Manifest Destiny
• Idea that America had a Godgiven right to spread from Atlantic
to Pacific.
• By 1890, this was complete and
America began looking for new
territory to conquer.
The Turn to Expansionism
• During late 1800s, economic
expansionism became part of
American experience.
• The development of foreign trade
partners and routes became of
utmost importance to “big
business” looking to increase
profits.
From expansionism to imperialism
• Foreign trade required
bigger U.S. Navy for
protection
• and ports in foreign
waters for refueling.
Debate over Imperialism
• Many Americans felt it was
justified and necessary for
American prosperity.
Motivations based on Realism
• Economic
–Trade
–Natural resources
–Protection
Motivations based on Idealism
• American form of democracy was the
best form of government
• Christianity would save the ‘savages”
who had not been exposed to it.
Opposed
• Other Americans feared that building up
overseas would
• weaken America at home,
• invite a war or
• violate American principles such as selfdetermination for the other nations that
would be taken over.
The Lure of
Imperialism
Imperialism: the practice of
extending a nation’s power
by gaining territories for a
colonial empire.
1. Commercial/Business
Interests
U. S. Foreign Investments: 1869-1908
1. Commercial/Business
Interests
American Foreign Trade:
1870-1914
Economic
•New markets for
manufactured goods
•Raw materials
2. Military/Strategic Interests
Alfred T. Mahan  The Influence of Sea
Power on History: 1660-1783
Military
•Desire for naval bases
and coaling stations.
3. Social Darwinist Thinking
The Hierarchy
of Race
The White Man’s
Burden
4. Religious/Missionary Interests
American
Missionaries
in China, 1905
Ideological
•Spread Christianity
•Spread western-style
culture
•Spread democracy
5. Closing the American Frontier
How American International
interest manifested itself.
Big sister policy
• James G. Blaine published his "Big
Sister" policy which aimed to rally the
Latin American nations behind America's
leadership and to open Latin American
markets to American traders.
American Samoa
Samoan Islands
• 1877 - The U.S. entered into its first treaty with
Samoa for the use of the excellent Pago Pago
Harbor.
• This first treaty between Samoa and a major
power increased the pressure on European
nations that had an interest there.
• Increasing conflict led to the partitioning of
Samoa in 1899. The U.S. obtained the islands of
eastern Samoa. Germany assumed control of
Western Samoa.
• U.S. Congress placed responsibility for
civil administration of the territory with the
Executive Office. The U.S. Navy had this
responsibility from 1900 to 1951. Since
1951 the U.S. Department of the Interior
has administered the territory.
• However, American Samoa is substantially self
governing today. It has its own constitution, its
own legislature, its own elected governor and a
non-voting representative in the U.S. House of
Representatives. American Samoa has made
very rapid progress in political selfdetermination.
• However, all of this local authority is at the
pleasure of the US Congress.
British Guiana and Venezuela
• The Venezuela Crisis of 1895 occurred over a
longstanding territorial dispute between Great
Britain and Venezuela over the boundary
between the two South American nations.
• The crisis ultimately saw Britain accept the
United States' intervention in the dispute to force
arbitration of the entire disputed territory, and
tacitly accept the United States' right to
intervene under the Monroe Doctrine.
• By standing with a Latin American nation against
European colonial powers, Cleveland improved relations
with the United States' southern neighbors, but the
cordial manner in which the negotiations were conducted
also made for good relations with Britain.
• However, by backing down in the face of a strong US
declaration of a strong interpretation of the Monroe
Doctrine, Britain tacitly accepted the Doctrine, and the
crisis thus provided a basis for the expansion of US
interventionism in the Western Hemisphere.
Great Rapprochement
• The Great Rapprochement describes a fundamental shift
in the relationship between Great Britain and the United
States in the late Nineteenth Century.
• In general, the social and political objectives of the two
nations converged, while both recognized their shared
history and democratic institutions.
• Significant changes in the both countries made the Great
Rapprochement mutually beneficial as well. Great Britain
came to value the United States as a democratic ally at a
time when the balance of power in Europe was impacted
by the rise of autocracies in Russia and Germany.
