American Imperialism
President McKinley (1896-1901) & the
Spanish-American War (1898) &
America’s Rise as a World Power
Presidential Election of 1896
William McKinley
• Republican Candidate
• Support of big business
and the East
• Gold standard
– because prevented
inflation-> rise in prices of
goods and services
• Won with 7.1 million
votes
William Jennings Bryan
• Democrat/Populist
Candidate
• Morality (Cross of Gold
Speech
• bimetallism
• Support of farmers and
working class
• Lost with 6.5 million votes
William Jennings Bryan
What happens to problems of
Gilded Age?
• Remained in society, but largely ignored
by McKinley Administration and previous
presidents (Harrison and Cleveland)
• Populism’s death causes society to
temporarily ignore issues in America.
McKinley Administration (18961901)
• Concentrated on
Imperialism
– Inspired by America’s rapid
economic and social
growth which made
America a world power
• Imperialism = the policy
in which stronger
nations extend control
over weaker nations
– Resulted in many foreign
colonies
WHY IMPERIALISM?
• 1) Desire for Military
strength – Mahan advised
strong navy
• 2) Thirst for new markets
– to spur economy & trade
– to sell surplus of
American goods
• 3) Belief in Cultural
Superiority – a belief that
Anglo-Saxons were
superior (eugenics)
Imperialism: America Builds a Navy
• Benefits of a strong navy?
– Protection
– Conquest
– Economy/shipping
• Admiral Alfred Mahan
– Most powerful navy will control the globe
• Early 1900’s = America 3rd Largest Navy
Admiral Mahan
Imperialism: America Gets Land
Hungry
• Alaska in 1867
• Hawaii in 1898
• Then turn attention to Caribbean
– Roots of Spanish-American War
THE U.S. ACQUIRES
ALASKA
• In 1867, Secretary of State
William Seward arranged for the
United States to buy Alaska from
the Russians for $7.2 million
• Some thought it was a silly idea
and called it “Seward’s Icebox”
• Time has shown how smart it
was to buy Alaska for 2 cents an
acre
– Became a state in 1959
• Alaska is rich in timber, minerals
and oil
America gets…what America
wants: HAWAII
• Sugar industry booms in
Hawaii during Civil War
• American citizens go buy
land in Hawaii during
Gilded Age
• “Bayonet Constitution”1887-took away most of
monarch power and
emphasized interests of
American business
• King Kalakaua died in
January 1891, his sister,
Queen Liliuokalani
ascended the throne.
America gets…what America
wants: HAWAII
• Queen Liliuokalani supported “Hawaii of
Hawaiians”
– Removing property owning requirement for voting (to
include Asians as well)
– This would hurt American land owners in Hawaii
• Pearl Harbor built in 1887
– US realizes strategic and economic importance of
Hawaii
– US convinces Hawaii monarch to allow construction
of naval base
– Best port in Hawaii
THE U.S. ACQUIRES HAWAII
• McKinley Tariff of 1890
– Previously Hawaii was duty free with sugar
– This tariff made it expensive for Americans to import
Hawaiian sugar
– Thus many American businessmen in Hawaii call for
annexation
• America and Sanford Dole overthrow queen in
1893
– Cleveland refused to annex
– McKinley after election in 1896 agrees to annex
– In 1959 became 50th US state
Political
Cartoon from
1898.
McKinley
marrying
Uncle Sam
and Hawaii
with Senator
John Tyler
Morgan
watching
over the
ceremony.
American Turns attention to the
Caribbean…
• Spanish power decreases by end of 1800’s and
thus unable to control its colonies
• One such colony, Cuba revolts!
– Had several unsuccessful revolts in mid to late 1800’s
– In 1886 revolt ended slavery in Cuba
– As a result, American businessmen invest in Cuban
sugar plantations
Cuba Libre and José Martí
– Cuban refugee, poet and
journalist
– Active guerilla warfare: on
American-owned sugar
mills and plantations to
spike American awareness
of Cuba
– American public split over
Cuban independence issue
• Businessmen support
Spain
• Most others support native
Cubans and cries of Cuba
Libre spread throughout
America
Yellow Journalism Aids the Cuban
Revolt
• Spain sends Valeriano Weyler to quell revolt in
Cuba.
– Puts 300,000 Cubans in concentration camps
• Journalists in America cash in on Weyler’s
cruelty and exaggerate the situation in Cuba.
– Yellow journalism- sensationalizing events to sell
newspapers
– William Randolph Hurst’s New York Journal
– Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World
Portrayal of rivals Pulitzer and Hurst competing to sell
newspapers and inspire war sentiments in the American public.
McKinley fails to settle Cuban
conflict peacefully
• 1896 McKinley becomes
President
– Tries to mediate issue
between Spain and
Cubans
• De Lôme Letter offends
America
– Letter from De Lôme, the
Spanish Foreign Minister to
the U.S.
– NY Journal makes public
this private letter
– Letter calls McKinley “weak
and bitter”
USS Maine Explodes= War Begins
• McKinley sends USS Maine to Cuba to
retrieve American citizens in danger
• February 15, 1898 the ship explodes in the
Havana Harbor
• Newspaper yellow journalists blame Spain
and call for war.
– Americans angered and call for war
– April 20, 1898 America declared war on Spain
USS Maine Explosion
Why did the USS Maine Explode?
