Big Sister Policy
James G. Blaine’s policy of rallying Latin American nations behind American influence in order to open markets to American trade
Great Rapprochement
Establishment of cordial diplomatic relationships between the United States and Britain, ends decades of American “twisting of the lion’s tail”
McKinley Tariff
1890 Tariff sponsored by future president William McKinley that raised customs duties on Hawaiian sugar, gives merchants incentive to annex Hawaii
Insurrectos
Cuban rebels who attempted to gain independence from Spanish rule, threaten American economic interests. Later help divert Spanish troops away from Santiago, Cuba so that Shafter’s army could land
USS Maine
Second class battleship that was sent to Havana harbor in early 1898 to protect American interests in Cuba, explodes on February 15th, 1898. Yellow journals blame Spain, helps sway public opinion towards war
Teller Amendment
Provisio to McKinley’s war plans that the United States would leave Cuba alone once it was freed from Spanish Rule, explicitly anti-interventionist, given to Congress on April 11th, 1898
Rough Riders
Army regiment made up of cowboys and ex-cons, Commanded by Leonard Wood and organized by Theodore Roosevelt, helped Army win Battle of San Juan Hill
Battle of San Juan Hill
Rough Riders and two colored regiments, commanded by the pudgy William Shafter, suffer heavy casualties but force Spanish to retreat, leave via Santiago harbor two days later, meet a blockade led by the USS Texas
Battle of Manila Bay
Commodore George Dewey sails into Manila Harbor in the wee hours of May 1st, 1898 with his six ironclad battleships, obliterate Spain’s rickety 10-ship fleet without an American death. Dewey men had to wait months for land reinforcements to arrive before he could commence a land invasion
Invasion of Manila
American troops and Filipino insurgents led by Emilio Aguinaldo capture Manila, Philippines on August 13th, 1898, free the Philippines from Spanish rule
Hawaiian Annexation Declaration
Grants Hawaiian residents US Citizenship, approved by McKinley on July 7th, 1989
Anti-Imperialist League
Group of anti-imperialists who opposed oversight of the Philippines and Cuba, included influential leaders like labor boss Samuel Gompers, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, novelist Mark Twain, and Ivy league Professors
Foraker Act
1900 law that gave Puerto Ricans a limited degree of self-governance
Insular Cases
Series of Supreme Court cases beginning in 1901 which established that constitutional rights aren’t automatically granted to residents of new US territories
Platt Amendment
Pressured addition to the Cuban constitution that allowed the United States to intervene as seen fit, limited Cuba’s ability to sign treaties, and barred Cuba from borrowing more than it could pay back
Open Door Note
Secretary of State John Hay’s diplomatic letters to various nations urging them to end the territorial trade division of China, and to allow free trade in China
Boxer Rebellion
Anti-imperialist, anti-foreign, anti-Christian uprising led by patriotic Chinese men, involved killing of foreigners and Chinese Christians and a 55 day siege of the foreign legation/embassies in Beijing, quelled by an international force of 18,000 soldiers
Election of 1900
Test of American support for imperialism and protectionism, McKinley defeats WJ Bryan 292-155, Roosevelt elected Vice President, McKinley is reelected
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
Britain gives United States a free hand in building the Panama Canal, allows US to fortify area surrounding the canal
Hay-Banau-Varilla Treaty
Panama agrees to let the US build a canal within its borders, allots 10 mile fortified zone, New Panama Canal Company gets 40 million from the US
Roosevelt Corollary
Amendment to the Monroe Doctrine that allowed the US to intervene in Latin America to restore financial and military order
Gentlemen’s Agreement
1907 Agreement between Roosevelt and the Emperor Japan which stipulated that Roosevelt would order the governor of California to end anti-Asian policies in San Francisco, Japan would stop issuing passports to stop immigration to the US
Root-Takahira Agreement
US-Japan agreement which stipulated that the US and Japan would respect each other’s territories and uphold the Open Door in China
Josiah Strong
Protestant minister who wrote Our Country (1885), which preached the superiority of Anglo-Saxon protestantism and urged Americans to spread protestantism abroad
Alfred Thayer Mahan
American naval officer who wrote The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890) which argued that a strong, highly numerated navy was the key to imperial power
James G. Blaine
Secretary of State under James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, advocated the Big Sister Policy
Richard Olney
Secretary of State from 1895-1897 under Grover Cleveland, incited conflict between Great Britain and Venezuela
Queen Liliuokalani
Last reigning Constitutional Monarch of Hawaii who believed in Hawaiian self-determination and resisted planter rule, overthrown in 1893
Butcher Weyler
Spanish general who was sent to Cuba to quell the insurrection in 1896, put civilians in brutal reconcentration camps to cut off resources from the insurrectos
De Lôme Letter
private letter sent by Spanish minister Dupuy de Lôme that attacked the intelligence of William McKinley, made public in early 1898
George Dewey
Commander of the American Asiatic Squadron who captured Manila Harbor in May 1898
Emilio Aguinaldo
Intelligent Filipino revolutionary who helped fight against Spain in the Spanish American War, eventually fought against the United States in teh Philippine-American War
William Howard Taft
Portly governor of the Philippines, became president of the United States in 1909
John Hay
US Ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of State, wrote Open Door Note and signed Panama Canal treaties
Theodore Roosevelt
Glory-chasing leader of the Rough Riders who was vice president and later president who believed in using a “Big Stick” to solve foreign policy issues if diplomacy didn’t work
Elihu Root
Secretary of War who established a general staff for the Army and founded the War College in Washington, later Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt who helped mediate tension with Japan, helped prop open the Open Door
Dr. Walter Reed
US Army doctor who helped eradicate yellow fever in Cuba
New Orleans Affair
1891 mass lynching of Italian-Americans accused who murdering the police commissioner, settled with Americans compensating the Italian government
Rudyard Kipling
British author who supported imperialism and urged Americans to pick up the white man’s burden of the Philippines, also wrote Rikki Tikki Tavi