U.S. Imperialism

  • Motives for Imperialism
    • Economic
    • Open up markets abroad
    • Access to cheap raw materials
    • Political
    • Desire to compete with other nations
    • Strategic/military
    • Acquire naval bases
      • Alfred T. Mahan
      • “Influence of Sea Power”
      • Need to have a powerful navy
      • Building of the Panama Canal
    • Ideological
    • Idea of the “White Man’s Burden”
      • Darwin’s concepts applied to international affairs
      • Rev. Josiah Strong’s “Our Country”
      • Anglo-Saxon civilization is superior

Must colonize other lands to spread “superior” civilization

  • Case Study: Hawaii
    • In the 1820s, American missionaries got to the islands to convert native people to Christianity
    • American sugar and pineapple planters begin buying up land
    • Dole family
    • In 1887, the United States sign a treaty established Pearl Harbor naval base
    • Various interests in the U.S. want to annex Hawaii
    • Queen Liliuokalani advocated that Hawaii should be controlled by the Hawaiian people
    • Revolt orchestrated by plantation owners and overthrow the queen in 1893
    • Grover Cleveland rejects annexation
    • William McKinley annexes in 1898
  • Cuba
    • Was one of the few colonies controlled by Spain
    • Revolts against Spanish rule were becoming more common
    • Spanish General “Butcher” Weyler took controversial steps to stop the rebellion
    • Reconcentration camps
      • Many Cubans die of starvation and disease
    • Why does the U.S. Care?
    • U.S. investments in sugar plantations
    • Sympathy for plight of Cuban people
      • Yellow journalism
      • Exaggerated reporting
    • De Lomé Letter
    • Spanish official disrespects President McKinley
  • Spanish American War Begins
    • Yellow press blame Spain for destruction of the battleship Maine
    • April 1898, the United States declares war against Spain
    • U.S., Cuba, and Philippines vs. Spain
    • Teller Amendment
    • The U.S. has no intention of taking over Cuba
      • Cuba will control their own government
  • Spanish American War
    • Secretary of State John Hay referred to the war as “a splendid little war”
    • George Dewey crushes the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay
    • Theodore Roosevelt led a volunteer regiment called the “Rough Riders”
    • War ends in August 1898
    • Treaty of Paris will spark a debate in the United States
  • Treaty of Paris
    • The United States acquires Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines
  • Impact of the War
    • Key debate
    • What should the U.S. do with these newly acquired territories
    • Debate in Congress
    • ⅔ majority required to ratify a treaty
    • Anti-imperialist League
    • Opposed annexation of the Philippines
      • Members included
      • Carnegie
      • AFL leader Samuel Gompers
      • Mark Twain
    • McKinley favored expansion and Congress narrowly approves the treaty
    • Know about U.S. actions in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines
  • Cuba
    • United States technically leaves Cuba in 1902
    • Platt Amendment passed in 1901
    • The U.S. can intervene to restore peace and order
    • Cuba could not sign a treaty with a foreign power that limited its independence
    • U.S. could maintain a naval base at Guantánamo Bay
  • Puerto Rico
    • Foraker Act
    • 1900
    • Puerto Rico was granted a limited degree of popular government
      • Withheld full self rule
      • Congress granted U.S. citizenship in 1917
    • Status of places such as Puerto Rico and the Philippines were uncertain
    • Did the rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution follow the U.S. flag?
    • Insular Cases
    • Constitutional rights are not extended to people in American territorial possessions
  • The Philippines
    • Emilio Aguinaldo was the leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain
    • Fought alongside the U.S. against Spain
    • Following the Treaty of Paris, he thought the Philippines would receive independence
    • A brutal guerilla war takes place between the U.S. and Philippines
    • Formal independence not until 1946
  • Access to China
    • The United States was very interested in gaining access to the markets of China
    • Problem
    • Other nations had carved up China into spheres of influence
      • Area of exclusive trading privileges
    • Secretary of State John Hay announces the Open Door Policy in 1899
    • All nations should have equal trading privileges in China
    • Boxer Rebellion was an attempt to remove foreign influence of China
    • Rebellion put down by an international force
  • President Theodore Roosevelt
    • William McKinley is reelected in the Election of 1900
    • Theodore Roosevelt becomes president when McKinley is assassinated in 1901
    • Under Roosevelt, there will be a dramatic rise in the power of the Presidency
    • Roosevelt will pursue an expansionist foreign policy
  • Panama Canal
    • The presence of a canal would drastically cut down travel time
    • Trade
    • Military
    • The first attempt to build a canal was by France
    • Failed
    • Roosevelt attempted to get Columbia to allow the United States to build a canal in Panama
    • Columbia rejects the treaty that would have allowed the U.S. to build the canal
    • Roosevelt decides to secretly support the movement from Panamanian independence from Columbia
    • Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty
      • Gives U.S. right to build canal
  • Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
    • Monroe Doctrine
    • 1823
    • Stay out of the western hemisphere
    • Various Latin American countries owed money to countries such as England and Germany
    • England sends warships to Venezuela in 1902
    • Santo Domingo owed money
    • Worried Europe would keep intervening
    • Roosevelt responds by issuing the Roosevelt Corollary
    • The U.S. had the right to intervene in Latin America
    • U.S. dramatically expanded its role in Latin America
      • Various presidents send troops to Haiti, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua
    • Strains relations between U.S. and Latin America
  • Roosevelt in East Asia
    • Roosevelt wins Nobel Prize for helping negotiate a peace agreement ending the Russo-Japanese War
    • Japan beat down Russia
    • The U.S. increasingly concerned over the growing strength of Japan
    • Gentlemen’s Agreement
    • Laws in California discriminated against Asian immigrants
      • San Francisco required Asian students attend segregated schools
      • Fear of “yellow peril”
    • Roosevelt and Japan reached a compromise
      • Japan secretly agreed to restrict the emigration of Japanese workers to the U.S.
      • Roosevelt would pressure CA to repeal its law
    • Great White Fleet
    • 1907-1908
    • Roosevelt sends new fleet of U.S. battleships on a trip around the world
      • Demonstrates U.S. growing power