ABSTRACT
Standing before Methodist delegates in 1899, President William McKinley described his decision to take the United States into a war with Spain over the Philippines. This chapter explores the evolution of the Adventists' unique brand of peace activism during the 1800s. It describes how Adventists spoke out against American imperialism and critiqued US war propaganda. The chapter shows that Adventists opposed pro-war rhetoric in the United States because such language contradicted their apocalyptic identity— a view that privileged the unique role of the United States in global affairs. It demonstrates how and why Adventists became unpopular critics of American wars during the nineteenth century. Since forming in the 1840s, Adventists asserted that they were living in a time just before the second coming of Jesus Christ; with the end of the world fast approaching, it was their divine mission to preach the coming of their Savior.
