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

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