Chapter 27 Empire and Expansion 

US Imperialism

• Farmers and Industrialists looked to shores for expansion
• “Expand or explode”
• Reasons
• Religion
• Boyish adventure
• Money
• “Bring values to the backward people”
• All the other modern countries were doing it (Britain France Spain Japan)
• Roosevelt and henry lodge interpret Darwinism to mean that earth belongs to the strong and fit (USA)
• New steel navy
• Manifested in Garfield and Harrison administrations through the desire to rally Latin America into American leadership (in trade)
• 1889 first pan-American conference to discuss mutual tariff reductions
• James G. Blaine published big sister and presided over the conference
• Sketched vague plan
• Opened doors for future discussions
• 1880-1890 near wars and diplomatic crisis
• American and german navies nearly duke it out over Samoan islands
• American and Italy: 11 lynched Italians in New Orleans 1891 (America paid compensation)
• America and chile (2 American sailors die in chile port no war caused chilies forced to pay
• America Canada seal hunting
  • Americans are very bloodthirsty and very willing/ eager for war

Maine

• Yellow journalism makes up Cuban atrocities
• William R Hearst vs Joseph Pulitzer compete for biggest “scoops”
• Claimed Spanish-American costumes brutality undressed and searched an American women
• Readers didn't know it was a woman who did that in Spanish customs (traveling)
• Spain lightly talked of letting Cuba govern itself but was opposed by Spaniards in Cuba and led to riots so we sends our main to evacuate Americans if need be
• Tenseness grows when Hearst revealed a private letter from a Cuban minister
• He had stolen it from his mail
• Called president Mckinley an ear-to-the-ground politician who lacked good faith
• Caused uproar Cuban minister forced to resign
• Main mysteriously blows up killing 260 men
• 2 investigations take place one led by the Spanish 9 not allowed near reck) and one by the Americans investigating on their own
  • Americans take least likely route and decided it was caused by a submarine mine
  • 1997 released it was caused by spontaneous combustion of a coal bunker next to ammo storage ( what the Spanish had deduced in 1898
• Americans go to war
• Remember Maine to hell with Spain

Mahan and Seapower

• European naval forces declined except for Britain

• Military sea and commercial sea should be interdependent

• Control the sea control the world

• Dominant economic military and political power divided by the sea

• USA should be a world power + need to control the sea = need a powerful navy

The Spanish-American war

• The US won
• 1898
• Mckinley criticized for not wanting a war and allowing Spain to meet demands for a peaceful solution
• ‘Backbone of a chocolate eclair”
• Maine sent by McKinley
• Theodore Roosevelt wants war desperately
• Eventually gave people what they wanted because of a lack of faith in Spanish promises to end reconcentration camps in Cuba
• Teller Amendment and war declared
• Teller amendment stated that the USA would give Cuba freedom when they won

The territory gained from war

• Gained Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam from Spain
• King of Hawaii (annexed )
• Purchased Philippines for 20 million
• shows the US becoming a world power

TR’s Roughriders

• Made of polo players, college buddies, cowboys hunters, and native Americans
• Walked for a weak ‘
• 17000
• Lots of confusion upon disembarkment for Cuba
• Participated in 2 major battle

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