Hawaii
U. S. Missionaries in Hawaii
Imiola Church – first built in the late 1820s
• In 1875, the United States signed a treaty with King
Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of eight large
and many tiny islands 2,000 miles off the coast of
California.
• U.S. officials decided that Hawaii would make a splendid
naval base and fueling station for merchant ships. In the
treaty, Hawaii gained exemption from tariffs on the sugar
it exported to the United States.
• In exchange, Kalakaua agreed not to cede any territory
to any foreign power.
U. S. View of Hawaiians
Hawaii becomes a U. S. Protectorate in 1849
by virtue of economic treaties.
• In 1886, the United States demanded full
control over Pearl Harbor, which it wanted
for a naval base. When Kalakaua refused,
a group of vested American interests
secretly formed the Hawaiian League.
These traders, planters, and merchants
decided that, for their economic profit, they
must overthrow the king and influence the
United States to annex Hawaii.
• Their first step was to force Kalakaua to sign the
“Bayonet Constitution” (so called because the
king was forced to sign it at gunpoint). The
Bayonet Constitution limited the monarch’s
power and the right of Hawaiians to hold political
office.
• In 1890, the McKinley Tariff granted all nations
the right to ship sugar to the United States dutyfree. The price of sugar fell, and the Hawaiian
economy felt the impact.
Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani
Hawaii for the
Hawaiians!
• In 1891, Liliuokalani became queen of Hawaii.
Supporters of the Hawaiian League staged a
major protest when she announced that she
intended to overturn the illegal Bayonet
Constitution.
• With support from armed American marines, the
Hawaiian League installed Sanford Dole as
president of a new government.
• Rather than see Hawaiian lives lost in battle,
Liliuokalani abdicated.
U. S. Business Interests In Hawaii
1875 – Reciprocity
Treaty
1890 – McKinley Tariff
1893 – American
businessmen backed an
uprising against Queen
Liliuokalani.
Sanford Ballard Dole
proclaims the Republic
of Hawaii in 1894.
• When the Dole government petitioned the United States for
annexation, President Grover Cleveland ordered an investigation.
Disgusted by the flagrant illegality of the Hawaiian “revolution,”
which had in fact been stage-managed by rogue Americans acting
independently of the U.S. government, Cleveland ordered the Dole
government disbanded. Sanford Dole defied the president, refusing
to step down.
• Cleveland was not willing to go to war to restore Liliuokalani to her
throne, but he did refuse to annex Hawaii.
• However, President William McKinley annexed Hawaii in 1898,
ignoring the protests of the vast majority of Hawaiians.
• Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900 and U.S. state in 1959.
To The Victor Belongs the Spoils
Hawaiian
Annexation
Ceremony, 1898
Background
• After being intimidated by a U.S. show of
military force in the mid-1800s, Japan
opened itself up to trade with the U.S.
• Japan also transformed itself into an
industrial nation and built a strong military
force so it could compete in the
international markets.
Commodore Matthew Perry
Opens Up Japan: 1853
United States
basically forces
Japan to open up to
trade with U.S.
Treaty of Kanagawa: 1854
Japanese Imperialism
• Japan seized Chinese Taiwan in
1895.
• 1904 Russo-Japanese War broke
out as both Russia and Japan
showed an imperial interest in
Korea and Chinese Manchuria.
U.S. Response
• President Theodore Roosevelt
won the Nobel Peace Prize for
helping to negotiate a peace
agreement to end the conflict.
• Japan was the clear victor in the
conflict and the major power Asia.
• The U.S. and Japan
became major rivals for
influence in China and
the Pacific region.
Gentleman’s Agreement: 1908
A Japanese note agreeing
to deny passports to
laborers entering the U.S.
Japan recognized the U.S.
right to exclude Japanese
immigrants holding passports
issued by other countries.
The U.S. government got the
school board of San Francisco
to rescind their order to
segregate Asians in separate
schools.
Long term impact
• Japan was insulted by American racism
and sense of ethnic superiority.
• Japan became more determined to
become a dominant imperial power in the
Pacific.
• Pearl Harbor, 1941.
