Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Political Overview from 1870 to the 1900
1873: Panic of 1873 triggers an economic depression that lasts until 1879
1876: Contested presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of
Ohio and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden of New York
1880: Republican James Garfield of Ohio elected
1881: Garfield assassinated and Chester Arthur of New York becomes president.
1884: Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland of New York elected president
1888: Republican Benjamin Harrison of Indiana is elected president
1890: Sherman Anti-Trust and Sherman Silver Purchase Act enacted
1892: Cleveland elected to presidency again; People’s Party is founded
1893: Panic of 1893 triggers a depression even worse than the one in the 1870s
1896: Republican William McKinley of Ohio elected president against Democrat
William Jennings Bryant
1898: War with Spain and annexation of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines
2
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– The Party System
 Stability: After the end of Reconstruction, the two-party system
was highly stable and relatively evenly matched: sixteen
Republican states and fourteen Democratic states, with swing
states like New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois often determining
elections.
 Stalemate: From 1876 to 1896, the margin between Democratic
and Republican presidential candidates was 1.5% of the popular
vote. Republicans tended to control the presidency and Senate
(excepting Cleveland’s two terms); Democrats mostly controlled
the House.
 High Turnout: From 1860 to 1900, presidential elections averaged
78 percent turnout of all eligible voters.
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Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– The Party System
 Disenfranchisement: Almost all blacks came to be disenfranchised
during this period, women in most states could not vote, and some
poor whites in the South. (The territorial government of Wyoming
was the first to grant the vote to women in 1869 and the first state to
do so when it was admitted to the Union in 1890.)
 Regional and Cultural Basis of Party Identification: Regional, ethnic,
and racial identification had much to do with the era’s extreme party
loyalty: Southern whites voted for the Democratic Party as the party
of white supremacy while blacks voted for the party of Lincoln.
Middle-class Protestants of the North tended to vote Republican,
while Catholic immigrants tended to vote Democratic.
4
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

1888 cartoon satirizing the “pension pig”
The Politics of Equilibrium
– The National Government
 Limited Role of Federal Government: It delivered
mail, maintained a relatively small military,
conducted foreign policy, and collected tariffs and
taxes. It stepped back from many of its Civil War
expansions (like rescinded the temporary income
tax). The federal government was very limited
compared to the centralized national bureaucratic
governments developing in Europe.
 Civil War Pension System: From the end of the Civil War to the early
20th century, the federal government paid out pensions to the majority of
males in the North, both black and white. But this pension system—the
first federal “entitlement” program—died out with the Civil War
generation.
5
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– Presidents and Patronage
 Limited Presidential Power: While symbolically important,
presidents wielded little power beyond the ability to award
patronage (federal jobs) to supporters, with some 100,000 to
fill. Some positions, like collector of customs in a major port,
could be very lucrative.
 President Hayes Ineffective: Hayes announced he would only
run for one term, which lessened his power, and he was unable
to accomplish his major goal of establishing a civil service
system.
6
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– Presidents and Patronage
 Stalwarts and Half-Breeds: Two factions arose within the Republican
Party to control patronage; it was largely driven by a grudge between
two Republican leaders.
• Stalwarts: Led by New Yorker Roscoe Conkling, this group
rhetorically favored old-school machine patronage politics.
• Half-Breeds: Led by James G. Blaine of Maine, and rhetorically
favored reform, but sought to control patronage. like their opponents.
 Garfield Elected: Veteran Ohio Congressman and Half-Breed was
elected by a compromise ticket: a Stalwart, Chester A. Arthur of
New York, a Stalwart, was elected Vice President. Won by a
decisive Electoral College vote, though narrow popular margin.
7
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
January 1881 cartoon
from Puck magazine
showing President Hayes
leaving the “Civil Service
Reform” baby on
President-Elect Garfield’s
doorstep.
8
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– Presidents and Patronage
 Garfield Assassinated: Garfield supported civil service reform in his
early tenure, but only four months into his term, he was shot twice
while standing in a Washington railroad station. He lingered for three
months, but then died.
