U.S. imperialism is accelerated through expansion, big-stick diplomacy, and debates over colonization.

• There was a need for overseas markets and, to a lesser extent, raw materials.

• The frontier was closed

James Blaine’s “Big Sister” policy tried to ally with Latin American countries to increase trade.

Alfred T. Mahan wrote a book that displays the dominance of naval power, which proved to be very influential among American citizens and politicians.

• Theodore Roosevelt really aligned with this book.

• Kicks off the era of the battleship, which would go on until World War II

Josiah Strong wrote that Americans should go to other parts of the world and civilize “backward people.”

Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt were notable expansionists who declared that if the U.S. didn’t get to colonize and acquire colonies, other countries would do it—they believed that we needed to have a global presence.

The Yellow Press romanticized American expansion and imperialism.

Jingoism is a foreign policy or mindset based on extreme nationalism and patriotism.

• Josiah Strong, Theodore Roosevelt, the yellow press, Alfred T. Mahan

The Venezuela-British Guiana Boundary dispute occurred when Venezuela and Britain claimed land called Guiana.

• The U.S. settled this with the Monroe Doctrine

American sugar produced imported Asian workers to Hawaii, which led to minority whites calling for annexation and to disposal of Queen Liliuokalani.

• President Cleveland blocked annexation.

Cuban rebelled in 1895 against the Spanish, with insurrectos burning sugar mills and other infrastructure.

• Americans sided with the Cubans, especially after General Valeriano Weyler set up concentration camps.

• The yellow press fanned the flames of indignation.

• Encourages the U.S. to get involved in foreign affairs.

Conflict with Spain resulted when the U.S. backed Cuban rebels’ bid for independence.

• In February 1898, the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana, Cuba, killing 260 personnel.

  • A new battle cry swept the nation: “Remember the Maine.”

  • After the explosion, President McKinley did not want war but did not want a Spanish Cuba either.

  • Spain had denied any hand in the explosion and agreed to dismantle concentration camps and cease-fire against the Cuban rebels.

Congress passed the Teller Amendment, which stated that Cuba would be independent after Spain was overthrown.

U.S. naval forces seized the Philippines as the U.S. opened hostilities with Spain. 

• Assistant Secretary Navy Roosevelt ordered Dewey to Manila, where he destroyed the Spanish fleet.

• Insurgents, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, captured Manila, with U.S. forces

• Hawaii became a strategic concern and was annexed in July 1898, allowing for U.S. civilian and military ships to travel well into the Pacific and still be within range of a U.S. possession.

• The most famous event of the Spanish-American War was the charge up San Juan Hill by Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.

• The Treaty of Paris 1898 led to Spanish recognition of Cuban independence, were paid $20 million, and gave up the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico to the U.S.

The was an open debate on whether the U.S. should retain its colonial possessions. Some, including the Anti-Imperialist League, argued that colonies directly contradicted the U.S. position of self-determination.

• Anti-colonialists argued that people living under U.S. control, in areas with no promise of future statehood, were merely subjects of imperial rule.

Anti-Imperialist League opposed imperialism because it:

• Violated “consent of the governed”

• Was expensive

• Was risky and could lead to future wars

• “Despotism aborad = despotism at home” 

• Concern over issues at home, especially in urban areas. 

The Insular Cases produced a ruling that citizens of U.S. territories were subject to U.S. rule, but not the right that accompanied full citizenship.

Expansionist proponents (Roosevelt, Lodge) used counterarguments to justify U.S. imperialism:

• Us before others 

• Help the “backward” by “civilizing”

• Money

• Power = strength through possessions

The Platt Amendment placed certain restrictions on the Cuban government in terms of debt, treaties, and trade agreements, and gave the U.S. authority to intervene with military troops to protect Cuban independence if the situation ever arose.

• They played the anticolonialist argument.

Roosevelt believed in rugged individualism, which was especially shown by his extensive personal fitness.

• NY political bosses wanted him gone.

• Campaigned heavily for McKinley

• Joined the Rough Riders under Leonard Wood.

• Youngest elected to serve

• Very progressive president; in favor of expansion/imperialism, the Panama Canal, and a two-ocean navy

The Big Stick policy is when a country has a strong presence around the world (in a subtle way), and if you need to, you have the Navy to show your force whenever needed.

• Roosevelt’s prospect

Roosevelt made a commitment that he would only do two terms; he would only seek reelection once.

• He felt that he took McKinley’s term so early on that he felt it was still his first full term.

The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty is when Britain ceded to the U.S. the right to build a canal.