Spanish Misrule in Cuba
Valeriano Weyler’s
“Reconcentration” Policy
The Imperialist Tailor
U.S. penetration of the Cuban
economy
• Sugar estates and mining interests passed from Spanish
and Cuban to U.S. hands, and it was U.S. capital,
machinery and technicians that helped to save the sugar
mills that remained competitive with European beet
sugar.
• Furthermore, as the dependence of Cuban sugar on the
U.S. market increased, the Cuban sugar producers were
more and more at the mercy of the U.S. refiners to whom
they sold their raw sugar. In 1894 nearly 90 percent of
Cuba's exports went to the United States, which in turn
provided Cuba with 38 percent of its imports.
“Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism
Joseph Pulitzer
William Randolph Hearst
Hearst to Frederick Remington:
You furnish the pictures,
and I’ll furnish the war!
• Americans became embroiled in the Cuban
revolution of 1895 against Spain Americans for many
reasons:
– American sugar companies lost trade and profit due to the
fighting;
– some saw a declaration of war against Spain as necessary
for growth of American trade
– while others claimed that Spanish tyranny had to be
stopped in the Western Hemisphere.
– Lastly, there was a strong desire for overseas coaling bases
for ships in the U.S.'s new steel navy.
President McKinley
• McKinley originally tried to avoid an armed
conflict with Spain, but the American
media, led by newspaper baron Randolph
Hearst, lambasted McKinley as weak and
whipped up popular sentiment for a war to
give Cubans their independence.
De Lôme Letter
Dupuy de Lôme, Spanish
Ambassador to the U.S.
Criticized President
McKinley as weak and a
bidder for the admiration
of the crowd, besides
being a would-be politician
who tries to leave a door
open behind himself while
keeping on good terms
with the jingoes of his
party.
Remember the Maine
and to Hell with Spain!
Funeral for Maine
victims in Havana
• The sinking of the Maine put tremendous
strain on President McKinley. The national
press clamored for war while Congress
pressed for action. Concerned that the
nation's military was unprepared, McKinley
hesitated.
• War was declared April 21, 1898.
Teller Amendment
• In April 1898 Senator Henry M. Teller (Colorado) proposed an
amendment to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain which
proclaimed that the United States would not establish permanent
control over Cuba. The Senate passed the amendment on April 19.
True to the letter of the Teller Amendment, after Spanish troops left
the island in 1898, the United States occupied Cuba until 1902.
The Spanish-American War (1898):
“That Splendid Little War”
How prepared was the US for war?
Theodore Roosevelt
Assistant Secretary
of the Navy in the
McKinley
administration.
Imperialist and
American nationalist.
Criticized President
McKinley as having
the backbone of a
chocolate éclair!
Resigns his position to
fight in Cuba.
The
“Rough
Riders”
• Spanish - American War (1898 - 1902)
•
•
•
•
•
Total
U.S. Service-members (Worldwide) - 306,760
Battle Deaths - 385
Other Deaths (disease) - 2,061
Non-mortal Woundings - 1,662
The Spanish-American War (1898):
“That Splendid Little War”
Dewey Captures Manila!
Is He To Be a Despot?
Emilio Aguinaldo
Leader of the Filipino
Uprising.
July 4, 1946:
Philippine independence
William H. Taft, 1st
Gov.-General of the Philippines
Great administrator.
“My little brown
brothers”
Our “Sphere of Influence”
The Treaty of Paris: 1898
Cuba was freed from Spanish rule.
Spain gave up Puerto Rico and the island of
Guam.
The U. S. paid Spain
$20 mil. for the
Philippines.
The U. S. becomes
an imperial power!
The American Anti-Imperialist
League
Founded in 1899.
Mark Twain, Andrew
Carnegie, William
James, and William
Jennings Bryan among
the leaders.
Campaigned against
the annexation of the
Philippines and other
acts of imperialism.
Cuban Independence?
Teller Amendment (1898) – Prior to S-A War, U.S.
guarantee that it would give Cuba its independence.
Senator
Orville Platt
Platt Amendment (1903)
1. Cuba was not to enter into any agreements with foreign
powers that would endanger its independence.
2. The U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs if necessary
to maintain an efficient, independent govt.
3. Cuba must lease Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for naval
and coaling station.
