U.S. Imperialism Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing major figures, policies, treaties, and events of late 19th-century U.S. imperialism and foreign expansion.

Imperialism

One country's political, military, social, and economic control over another.

Social Darwinism

The concept of "survival of the fittest" applied to nations, driving fears that the U.S. would be swallowed up by other powers if it did not build an empire.

Anglo-Saxon Superiority

The belief that the U.S. was destined to dominate, extending Manifest Destiny to the Pacific and framing colonization as a duty ("White Man's Burden") to civilize the world.

William Seward

Secretary of State who negotiated the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2\text{ million}$ (

McKinley Tariff (1890)

A U.S. tariff that removed Hawaii's duty-free trade advantage, damaging its sugarcane economy and prompting American planters to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani.

Pan-Americanism

A policy advocated by Secretary of State James Blaine calling for a Latin American customs union with low tariffs and equal treatment, which Latin American nations rejected.

Great Rapprochement

The diplomatic convergence and period of growing friendship between the U.S. and Great Britain following the 1895 Venezuela border dispute.

Alfred T. Mahan

Naval War College instructor who wrote "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History" (1890), arguing that national strength required a modern navy, overseas territories, and coaling bases.

Sen. John Tyler Morgan

Former Confederate general, Alabama KKK leader, and 30-year U.S. senator who advocated for strong imperial expansion, including Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, and a Central American canal.

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized reporting by competing publishers Hearst (Journal) and Pulitzer (World) that printed exaggerated stories of Spanish atrocities in Cuba, fueling public demand for war.

Gen. Valeriano Weyler "The Butcher"

Spanish general sent to Cuba to suppress rebellion who instituted brutal concentration camps resulting in thousands of deaths from starvation and disease.

De Lôme Letter

A private letter written by Spanish ambassador Enrique Dupuy de Lôme that insulted President McKinley; its publication in Hearst's NY Journal inflamed American outrage.

USS Maine

U.S. warship sent to Havana that exploded in February 1898; U.S. naval investigators attributed the explosion to a Spanish mine, creating an immediate catalyst for war.

Teller Amendment

An amendment added to the 1898 U.S. war declaration stating that the U.S. had no intent to annex Cuba and would grant it independence after the war.

Commodore George Dewey

U.S. naval officer who led the Pacific Fleet from Hong Kong to destroy the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

Treaty of Paris (1898)

Peace treaty ending the Spanish-American War in which Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S., sold the Philippines for $20\text{ million}$, and granted nominal independence to Cuba.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Filipino leader who initiated a guerrilla warfare rebellion against U.S. occupation after the Philippines was not granted immediate independence following Spanish rule.

William Howard Taft

First civilian Governor of the Philippines who sought to pacify Filipino rebels by constructing infrastructure, schools, hospitals, parks, and modern sewers.