An insurrection in Panama (to shed Colombian control) led to the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.

• The treaty allowed the U.S. to acquire a ten-mile-wide canal zone for $40 million.

  • Facilitated U.S. military and commercial operations.

The Roosevelt Corollary was an addition to the Monroe Doctrine that involved managing the finances of debtor Latin American nations.

• Aimed at keeping Europeans out of Latin America.

• This led to a period of poor U.S./LATAM relations, as the U.S. became a “bad neighbor.”

The intent of U.S. foreign policy was to “protect” Latin American nations from European intervention.

• However, the “big stick” policy made LATAM nations feel like colonists under the thumb of the policemen of the Caribbean.

Roosevelt negotiated the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War.

• Hurt U.S. relations with both countries.

• Won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet on a tour around the world to demonstrate U.S. naval strength.

• Intimidates Japan

• Led to the Root-Takahira Agreement

In the wake of the Russo-Japanese War, many Japanese immigrants to the U.S. represented the U.S. represented the “yellow peril” to many U.S. cities.

• San Fransisco ordered Asian students to be segregated.

  • Roosevelt intervened with the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which called for San Francisco to repeal the policy and for Japan to halt immigration.

The Root-Takahira Treaty, signed after the Great White Fleet made a world-wide tour, stated:

• U.S. and Japan would respect each other’s Pacific holdings.

• Recognition of the Open Door policy with China.

Elihu Root (U.S. Sec. of State), Takahira Kogoro (Japanese Ambassador to Washington)

By 1910, the U.S. was a major power in the western hemisphere and its formidable navy was a growing concern for both European and Asian powers.

• America was very aggressive and militaristic, as it wanted to flex its strength as the new century dawned.

Immigrants provided a steady stream of workers in part as a result of the Contract Labor Act of 1864.

• Once again the population shifted to the cities, as it did at the beginning of the century.

• Workers toiled in factories for long hours, under poor conditions, for low wages.

  • Known as sweatshops.

  • This contract established employment agencies in different parts of the world to gain workers from other countries to do work in the U.S.  

Muckrakers were people who would publish stories and exposes that would stir more controversy by bringing up “dirty” things about politicians and such.

The Progressive Era occurred from 1890 to 1920, during which a variety of reforms were enacted at the local, state, and federal levels.

• This movement arose out of a need to address poverty, political corruption, and unsafe working conditions.

Progressives were made up of:

• Men and women

• People part of the middle-class

• Those from both sides of the political aisle all over the country

Reformers/progressives did not want radical change, as fear of revolution led them away from massive political and economic change.

• They wanted to root out government corruption so that the common people could gain the protection they so desperately needed.

• Their focus was strictly on using the government as an agency for human welfare.

• Fix democracy with more democracy — put the government in the hands of the people to give people more say and representation.

Unchecked industrialization needed reigning in: reformers called for an end to laissez-faire government policies.

• Industrial expansion caused cities, and by default urban populations, to grow.

  • The few services available to the poor were inadequate and a constant stream of immigrants seeking job opportunities only exacerbates the already deplorable state of urban slums.

  • Rapid industrialization and Gilded Age politics increased the need for reforms in nearly all aspects of society.

Reform movements date as far back as the Greenback Party.

Those reform-minded individuals who were intent on affecting change felt that corruption in politics would hamper efforts to change social ills.

Reformers were concerned that charity alone would not be enough to solve the nation’s problems.

Women’s groups and charitable organizations both contributed to the push toward reform.

A scientific approach was applied by reformers to alert politicians and officials to take action.

Many reformers/progressives wanted professionals, not government officials, to oversee changes.

Publishers contributed to calls for reform by printing inflammatory — but factual — articles by enterprising young writers.

• They were known as muckrakers, a term coined by Theodore Roosevelt and given to journalists who he felt incorrectly portrayed wrongdoing in business and politics.

  • They would report abuses by major corporations.

Unions did not get legal recognition until 1935, even though there was picketing and strikes.

• Displays the influence monopolies and trusts had on Congress.

• Reformers fought for the recognition and support of labor unions.

Direct elections: when voters decide who to elect in the U.S. Senate.

• 17th Amendment.

Initiative: voters could directly place legislation on the ballot by gathering signatures (direct), or petitioning a legislative body (indirect).

Recall: the ability for voters to remove corrupt officials from office.

Referendum: allows voters to approve or reject a law passed by legislatures.

Another approach to political reform was to effect change at the local level by using “home rule,” as it allowed cities to operate more independently and avoid the red tape and corruption associated with the state governments.

