7.2 Imperialism debates

Monroe Doctrine, William Seward, purchase of Alaska, Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, Queen Liliuokalani, Grover Cleveland, new imperialism, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Darwinism, expansionist, Josiah Strong, imperialism, James G. Blaine, Pan-American conference, Venezuela boundary dispute, Richard Olney

expansion after the Civil War

• William Seward’s purchase of Alaska (1867)

• American settlers overthrow Hawaiian monarch Queen Liliuokalani (1893), Republican annexation efforts blocked by Grover Cleveland

“new imperialism”

renewed interest in industrialized nations conquering and dividing parts of Africa, Asia, and Pacific Islands through military or economic dominance for many reasons:

• economic interests - foreign raw materials and markets

• political and military - pressure to compete or be left behind in world affairs

  • The Influence of Sea Power Upon History by U.S. Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan

  • U.S. naval strategists encouraged navy expansion and island acquisition

• distraction from social fears in the U.S. (ex. Panic of 1893, labor conflicts, lack of frontier)

• Darwinism and religion

  • expansionist demonstrations of strength by acquiring territory overseas

  • Our Country: Its Possible Future and Present Crisis by Reverend Josiah Strong, religious colonization

• excitement derived from press coverage

reasons for opposition against imperialism

• self-determination/morals - self-government threated by imperialism

• rejection of imperialist race theories

  • whites were not superior, had no right to rule others OR

  • fear of addition of non-white citizens

• isolationism - avoiding involvement in foreign affairs

• expenses of building navy and controlling foreign territories

Latin America

• Pan-American Conference (1889) - conference of representatives of western hemisphere nations promoting economic and political hemispheric coordination

• Venezuela boundary dispute (1895) - Grover Cleveland settles boundary dispute between Venezuela and neighbor British colony Guiana, U.S. and Britain develop more cooperative relationship

growing conflict over imperialism

• Monroe Doctrine let expansionists interfere in other American nations

• imperialists (economic and global power) vs. anti-imperialists (anti-colonial, self government)

• intensified debate over Spanish-American War and the colonization of the Philippines