Read the quote by President William McKinley in which he defends American expansion.
We could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government—and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain's was . . . 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.
According to McKinley, why was American imperialism necessary in the Philippines?
The people wished to become Christians.
The people were uncivilized and unable to govern themselves properly.
The people wrongly believed that the Spanish were good rulers.
There was nothing left in the country now that the Spanish were gone.