4. Cuba must not build up an excessive public debt.
Puerto Rico: 1898
1900 - Foraker Act.
 PR became an “unincorporated territory.”
 Citizens of PR, not of the US.
 Import duties on PR goods
1901-1903  the Insular Cases.
 Constitutional rights were not automatically
extended to territorial possessions.
 Congress had the power to decide these rights.
 Import duties laid down by the Foraker Act
were legal!
Puerto Rico: 1898
1917 – Jones Act.
 Gave full territorial status to PR.
 Removed tariff duties on PR goods coming
into the US.
 PRs elected their
own legislators &
governor to enforce
local laws.
 PRs could NOT vote
in US presidential
elections.
 A resident commissioner was sent to
Washington to vote for PR in the House.
Panama: The King’s Crown
Panama was then under
the control of Colombia.
Colombia denied U.S.
request to purchase right
to build canal so that
ships could travel from
Pacific to Atlantic (and
vice versa) with sailing
south around South
America.
• U.S. supported
Panamanian rebels in
their fight for
independence against
Colombia.
• Roosevelt was criticized
by many for this example
of “gunboat” diplomacy.
• In return, Panama grants
U.S. permission to build
canal and control it.
• In 1999, the U.S. returned
control to Panama.
Panama Canal
TR in Panama
(Construction begins in
1904)
The Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine: 1905
Chronic wrongdoing… may
in America, as elsewhere,
ultimately require
intervention by some
civilized nation, and in the
Western Hemisphere the
adherence of the United
States to the Monroe
Doctrine may force the
United States, however
reluctantly, in flagrant
cases of such wrongdoing
or impotence, to the
exercise of an
international police power .
Speak Softly,
But Carry a Big Stick!
Background
• China was isolated from the rest
of the world despite trade.
• It strictly restricted foreign trade
with only one port open.
• 1842 Britain forced China to open
5 ports to trade
• Japan, and the European powers
(Russia, France, Great Britain,
and Germany) carved out
spheres of influence (geographic
areas where an outside nation
exerts special economic or
political control) in China.
U.S. Response
• Too late to carve out its own sphere
of influence, the U.S. was afraid it
would be shut out of the profitable
trade markets in China.
• Established the Open Door Policy aimed to give all foreign nations equal
access to trade in China.
The Open Door Policy
Secretary John Hay.
Give all nations equal
access to trade in China.
Guaranteed that China would NOT be taken
over by any one foreign power.
Chinese Reaction
• Boxers – group of Chinese nationals
who wanted to end foreign influence
in China, rebelled in 1900.
• Western nations sent in troops to put
down the rebellion and thereby
protect their trade markets in China.
The Boxer Rebellion: 1900
The Peaceful Harmonious Fists.
“55 Days at Peking.”
America as a Pacific Power
The Cares of a Growing Family
Constable of the World
Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905
Nobel Peace Prize for Teddy
The Great White Fleet: 1907
Taft’s “Dollar
Diplomacy”
Improve financial
opportunities for
American businesses.
Use private capital to
further U. S. interests
overseas.
Therefore, the U.S.
should create stability
and order abroad that
would best promote
America’s commercial
interests.
The Mexican Revolution: 1910s
Victoriano Huerta seizes control of Mexico
and puts Madero in prison where he was
murdered.
Venustiano Carranza, Pancho Villa, Emiliano
Zapata, and Alvaro Obregon fought
against Huerta.
The U.S. also got involved by occupying
Veracruz and Huerta fled the country.
Eventually Carranza would gain power in
Mexico.
The Mexican Revolution: 1910s
Emiliano Zapata
Venustiano Carranza
Pancho Villa
Porfirio
Diaz
Francisco I
Madero
Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
The U. S. should
be the conscience
of the world.
Spread democracy.
Promote peace.
Condemn colonialism.
Searching for Banditos
General John J. Pershing with Pancho
Villa in 1914.
War with Mexico?
• The United States was on the verge of
another war with Mexico when World War
I broke out in Europe and Wilson backed
off.
U. S. Global Investments &
Investments in Latin America, 1914
U. S. Interventions in
Latin America: 1898-1920s
Uncle Sam: One of the “Boys?”