• Most historians believe it was an accident
– US investigation biased
– Spanish investigation probably correct (likely
caused by an internal fire)
“That Splendid Little War”
The Spanish-American War
(1898)
THE WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES
• U.S. forces surprised
Spain by attacking the
Spanish colony of the
Philippines
• American fleet led by
Commodore George
Dewey
• 11,000 Americans joined
forces with Filipino rebel
leader Emilo Aguinaldo
• By August, 1898 Spain
had surrendered to the
U.S. in Manila
THE WAR IN THE CARIBBEAN
• A naval blockade
of Cuba after
victory in
Philippines
• Followed by a land
invasion of Cuba
with victory at San
Juan Hill
Meet the Rough Riders
•
•
Led by Teddy Roosevelt
Volunteer cavalry
regiment
–
•
•
Necessary b/c army weak
and archaic despite
strong navy
Rough Riders became
famous for victory at the
important San Juan Hill
Results of San Juan
Hill:
1. Roosevelt is a war hero
2. Helped America defeat
Spanish in Cuba
THE WAR IN THE CARIBBEAN
• After victory at San
Juan Hill, America
attacks Spanish fleet
off coast of Cuba
• The American Navy
destroyed the Spanish
fleet and paved the
way for an invasion of
Puerto Rico (Spanish
colony)
U.S. WINS:
SIGNS TREATY OF PARIS
• The U.S. and Spain signed
an armistice on August 12,
1898, ending what
Secretary of State John
Hay called “a splendid little
war”
• The war lasted only 16
weeks (113 days)
• Cuba was now
independent
• U.S. receives Guam,
Puerto Rico, and “bought”
the Philippines for $20
million
Treaty of Paris, 1898
Debate over Treaty of Paris
(1898)?
• Right of US to annex territories taken from Spain
sparks a debate in America
– McKinley justifies this with Christianity
– Booker T. Washington ->American needs to
concentrate on race problems at home before
involvement in other countries
• Tensions created as America just replaced
Spanish rule in many of these territories
– Nevertheless treaty ratified on February 6, 1899
– Results: America now owns Guam, Puerto Rico and
the Philippines
SECTION 3:
ACQUIRING NEW LANDS
• The U.S had to decide
how to rule the new
lands
• Puerto Rico wanted
their independence–
but the U.S. had other
plans
• Puerto Rico was
important to the U.S.
strategically
• Foraker Act: U.S. set
up a civil government,
full citizenship, and a
bicameral system
CUBA AND THE UNITED
STATES
•
•
The Treaty of Paris
granted full independence
to Cuba
The U.S signed an
agreement with Cuba
known as the Platt
Amendment 1903
1. U.S. to maintain naval
stations on the island
2. US had right to intervene in
Cuban affairs
3. Cuba could make no treaties
with other counties
•
Cuba had become a
“protectorate” of the U.S.
Today the US has a prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/03/06/la
st.word.03.06.2009.cnn?iref=videosearch
FILIPINOS REBEL
U.S. troops fire on rebels
• Filipinos reacted with
rage to the American
annexation
• Rebel leader Emilio
Aguinaldo vowed to
fight for freedom and
in 1899 he led a
rebellion
• The 3-year war claimed
20,000 Filipino rebels,
4,000 American lives
and $400,000,000 (20x
the price the U.S. paid
for the land)
FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN CHINA
• China was a vast
potential market for
American products
• Weakened by war and
foreign intervention,
many European
countries had colonized
in China
• In 1889, John Hay, U.S.
Secretary of State,
issued the Open Door
Policy which outlined
his plan for free trade
among nations in China
Foreign
nations were
opening the
door to
China’s trade
AMERICANS PROTECT RIGHTS
IN ASIA
•
•
After the Boxer Rebellion,
John Hay again issued a
series of Open Door
Policies
These policies reflected
American beliefs in:
1. importance of exports
2. right of America to intervene
to keep foreign markets
open
3. belief that America’s
survival depended on
access to foreign markets
McKinley and Roosevelt :1900
• McKinley easily reelected in 1900 due to success of
Spanish-American War
– Showed most Americans supported imperialism
– Chooses war hero, Teddy Roosevelt as his Vice President
– Roosevelt chosen by McKinley to limit Roosevelt’s political
power
• McKinley shot in 1901
–
–
–
–
Every president elected in 0 year up until Reagan died in office
By 28-year-old anarchist Leon Czolgosz
Teddy Roosevelt becomes president
"Now look! That damned cowboy is President of the United
States!"– Mark Hanna (McKinley Campaign Manager)
Teddy Roosevelt as President
• At age 43 became
26th President
• Served from 19011908
• “Speak softly, but
carry a big stick”
foreign policy
• Reformer of American
domestic issues
• Teddy Bear named
after him
Theodore and Edith Roosevelt with family in 1903
SECTION 4: AMERICA AS A
WORLD POWER
The Nobel
Peace Prize
is awarded
annually
• Two events signaled
America’s continued climb
toward being the #1 world
power
• 1) Roosevelt negotiated a
settlement between Russia
and Japan who had been at
War – his successful efforts
in negotiating the Treaty of
Portsmouth won Roosevelt
the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize
• 2) Construction of Panama
Canal
THE PANAMA CANAL
• By the early 20th century,
many Americans
understood the
advantages of a canal
through Panama
• It would greatly reduce
travel times for
commercial and military
ships by providing a
short cut between the
Atlantic and Pacific
oceans
“The shortcut”
BUILDING THE PANAMA CANAL:
The Big Ditch 1904-1914
Cost- $380 million
Workers– Over 40,000 (5,600 died)
Time – Construction took 10 years
• The French had
already
unsuccessfully
attempted to build a
canal through Panama
• America first had to
help Panama win their
independence from
Colombia – which it
did
• Construction of the
Canal stands as one
of the greatest
engineering feats of
all-time
This view, provided by NASA, shows the thin blue line
(canal) cutting across the middle of Panama
Almost 1,000,000 ships have passed through the canal,
which became sole property of Panama in the year 2000