Ch 1.4 - Why did the USA emerge as a world power and what was the impact on international relations?

isolationism

the policy of keeping one's country separated from the affairs of other nations, by avoiding alliances and international commitments.

Closing of the Frontier

1890, all the land out west had been settled, there was no more unknown land to explore

Jingoism

extreme patriotism, often favoring an aggressive, foreign policy

Frederick Jackson Turner

argued that the spirit and success of the United States was directly tied to the country's westward expansion.

Frontier Thesis

The argument by Frederick Jackson Turner that the frontier experience helped make American society more democratic

psychic crisis

a crisis cased for an individual by outside events, which he or she is unable to come to terms with

Psychic Crisis of the 1890s

American were seeking escape by supporting an aggressive foreign policy

annexation

taking possession of territory, usually by force or without permission

Annexation of Texas

After the battle at the Alamo, Texas gains its independence, only to be annexed by the US shortly after.

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

US foreign policy regarding Latin American countries stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression, requiring U.S. intervention.

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge

Republican Congressman

continental strategy

a policy that was primarily concerned with the North American continent

merchant marine

a fleet of cargo vessels

Donation Land Claim Act of 1850

passed in the Oregon Territory, this law gave 320 acres of land to all single white males over 18 years old, and gave 640 acres of land to white married couples

Homestead Act

1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.

Reasons for US Economic Growth

1. large quantities of raw materials 2. population growth 3. new methods of production 4. lack of government regulation 5. development of corporations and trusts 6. mechanization of farming 7. development of the railway system 8. availability of investment capital through banks and the stock market 9. protection from foreign competition

stock market

a place where shares are bought and sold. Companies sell shares in order to raise the money required to establish factories and businesses. People buy shares in a company as an investment in order to gain from its subsequent profits

Economic downturn of 1893

alerted industrialists to the dangers of over-reliance on the domestic market

Chinese market

viewed as vital for the USA's future prosperity and would require a strong navy and overseas bases

protectionism

the placing of high tariffs (taxes) on imports in order to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. opposite of free trade

Captain Alfred Mahan

US naval officer and author of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History who believed a strong navy was the key to world power

Spain and Portugal

owned virtually all of the colonies in Latin America prior to the 18th and 19th centuries

Jose Marti

led the fight for Cuba's independence from Spain from 1895 through the Spanish-American War

William McKinley

25th president responsible for Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, imperialism. Is assassinated by an anarchist

USS Maine

Ship that explodes off the coast of Cuba in Havana harbor and helps contribute to the start of the Spanish-American War

Yellow Press

the new popular press, which published jingoistic and sensational reports

Spanish-American War

In 1898, a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence, lasted 4 months

Theodore Roosevelt

Became president when McKinley was assassinated. Believed that the USA should play a major role in world affairs and supported imperialism

Treaty of Paris (1898)

The treaty that concluded the Spanish American War, From the treaty America got Cuba,Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

Platt Amendment

Added to the Cuban Constitution, allowed the USA to dictate Cuba's foreign policy and all of its commercial activities. USA was also granted rights over key land on the island

Teller Amendment

Legislation that promised the US would not annex Cuba after winning the Spanish-American war

Filipinos

people who live in the Philippines

Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

armed conflict between the Philippines and the United States from 1899-1902. It was a continuation of the Philippine struggle for independence. The Philippines declared war on the US and it became a savage conflict with guerilla warfare.

Dollar Diplomacy

the furthering of diplomatic aims by using economic pressure and the offer of loans

Impact of the Spanish-American War

1. USA becomes a "full-fledged member of the imperial club" 2. Able to strengthen its grip on Central American and the Caribbean 3. Liberia was subjected to dollar diplomacy 4. Colombia surrendered the Isthmus of Panama 5. the USA became more powerful in the Pacific and east Asia 6. Played an important role in the Algeciras Conference 7. The USA intervened in the civil war in Mexico

William Jennings Bryan

Anti-imperialist, democratic presidential candidate

The Roosevelt Corollary

Added to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the US would be an international police power in the Western Hemisphere. the USA would intervene if any Caribbean state was threatened by internal or external factors

Panama Canal

Roosevelt ensured the USA would own and operate. Allows ships to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans without having to sail around South America

The USA in 1914

a prosperous and strong regional power, with a growing influence over world financial markets and a new-found commitment to its own form of imperialistic expansion

US feelings at the the beginning of WWI

Felt it was a European conflict and the US should stay out of the war

Woodrow Wilson

president who was elected in 1912, led the US into WWI

Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

the use of submarines to sink any ship (including neutral ships and unarmed passenger liners) found in enemy waters

Lusitania

A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-Boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.

Zimmerman Telegram

intercepted by the British, caused the Americans to enter World War I, March 1917. Claimed to be sent by German Foreign Secretary, addressed to German minister in Mexico City. Mexico should attack the US if US goes to war with Germany (needed that advantage due to Mexico's proximity to the US). In return, Germany would give back Tex, NM, Arizona etc to Mexico.

The US enters WWI

April 6, 1917

Associated power

Power not formally allied to other countries fighting against a common enemy, therefore having independence as to military strategy and the subsequent peace settlement.

General Pershing

Commander of American forces in Europe

provisional government

A temporary government

Bolsheviks

the Russian Communist Party

White Russians

Opposed the communist revolution in Russia Became involved in a civil war with the Red Russians who supported the revolution, the White Russians lost the civil war

Pacifist

one who is against war or the use of violence as a means of settling disputes

The Fourteen Points Speech

January 8, 1918. Outline Wilson's plan for achieving a lasting peace after WWI

The Fourteen Points

1. No more secret treaties 2. freedom of the seas 3. trade barriers removed 4. reduction of armed forces 5. rival imperial claims settled by negotiation rather than war. Natives wishes taken into account 6. Russia invited to the society of nations 7. Belgian land restored 8. France freed from German occupation and the Alsace-Lorraine returned 9. Italian frontiers redrawn 10. peoples of the former Habsburg empire given independence 11. Freedom for the Balkan nations 12. peoples from the former Turkish empire given freedom, the Dardanelles opened to all shipping 13. Independence for Poland with access to the sea 14. The League of Nations