 Charles Guiteau: The assassin was deranged office-seeker who had
delusions of grandeur, believing an incoherent speech he wrote was
key in Garfield’s election (although he was a Grant partisan), and thus
deserved a plum appointment.
 Pendleton Act: Despite being a Stalwart, Chester Arthur broke with
Conkling when he became president and advocated civil service
reform. In 1883, Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which required
that a small number of federal positions be hired through exams rather
than patronage.
9
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Political cartoon deriding Garfield’s
deluded assassin, Charles Guiteau
10
Contemporary depiction of Guiteau’s
shooting of Garfield
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Grover
Cleveland

The Politics of Equilibrium
– Grover Cleveland in 1884
 “Mugwumps”: Republicans nominate James Blaine in 1884,
whose seamy reputation horrifies Republican liberals known as
“Mugwumps,” who say they will bolt for an honest Democrat.
 Cleveland Elected: Democrats nominate the honest reform
governor of New York, Grover Cleveland, to siphon off the
“Mugwumps.” In a public meeting with Blaine, a Protestant
clergyman referred to the Democrats as the party of “rum,
Romanism, and rebellion,” leading to a major Catholic turnout for
the Democrats in New York.
11
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– Cleveland, Harrison, and the Tariff
 Cleveland’s Attempts to Lower the Tariff: The Democratic
House passed a bill, lowering the tariff, but the
Republican Senate passed its own bill raising the tariff,
creating a state of deadlock in Congress.
 Election of 1888: The tariff issue predominated in the
1888 election, and while Cleveland won the popular vote,
an obscure Republican senator from Indiana, Benjamin
Harrison, won the Electoral College vote.
12
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Politics of Equilibrium
– New Public Issues
 Interstate Commerce Act: This 1887 law created the first federal body
to regulate any kind of private commerce, specifically railroads. It
created a five-man commission to curb exploitative practices of
railroads, but it was ineffective with haphazard enforcement.
 Anti-Trust Sentiment Rising: Although Harrison sought to do as little
as possible, certain issues forced his hand. Fifteen western and
southern states adopted laws prohibiting business combinations that
eliminated competition, so big conglomerates instead incorporated in
states like Delaware and New Jersey, which had laws favorable to
them. Antitrust legislation had to come from the federal level to work.
 Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890: Congress at last passed an anti-trust
law in 1890, but for the next decade, few cases were pursued
(ironically, it was mostly used against labor unions).
13
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

14
The Politics of Equilibrium
– New Public Issues
 McKinley Tariff: Congress passed the highest tariff ever in
October 1890, raising it from 38 percent to 49.5 percent on
certain imported goods (it lowered the rate on other items, with
the highest rates charged on items made by American
producers). Senator William McKinley of Ohio became known
as “the Napoleon of Protection.”
 Anger against the High Tariff: Popular sentiment turned against
Republicans since the high tariff was seen as a measure to
enrich wealthy producers and hurt consumers, and led to
Democrats winning both houses in 1890 and Cleveland getting
elected for a second term in 1892. Cleveland was a free trade
advocate who wanted a lower tariff.
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Agrarian Revolt
– Agricultural Hardships: American Farmers faced many
hardships in the post-Civil War period, including:
 Agricultural prices becoming too low because of overproduction due to
technological innovations and the opening of the Great Plains
 The high cost of manufactured goods because of lack of foreign
competition due to high tariffs
 The contraction of currency due to Republican “hard money” policies
(farmers were generally debtors)
 High railroad rates for rural areas (since there was less competition)
 Renting Lands: Hard times led many farmers to have their land
foreclosed, and then turn to tenant farming, share-cropping, or the croplien system.
15
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Agrarian Revolt
– The Grangers: National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry: This
organization was founded in 1867 to teach its members new scientific
agricultural methods, but became a potent political organization during the
depression of the 1870s, pushing state legislatures to pass strict railroad and
warehouse regulations. The Grange was not a durable force beyond the 1870s
since the courts undermined its laws and its leadership was disorganized.
