Colony, or Free State? Dependence, or Just Connection? Empire or Union? And the Question of Terminology: An Essay Based on Political Philosophy of the ... Declaration of Independence
Excerpt from Colony, or Free State? Dependence, or Just Connection? Empire or Union? And the Question of Terminology: An Essay Based on Political Philosophy of the American Revolution, as Summarized in the Declaration of Independence
From the time of the acquisition of Porto Rico and the Philippines, in 1898, under a Treaty with Spain which left in definite the relations between the American Union and those regions, the question Of the nature Of this relationship has been discussed.
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Alpheus Henry Snow (1859 - 1920), was a lawyer and scholarly investigator in the field of International law.
Snow was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, where he was a student at the High School until 1876. Between 1876 and 1877 be studied at Trinity College, Hartford, before entering Yale University. He graduated from Yale in 1879 and then entered Harvard Law School, gaining a Batchelor of Laws degree in 1883.
He initially practised law in Hartfield before moving to Indianapolis, where he joined the firm of McDonald and Butler. Snow married the daughter of his senior partner, Margaret Maynard Butler. After he withdrew from active practice in law, the Snows moved to Washington, D.C. where he joined the American Society of International Law in 1906, and then became involved with the American Society for the Judicial Settlement of International Disputes. Snow is described as being "deeply interested in the movement for international peace from its legal aspect". In 1910 he served as the American delegate to the International Conference on Social Insurance, held at The Hague. The same year he was also elected as a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law.
He died on August 19, 1920 in New York City, New York.
The author makes an argument, based on the language of the Declaration of Independence, that the colonies of the U.S. at that time (The Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico) should be called "Free States", their relationship to the U.S.A. should be called "just connection" rather than "dependence" and that the colonies (or free states) together with the U.S.A. should be called a "union" rather than an "Empire". It amounts to a rather vacuous argument, since the Declaration of Independence was simply a written excuse for the American Revolution, not a legal document and since the author does not propose that the actual relationship between the U.S.A. and its colonies be changed in any way. Throughout, he laces references to his mistaken belief that the U.S.A was founded as a continuation of the Reformation and thus its laws come about through "revelation and logic". God save us if our laws are coming from "revelation".
With particular reference to the takeover of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and other places after the war with Spain at the end of the 19th century, the author uses the US Declaration of Independence and Constitution as the basis for a reflection on "connections between states" - how and when might it be legitimate for one state to dominate or administer another? In the end he suggests that it might be permissible if one of the states is not able, at the time, to govern itself - he distinguishes between a "right to statehood" and a "right to self-government." Along the way he has some very interesting reflections on human rights and theories of government. You might not agree with everything he says, but I did find it an interesting read.