history unit 1 flashcards

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what is an iconoclast?

someone who goes against what society considers normal or traditional.

what is an example of an iconoclast and how was this person different from other historians of his time?

howard zinn, who told history from new/obscure perspectives. he was different because he openly stated his own bias.

what is heroification?

when media portrays figures in history as "perfect” and unflawed. it hinders students’ ability to think critically about these figures.

what are examples of historical figures with which heroification has occurred?

helen keller (ignored her controversial socialist adult life), woodrow wilson (ignored his racism and power in segregating the democratic party in government)

what is the monroe doctrine?

document that aimed to end the era of colonization by telling europe to stay out of the americas in exchange for america leaving them alone. europe keeps its monarchy, us keeps its democracy.

why was the monroe doctrine established?

prevent europe from interfering in american affairs (politics & recolonization), fear of russian control (it claimed entire pacific coast alaska to oregon), prevent recolonization (rumors that spain + its european goons were going to take back latin american colonies)

what were the effects of the monroe doctrine?

threatened europe’s ability to participate in western hemisphere politics. very effective! forced britain into tentative allliance with us (england didn’t want recolonization of us to hurt their trade). so england reinforced doctrine with its navy

what were the political implications of the monroe doctrine?

us saw europe as enemies. formed new alliance with the british. america declares itself independent.

what were the four motives for imperialism?

political, economic, military, ideological

what is preclusive imperialism?

taking colonies to prevent other powers from taking them

why did the spanish-american war happen?

originally spain was fighting with cuba. but america wanted cuba. so america attacked spain. this was justified by the four motives of imperialism.

what was the political motivation for the spanish-american war?

us was major industrial power but everyone respected britain over the us because britain had more land + power. us wanted to gain political power & respect by taking over more territories, they had already expanded sea to sea so cuba was next best option. us also wanted to conquer more territories before europe claimed them (preclusive imperialism).

what was the economic motivation for the spanish-american war?

cuba provided new foreign market, mines (employment stonks), sugar plantations and other abundant natural resources which would lower us production costs

what was the military motivation for the spanish-american war?

us wanted to use cuba as military base (which gives them more POLITICAL power), their ship USS maine was sunk by the spanish, fighting in war allows us to demonstrate its newly developed naval power, us gains guantanamo bay from cuba from winning the war

what was the ideological motivation for the spanish-american war?

expanding the frontier (extension of manifest destiny), white man’s burden, protecting cubans from spanish atrocities (concentration camps, alleged 77% death rate, women and children killed, YELLOW JOURNALISM)

what are the four motivations for us entering the spanish-american war RANKED?

political > economic > military > ideological (PEMI / penny) 💸

what were the outcomes of the spanish-american war?

us wins, spain signs treaty of paris and forks over cuba, guam, puerto rico. also purchases philippines for 20 million dollars BUT they don’t like this and philippine-american war happens. us forces cuba to add platt amendment.

what was the platt amendment?

forced additions to cuban constitution by us. cuba becomes protectorate of the us, is denied the right to sign treaties with any other political powers, gives us guantanamo bay, us can intervene in cuba whenever they want.

why did the philippine-american war happen?

philippines thought they’d be free from spain once it was defeated, so they were unhappy to be bought by the us. “benevolent assimilation” policy was delayed so philippines had no independence, they revolted. us victory & they kept control until treaty of manila in 1946

what was the open door policy?

gave equal privileges among countries trading with china. did not colonize china! prevents us from having to retaliate with the military power they didn’t have. JOHN HAY 🏇

what was the big stick diplomacy?

basically amending the monroe doctrine to make it less rigid. THEODORE ROOSEVELT 🎩

stuff affecting the us: developing military + navy, preparing them to take military action. “speak softly (diplomatic) and carry a big stick (we are now training our military guys to bonk you if you disagree.)

stuff affecting other countries: peaceful negotiations, treating defeated countries fairly, acting “justly” toward foreign nations

what was dollar diplomacy?

TAFT 🍬 - goal was promoting us power and protecting + developing us business interests thru military and economic aid. this provides stability and keeps europe OUT. encouraged investment in latin america + caribbean

“substitute dollars for bullets” eg. pay to support the opponent of a dissenter to make them lose the election.

ineffective in russia + japan, embarrassing Taft diplomacy

what was moral diplomacy?

spread diplomacy + moral progress by influencing/helping countries with similar moral beliefs. WILSON 💪

example found in the case study of us imperialism in mexico!!!

how did us get involved in imperialism in hawaii?

