The 1900s and Pre-World War Era

Awakening of the US as a World Power

  1. Context: America’s industrialization and growing quantity of goods 

  2. Shows an increasing desire to have a foothold in the Pacific market

    1. Treaty of Kanagawa with Japan (Trade Agreement in Japan)
    2. Purchase of Alaska (From Russia)
    3. Annexation o Hawaii 
    4. Open Door Policy With China (Agreeing to trade with China)

  3. What role should the government take in opening new markets and how hard should they push? 

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Economic Benefit of an Emire

  1. Industrial powerhouse needed

    1. Worldwide markets 
    2. Raw materials 

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Protestantism & Democracy 

  1. “Exceptional”, ‘city on a hill’ America to bring:

    1. Protestantism (A type of Christianity) 
    2. Capitalism 
    3. Democracy 

  2. Coincided with Social Darwinist beliefs of the era

    1. Josiah Strong’s Our Country: Christian duty to colonize and spread Anglo-Saxon culture/religion 

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A Strong Nation & Empire

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  1. America should take its place with other nations as a world power

  2. A new ‘frontier’ for American manifest destiny

    1. Frederick Jackson Turner had argued that expansion was the defining force in American history (safety valve)

  3. Alred Mahan’s The influence of Seapower Upon History 

    1. Powerful Navy 
    2. Canal
    3. Strategic Ports 

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The Spanish American War

-America wins

-More presence in Asia 

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Cuba

  1. Spanish territory with the ongoing revolution 

  2. Spanish were violently suppressing revolutionaries

  3. The US had built up business interests on the island and wanted stability 

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Spanish American War

  1. The American victory in the Spanish-American War led to the US acquisition of island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an increase in involvement in Asia, and the suppression of a nationalistic movement in the Philippines 

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Cuba

  1. Spanish territory with ongoing revolution 

  2. Spanish were violently suppressing revolutionaries 

  3. The US had built up business interests on the island and wanted stability 

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Causes of War

  1. Jingoism in America (Intense nationalism calling for aggressive foreign policy) 

  2. Rise of “yellow journalism” sensationalized the conflict (misinformation or overdramatic news)

  3. De Lome Letter insulted national honor 

  4. Explosion of Maine in Havana Harbor (Cuba)

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Teller Amendment 

  1. Hereby disclaims any disposition o intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people (Leave Cuba Alone)

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Attack on the Philippines/Cuba

  1. McKinley sends a war message to Congress on April 11, 1898

  2. May: The US launched its first attack on the Philippines, thousands of miles away from Cuba

  3. The Spanish were surprised and unprepared 

  4. War in Cuba and the Philippines lasted only 4 months 

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Treaty of Paris, 1898 

  1. Cuba was freed from Spanish rule (Platt Amendment gives US big brother powers over Cuba)

  2. Spain gave up Puerto Rico and Guam 

  3. The US paid Spain $20M for the Philippines

  4. The US becomes an imperial power with strategic locations in the Pacific

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American Hypocrisy 

  1. America acquires the Philippines, which expects independence 

  2. US violently suppresses revolutionaries 

  3. Create controversy at home

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The New Diplomacy 

Teddy Rosevelt: Big Stick Diplomacy

William Howard Taft: Dollar Diplomacy

Woodrow Wilson: Moral Diplomacy 

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Teddy Roosevelt's Extension of American Power in the Western Hemisphere

  1. “Speak Softley and carry a big stick”

  2. Teddy Resevelts attempts to build the US as a world power

    1. Forces Panamanian Revolution for the canal zone

    2. US as police power over Latin American countries to ensure no European intervention 

      1. Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine

Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine 

Context: Venezuela and the Dominican Republic failed to pay the debt to European nations, and those nations threatened to invasion

  1. America is an international police power

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Mildly Expansionist, using investment

  1. Chinese RR

  2. Troops in Nicaragua 

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Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy

  1. The US should be the conscience of the world 
  2. Spread democracy, and peace, condemn colonialism
  3. Appoints anti-imperialist Secretary of State WJ Bryan