Imperialism
Background
• Late 19th century=hope + anxiety for
U.S.
• World’s leading industrial power
• 1893-financial panic/depression
• Potentially violent fault lines=debtors
vs. creditors; labor vs. capital
• European powers were scrambling for
new colonies and influence in Africa,
ME, and Asia
(“The sun never sets on the British
empire.”)
• Threatened to exclude U.S. businesses
from vital overseas markets
Causes
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Gather new resources
Open up new markets/trade
Military advantage/strategy
Maintain a balance of power
Closing of the frontier-provides new lands to conquer +
adventure (manifest destiny)
Duty to spread civilization-”white man’s burden”
(superiority + humanitarian)
Nationalism
Social darwinism
*economic, political, social and psychological
Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Military historian-very popular
• “The influence of sea power
upon history, 1660-1783”
• Influence=control of the seas
• 1900-U.S. had the 3rd largest
navy
• Roosevelt’s “great white
fleet”-fleet of battleships
painted white and ordered to
sail around the world, an
impressive sight
Alaska
• 1867
• Seward-Johnson’s Secretary of
State
• Resources: rich in oil, timber,
fish, etc.; doubled the size
• Purchased from Russia for 7.2
million
• Wanted to get British Columbia
down-have from AL. to WA.
• “Seward’s Folly”
Hawaii
• Since 1790s-American merchant ships
had stopped at Hawaii on their way to
East Asia; est. Christian churches and
schools + sugar cane plantations
• 1891-king died and his sister,
Liliuokalani ascended the throne
• She wanted to eliminate the white
control of govt. and land
• 1893-American planters + U.S. Marines
overthrow the queen
• Annexation: Wealthy planter Dole asked
U.S. to annex; majority of Hawaiians did
not want it; American annexation
sentiment remained strong and in 1898,
Congress annexed it in
Spanish-American War
“Splendid Little War”
Background
• Spain controls:
Philippines
Cuba
smaller islands:
Guam, Puerto
Rico
Causes
• Spanish atrocities: concentration camps,
starvation, diseases, mutilations
• Yellow press-exagerrations
• DeLome Letter: private letter by the Spanish ambassador to
D.C. to a friend in Cuba, intercepted by Cuban rebels and
leaked to Hearst called the President weak and stupid:
insult to President and national honor
• USS Maine explosion: 1898-docked in Havana harbor as a
courtesy call-blew up; 260 dead, “Remember the Maine”
rallying cry
(Spanish blamed: 1976 the real cause was noted: internal
explosion triggered by fire in the coal bunker next to the
magazines)
Declaration of War
• Roosevelt wanted war but
McKinley and business leaders
were a little timid
• Spain, sensing U.S. militancy,
announced a cease fire
• McKinley started to ask for a
declaration of war and
blockaded Cuba’s northern
coast
• Blockade=act of war so Spain
declared war on April 24
• U.S. declared on 4/25, but
wanting to be first, made it
retroactive to 4/21
Course of the War
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Philippines
took 7 hours for Dewey to get there
3.5 months
Dewey along with Emilio Aguinaldo (commanding
the Filipino insurrectionists) entered
into Manila
• Spanish lost 381, U.S.
8 wounded
Course of the War
• Cuba
• 17,000 troops engaged
• 1st Volunteer Cavalry-Rough Riders (aka weary
walkers)-under Teddy who was 2nd in command,
landed at SE Cuba: didn’t think they could take
the high ground, but took nearby Kettle Hill in 20
mins. and San Juan Hill one hour later (*became
famous in the Wild West Show)-high points of the
war
• 474 Spanish killed/wounded vs. 1 U.S. killed and
1 wounded, 1750 prisoners
End of the War
• 114 days, approx. 4 months long
• Over 60,000 Spanish dead of diseases or wounds vs.
6000 Americans (only 379 total in battle)
• Emergence of U.S. as a world power
Treaty of Paris
12/10/98
• Cuba
• Independent, military govt. in 1898,
1900-their own constitution
• 1901-Platt Amendment
-will never sign a treaty with a foreign nation that
impairs their independence
-never build excessive debt
-permit the U.S. to intervene in affairs to preserve
independence and law and order
-allow the U.S. to maintain a navy baseGuantanamo Bay
• 1902-withdrawal by U.S.
Treaty of Paris
• Will agree to pay $20 million for
P.R., Guam and Philippines
• Guam
Will be a U.S. protectorate
• Puerto Rico
U.S. protectorate
est. a civil govt.
not the same rights as a
U.S. citizen, have their own
constitution, but it can’t
conflict with the U.S.
Constitution
Treaty of Paris
• Philippines
• Remain under U.S. control until the end of
WWII
• Commercial possibilities + mission work to
“the little brown brother”
• McKinley’s statement includes maintaining
possession for national glory, commerce,
racial superiority and altruism
(selflessness, helping others)
• Aguinaldo at this point leads the resistance
• 2 year conquest
• Massacres and tortures to those who
resisted
• 63,000 American troops, 4300 dead
• Over 200,000 Filipinos dead
China
• Imperial powers (Britain,
Japan, Germany, Russia,
France, U.S.) wanted an equal
opportunity to trade in China:
Open Door Policy
• 1900-Boxers oppose the
foreign influences and lead a
siege on foreign embassies
• Boxer Rebellion vs. Imperial
powers (to relieve the
embassy issue)
• Imperial powers win: approx.
6 weeks
Panama
• Initially under the control of Columbia
• DeLesseps and the French started building the Panama
Canal-abandoned the project (cost, diseases)
• Columbians not letting the U.S. in; U.S. was outraged over
quoted prices higher than that of the French
• Panamanians wanting indep. Work with the U.S., who
happens to send warships off the Panamanian coast
• Panamanian rebellion-Columbia unable to reinforce or
suppress the rebellion; relinquish control
• Panamanians, owing the U.S., allow the U.S. in
• They rent the land + build the canal starting in 1904 (costly$ + lives): finish it in 1914
Progressive Presidents and their
approach to foreign affairs
Foreign Policy Stance
• Roosevelt: Big Stick Diplomacy-”Speak softly but
carry a big stick”-military influence
• Roosevelt Corollary: 1904: to strengthen the
Monroe Doctrine-U.S. to intervene to forestall
the actions of outsiders in Latin America as it
pertained to economic issues (pay off loans)
• Taft: Dollar Diplomacy: substituting dollars for
bullets: increase investment in other countries to
maintain and increase power
• Wilson: Moral Diplomacy: support governments
that are democratic and support U.S. interests