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