• Home rule: a system by which cities exercise a limited degree of self-rule.

There was a strong target against political corruption.

• Campaign spending limits were instituted.

• There was a curbing of lobbying.

• Introduction of secret ballots to keep one’s vote private — the Australian Ballot.

• The Seventeenth Amendment (1913) introduced the direct election of U.S. senators.

• The Sixteenth Amendment also passed in 1913, levied a federal tax on personal income.

Many states elected reform-minded governors who took on corrupt trusts, such as railroads, coal, and public utilities.

• Charles Evans Hughes — New York; governor; Chief Justice of SCOTUS; secretary of state

• Robert La Follette — Wisconsin

• Hiram Johnson — California; railroad buster

Women used social reform as an inroad to politics; the ultimate goal being suffrage.

• Focused on child labor, factory working conditions, temperance, and slums.

During the 1890s, Florence Kelley led a movement to end child labor and improve the conditions of factory workers.

• Her efforts were met with resistance, as they felt the end of child labor would hinder peoples’ rights and needs to make a living.

• As a member of the National Consumer’s League, she raised awareness among the general public of the injustices committed against workers.

A call for factory reform led to the landmark case Muller v. Oregon.

• This case won protection for women in the workplace based on the fact that their weaker bodies were more susceptible to injury.

• While some reforms were instituted, it took a true tragedy to bring factory reform to the forefront.

• Some viewed this as discriminatory in nature, but at the time it was a victory for women.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire occurred on March 25, 1911, where 146 would die in a factory fire.

• Many of the exits were locked, which trappetrd people in the burning building.

  • As a result, fire drills and fire exits became mandatory.

  • Fire inspection services were revamped in the wake of this tragedy.

Roosevelt’s three “C”s were:

• Conservation of corporations.

• Consumer protection.

• Conservation of natural resources.

Roosevelt believed that workers should get fair shares in the workplace.

• He preached this after the coal mining strike of 1902, which is when workers were given a “square deal.”

• Roosevelt threatened to run mines over with government troops, which displays him being a “trust buster.”

Roosevelt believed in good trusts and bad trusts and tried to break up monopolies with the Elkins Act and the Hepburn Act, which increased the power of the ICC.

• Elkins Act: heavy fines for rebate practices

• Hepburn Act: the elimination of free passes

• These acts regulated trusts; but did not abolish them.

• Agencies were established to investigate industries.

  • The Department of Commerce and Labor

  • The Bureau of Corporations

The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 subjected meatpacking to federal inspection and required government approval for all exported meats.

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 required proper packaging and labeling for food products and pharmaceuticals.

Roosevelt was very heavy on conservation practices, which became his most enduring legacy.

• He increased presidential power to protect natural resources.

• He established the United States Forestry Service and named Gifford Pinchot the Director.

• Designation of nearly 250 million acres of forest as protected land.

• Protected coal deposits from savage mining practices.

• Developed mixed U.S. policies for national forests.

Massive dam projects sprung up throughout the Great Plains.

• Roosevelt Dam

• Hetch Hetchy Valley Project

A nationwide awareness of conservation emerged.

• Audubon Society

• Sierra Club

Conservationists: believed in using and managing nature.

Preservationists: believed in leaving nature alone.

When Theodore Roosevelt voluntarily shunned reelection, he orchestrated the nomination of William Howard Taft to take his spot.

• Taft would be elected in 1908.

• Taft was very politically passive, quiet, and less open to change.

As president, Taft would continue Roosevelt’s reforms and be President when the Supreme Court broke up Standard Oil.

• He clashed with progressives in the republican party when he signed the Payne-Aldrich Bill, which increased tariffs.

  • He ignored progressive Republicans, which drew their scorn.

• He fired Pinchot in 1909 after he accused Interior Secretary Richard Ballinger of corruption.

Taft’s foreign policy was nowhere as aggressive as Roosevelt’s was.

• He would maintain and continue the Open Door with Asia.

• Advocated for stability in LATAM.

As president, Taft believed that increased investment in foreign economies would help to maintain political and economic stability.

• This became known as Dollar Diplomacy, which had its faults:

  • American investors lost money in overseas ventures, which increased anti-American sentiments in LATAM.

• He used an economic approach to foreign affairs; Roosevelt used a more militaristic approach.

Roosevelt, even out of office, disapproved of Taft’s perceived drift from progressive reform.

• Roosevelt campaigned for New Nationalism in the 1910 midterm elections.

  • His plan called for business regulation, welfare laws, and workplace protection for women and children.