BIG STICK DIPLOMACY b/c everything done through treaties, but decisions really made by force (ex. annexing the land)

motivations: didn’t want hawaii to take advantage of its tariff-free exports, saw it as a valuable naval base. ECONOMIC, MILITARY

what they did & its impact: NEGATIVE IMPACT forced ruler to sign bayonet constitution making hawaiians lose their voting rights. annexed hawaii making them lose their freedom. forced queen lili’uokalani to step down + jailed her, taking away her power.

how did us get involved in imperialism in puerto rico?

DOLLAR DIPLOMACY b/c us paid puerto rican farmers for their land + sugarcane (but underpaid them a LOT)

motivations: wanted to take advantage of sugarcane supply. ECONOMIC

what they did & its impact: NEGATIVE IMPACT passed jones act allowing government to have limited freedom. forced farmers to sell their land + get underpaid for sugarcane. caused poverty, disease, unemployment over 30%

how did us get involved in imperialism in the philippines?

DOLLAR DIPLOMACY b/c us invested in philippines agriculture, said this was to support them but really used it for us benefit

motivations: saw the philippines as a valuable military base, used philippines as a foreign market and exploited their resources. ECONOMIC, MILITARY

what they did & its impact: NEGATIVE IMPACT delayed transition towards self-government (“benevolent assimilation” policy), taking away independence. fought against philippines’ revolt and brutally tortured them, killing 20,000 soldiers.

how did us get involved in imperialism in mexico?

MORAL DIPLOMACY b/c us disagreed with new mexican leader’s brutal policies so refused to support him

motivations: huerta, a brutal dictator, seized power in mexico. us disagreed. POLITICAL

what they did & its impact: NEGATIVE IMPACT woodrow wilson refuses to recognize new government + supports a rival in his place. creates tension between mexico and us. wilson tries to capture a presidential candidate (villa) and accidentally confronts the other one (carranza), causing deaths.

how did us get involved in imperialism in panama?

BIG STICK DIPLOMACY b/c supported panama’s independence from columbia while using their navy to intimidate columbia.

motivations: saw panama canal as way to save time transporting goods from atlantic to pacific. canal also vital to us naval power and national security. ECONOMIC, MILITARY

what they did & its impact: POSITIVE IMPACT us helps panama again independence from columbia in a small fight with little bloodshed. builds panama canal, benefiting us economically and militarily.

what are similarities and differences between us intervention in puerto rico and the philippines?

similarities: both used dollar diplomacy (in puerto rico paid farmers for sugarcane, in philippines invested in agriculture). both had negative impacts, but philippines' was more extreme (caused more death, 20k). both took away some degree of freedom from the affected territory. both motivated by economic purposes.

differences: us more directly interfered with philippines, had a war causing 20k deaths. meanwhile in puerto rico the negative impacts were an indirect effect of us policy (forcing farmers to sell sugarcane for cheap + taking over their sugar plantations caused poverty and unemployment).

what are similarities and differences between us intervention in hawaii and panama?

similarities: both used big stick diplomacy (in hawaii everything done through treaties and actualized by force, in panama supported independence while threatening opponent). both motivated by economic and military purposes (hawaii preventing tariff-free exports while panama speeding up own exports, both territories valuable naval bases)

differences: negative impacts in hawaii vs positive impacts in panama. in hawaii causes loss of freedom, while panama gains freedom resulting from us intervention.

what was the primary motive and secondary motive for us expansion in the late 1800s up to wwi?

primary motive: desire for economic gain

• stop tariff-free exports in Hawaii

• gain access to sugarcane plantations in Puerto Rico

• shorten transportation time of goods through the construction of the Panama Canal

secondary motive: aspire to improve military power and naval bases

• annexation of Hawaii in part because they viewed it as a valuable naval base

• delayed Philippines’ transition to self-governance to use it as a military base for their own benefit

• Panama Canal was said to be important to the US’ national security and naval power

what is my argument thesis outlining the primary and secondary motives for expansion that played a role in us decision making in the late 1800s up to wwi?

While the desire for economic gain through foreign markets was a primary motivation for US involvement in the Pacific and Caribbean after the Spanish-American War, the aspiration for improved military power and naval bases also played a role in the US’ decision to practice imperialism in various areas. US actions and involvement resulted in largely negative impacts in the affected places, with many areas forced to lose control of their government, freedom, and power.