Twain’s Worl�
Common Core State Standard ELA: Reading Informational Text and Literature (6.1-10 through 12.1-10)
To the Person Sitting in Darkness
In 1898, the United States went to war to liberate Cuba from Spanish control.
After a swift victory, U. S. forces occupied all of Spain’s former colonies: Cuba,
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The question of what to do with these
islands caused a deep division in American public opinion. While U. S. business
interests had a strong desire to use them as a means for expanding into Caribbean and Asian markets, others believed that U. S. annexation, particularly of
the remote Philippines, was too difficult and would make a mockery of America’s traditional opposition to European imperialism.
Nevertheless, in 1899 President McKinley annexed the Philippines. He had
chosen to ignore the subterfuge used by U.S. military commanders who hoodwinked the Filipinos into thinking that the United States supported their desire
for independence, but then seized control of the archipelago. In an interview
with a group of clergymen invited to the White House, McKinley explained how
he had come to his decision. His justification for suppressing Filipino aspirations
echoes the commercialism, racism, and nationalism that dominated American
politics at the time:
I have been criticized a good deal about the Philippines, but don’t deserve it…
When the Spanish War broke out [U. S. Admiral] Dewey was at Hongkong, and
I ordered him to go to Manila and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet, and
he had to; because, if defeated, he had no place to refit on that side of the
globe, and if the [Spanish] were victorious they would likely cross the Pacific
and ravage our Oregon and California coasts. And so he had to destroy the
Spanish fleet, and did it!
…When I next realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps I confess
I did not know what to do with them. …I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen that I went down on my knees and prayed to Almighty God for light and
guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way…
1) That we could not give them back to Spain- that would be cowardly and
dishonorable; 2) that we could not turn them over to France and Germany-our
commercial rivals in the Orient-that would be bad business and discreditable;
3) that we not leave them to themselves-they are unfit for self-governmentand they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s
wars; and 4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and
to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by
God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom
Christ also died.
By 1901, the United States military was heavily engaged in a ruthless fight
against a Filipino insurgency that lasted for several years and cost thousands
of lives. Mark Twain was outraged by this slaughter, and especially by what he
believed to be the immoral, un-American policy of annexation that had led to it
in the first place. Twain joined other leading critics of American foreign policy
in forming the Anti-Imperialist League of New York, and he published his 1901
essay “To the Person Sitting in Darkness” on behalf of their cause.
other kinds of emolument, than there is in any other game that is played.
But Christendom has been playing it badly of late years, and must certainly
suffer by it, in my opinion. She has been so eager to get every stake that appeared on the green cloth, that the People who Sit in Darkness have noticed
it -- they have noticed it, and have begun to show alarm. They have become
suspicious of the Blessings of Civilization. More -- they have begun to examine them. This is not well. The Blessings of Civilization are all right, and a
good commercial property; there could not be a better, in a dim light. In the
right kind of a light, and at a proper distance, with the goods a little out of
focus, they furnish this desirable exhibit to the Gentlemen who Sit in Darkness:
LOVE, JUSTICE, GENTLENESS, CHRISTIANITY, PROTECTION TO THE WEAK,
TEMPERANCE, LAW AND ORDER, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, HONORABLE DEALING, MERCY, EDUCATION, -- and so on.
In Cuba, [President McKinley] was playing the usual and regular American
game, and [he] was winning, for there is no way to beat [him]. …contemplating Cuba, [he] said: “Here is an oppressed and friendless little nation which is
willing to fight to be free; we go partners, and put up the strength of seventy
million sympathizers and the resources of the United States: play!”
Nothing but Europe combined could call that hand: and Europe cannot
combine on anything. There, in Cuba, he was following our great traditions in
a way which made us very proud of him, and proud of the deep dissatisfaction which his play was provoking in Europe. Moved by a high inspiration,
he threw out those stirring words which proclaimed that forcible annexation
would be “criminal aggression;” …The memory of that fine saying will be
outlived by the remembrance of no act of his but one…
For, presently, came the Philippine temptation…
…If it had been played according to the American rules, Dewey would have
sailed away from Manila as soon as he had destroyed the Spanish fleet -after putting up a sign on shore guaranteeing foreign property and life
against damage by the Filipinos, and warning the [European] Powers
that interference with the emancipated patriots would be regarded as
an act unfriendly to the United States.
…But [instead] we played the [European] game, and lost the chance
to add another Cuba and another honorable deed to our good record…
The more we examine the mistake, the more clearly we perceive that it is going to be bad for the Business. The Person Sitting in Darkness is almost sure
to say: “There is something curious about this -- curious and unaccountable.
There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that
takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him, and picks a quarrel with
him with nothing to found it on; then kills him to get his land.”
…Shall we? That is, shall we go on conferring our Civilization upon the
peoples that sit in darkness, or shall we give those poor things a rest? Shall
we bang right ahead in our old-time, loud, pious way, and commit the new
century to the game; or shall we sober up and sit down and think it over
first?
Extending the Blessings of Civilization to our Brother who Sits in Darkness
has been a good trade and has paid well, on the whole; and there is money in
it yet, if carefully worked -- but not enough, in my judgement, to make any
considerable risk advisable. …The most of those People that Sit in Darkness
have been furnished with more light than was good for them or profitable for
us. We have been injudicious.
The Blessings-of-Civilization Trust, wisely and cautiously administered, is
a Daisy. There is more money in it, more territory, more sovereignty, and
Word Power
1. Find out the precise meaning of the words underlined in this reading- can
you use each of them correctly in an original sentence? How does knowing the
meaning of the words enhance your understanding and appreciation for what
Mark Twain wrote in “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”?
2. Read Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 poem “The White Man’s Burden,” and pay
particular attention to the fifth stanza and its reference to: “(Ah, slowly!) toward
the light.” What does the poem mean as a message from a British poet to an
American audience considering what to do with the Caribbean and Asian islands
it had just captured from Spain? How did Twain pick up on the metaphor of
“seeing the light” in his essay?
Research
Questions
1. What was the Philippine Insurrection?
What was the “water cure” as it was used in
the Philippines? What was the Moro Crater
Massacre?
2. What was the Boxer Rebellion, and what were
Mark Twain’s views on it?
Images
Maps and
1
Compare the map “U. S. Acquisitions and Annexations
1857-1904” with the political cartoon “School
Begins;” what do the two suggest about American
interests and how it planned to deal with native peoples
under its control?
If you are interested in finding out more about
the museum and its educational programs, go
to www.marktwainhouse.org