musteitherholdthemas inferior
possessions,to be ruledand exploitedby us afterthe fashionof the old colonialsystem,or
we musttakethemin on an equalitywithourselves.. .” Sumnercontinuedthat imperial-
ism raisesthe vagaryover
whetherthe Constitutionof the UnitedStatesextendsoverall menandterritoryowned
by the UnitedStates,or whetherthereare to be gradesand planesof rightsfor different
partsof the dominionsoverwhichour flag waves.... The expansionistshaverecognized
this fact by alreadycastingthe Constitutionaside....
The questionof imperialism,then,is the questionwhetherwe are goingto givethe lie to
the originof our ownnationalexistenceby establishinga colonialsystemof the old
Spanishtype,evenif we haveto sacrificeour existingciviland politicalsystemto do it. I
submitthatit is a strangeincongruityto uttergrandplatitudesaboutthe blessingsof
liberty,etc.,whichwe are goingto impartto thesepeople,andto beginby refusingto
extendthe Constitutionoverthem,and still more,by throwingthe Constitutionintothe
gutterhereat home.If you takeawaythe Constitution,whatis Americanlibertyand all
the rest?Nothingbut a lot of phrases.This“newpolicy” of imperialism,he concluded,is “destinedto thrusta swordinto every
jointin our historicalandphilosophicalsystem.”^17 In thisessay,Sumnerdoesexpress
someprejudicesagainstforeigners.He saysthat the morallyproperalternativeto treating
nonwhitesas second-classcitizensor noncitizenswouldbe for the USAto recognizethe
rightsof thesenonwhitesto voteand participatein the republicanlegislativeprocess.He
assumesthatsuchnonwhitesare not readyfor liberalrepublicanismandthereforeto
recognizethemas Americancitizenswouldallowthesenonwhitesto destroyU.S.liberal-
ism by introducingilliberallegislation.Whatis pertinent,though,is thatwhateverracial
prejudicesSumnerheld,he did not favorpoliticalinequalityamongraces,nor did he
condonemilitarismor a bellicoseforeignpolicy.