American Expansion
Was America aiming for a level
playing field or did it have imperialist
aspirations?
Seward’s Folly
• Secretary of State Seward purchases Alaska
from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million
• Russia and England both had conflicting claims
on the territory
• Nicknamed Seward’s Folly or Seward’s Icebox
Open Door Policy
• China divided into Spheres of Influence (1899-1900)
– Secretary of State John Hay circulated a letter to the
European powers requesting an open door policy for China
– None accepted, none refused
– Hay declared the policy accepted
• Boxer Rebellion (1900)
– Chinese rebellion against foreigners
• 2nd Round of Hay’s diplomacy
– Insisted on Chinese independence and territorial
independence
– Equality of trade
Spanish-American War
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1898 – war lasted four months
Cubans seeking independence from Spain
USS Maine sunk
Monroe Doctrine employed
Spain declares war
Spain sues for peace four months later
US gains: Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines (for
$20 million), Hawaii
Big Stick Diplomacy
• Panama Canal
– US assisted in a rebellion against Colombia and
declared Panama independent
– Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
– Building the Canal 1904-1914
– US pays Colombia $25 million as indemnity for the
loss of Panama (Wilson)
• Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine
Big Stick Diplomacy
• Platt Amendment
– US can interfere if suspected loss of Cuban
independence
– US can interfere to maintain “a government
adequate for the protection of life, property, and
individual liberty.”
– Cuba may not enter into international treaties
– Cuba agrees to allow US to lease naval and coal
stations to the US (Guantanamo Bay)
Dollar Diplomacy
• Railroads in China
• Intervention in Nicaragua (1912-1933)
• Lodge Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
Japan
• Commodore Perry opens Japan to foreign
trade in 1853
• Treaty of Portsmouth ends Russo-Japanese
War (1905)
– Japanese leave table dissatisfied that all their
needs were not met
• Gentlemen’s Agreement (1908)
– Discrimination in California was made illegal
– Japan would self-restrict emigration to the US
Japan II
• Great White Fleet (1907-1908)
– Show of American Naval strength
• Root Takahira Agreement (1908)
– Japan and America would respect each other’s
possessions in East Asia
– Both would respect an open door policy in China
Moral Diplomacy
• Philippines
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Full territorial status
Bill of Rights extended to the Philippines
Universal male suffrage
Guarantee of independence
• Puerto Rico
– US Citizenship granted
– Limited self-government
• Panama
– Removed American exemption from tolls on the Canal
• Conciliatory Treaties
– William Jennings Bryan
– Cooling off period
– International Commissions