– The Farmers’ Alliances
 First started forming in the South as early as 1875; by 1880 the Southern
Alliance had four million members, and a Northwest Alliance began to grow
in the Midwest to replace the Grange, and the two merged in 1889.
 Social Goals of the Farmers’ Alliances: Sought to eliminate cycle of farmer
debt by creating cooperative stores, banks, and processing plants.
 Alliance’s Political Growth: In the 1890 elections, Alliance-supported
candidates won at least partial control of legislatures in twelve states, six
governorships, three U.S. senators, and roughly fifty U.S. representatives.
16
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Agrarian Revolt
– People’s Party Established
 Delegates meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, declare the formation of a third
party, the People’s Party, in July 1892, and nominate James B. Weaver of
Iowa for president, who gets one million votes in the November election.
– The Populist Constituency
 Populism’s Limited Appeal: Biggest constituency was small farmers who
lacked economic security. Attempts to unite with the Knights of Labor
failed since there were few shared interests. Bringing the Colored
Alliances into the fold alienated white southerners.
– Populist Ideas
 The Populists’ Reform Program: Sought to create a network of
government-owned warehouses that could also make loans against
deposited crops for low interest; abolition of national banks; a graduated
federal income tax, and government ownership of railroads, telephones,
and telegraphs.
17
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Crisis of the 1890s
– The Panic of 1893
 Chain Reaction: The most severe depression in the nation’s history up
to that point was sparked by the failure of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad Company, followed by the National Cordage Company a
few months later.
 America’s Interconnected Economy: When railroads—the nation’s
economic circulatory system—suffered, so did everything else. In six
months, 8,000 businesses, 156 railroads, and 400 banks failed. The
economy would not recover until 1901.
 “Coxey’s Army”: Ohio businessman and Populist Jacob S. Coxey led
an army of unemployed men to Washington in 1894 to demand that
the government start a massive public works project to get people
working again.
18
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Coxey’s Army on
the outskirts of
Washington, D.C.
19
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Crisis of the 1890s
– The Silver Question
 Depression and Monetary Policy: President Cleveland believed that the
instability of the monetary system was a root cause of the depression. In the 19th
century, people believed that paper currency needed to be backed by “hard
currency”: precious metals, known as “specie.”
 “Bimetallism”: The U.S. had recognized gold and silver as the basis for the
dollar for most of its existence. The “mint ratio” was 16:1—sixteen ounces of
silver equaled one ounce of gold—but the commercial value of silver was much
higher than this. Sellers of silver could get much higher prices elsewhere, so
federal mints stopped minting silver coins.
 “Crime of ’73”: In 1873, Congress passed a law ending silver coins, confirming
the existing situation. But later in the 1870s, silver fell below the value of the
16:1 ratio, so many complained that Congress had sealed off a way to expand
the money supply. In response, Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase
Act of 1890, requiring the government to buy silver for gold, but not mint it.
This diminished the gold reserves, so President Cleveland asked for its repeal.
20
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Crisis of the 1890s
– “A Cross of Gold”
 Democratic Failure: The Republicans felt assured of victory in the 1896
election due to the Democrats’ failure to address the depression.
 McKinley Nominated: Ohio Republican Party boss, Marcus A. Hanna,
engineered the nomination of the Ohio governor, William McKinley. At
the Republican Convention, a platform of a high tariff and opposition to
free coinage of silver led 34 delegates from the mountain and plains
states walked out and joined the Democrats.
 “Cross of Gold” Speech: On July 9, 1896, at the Democratic Convention,
defenders of the gold standard held sway until a 36-year-old
Congressman from Nebraska, William Jennings Bryan, took the stage and
gave one of the most famous speeches in American political history, what
came to be known as the “Cross of Gold” speech. It caused such a frenzy
that it pushed the party to a pro-silver position and led to Bryan’s
nomination for president the following day.
21
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Excerpts from the “Cross of Gold” Speech
“You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the
gold standard. I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad
and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms,
and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our
farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the
country….”
“If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold
standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost,
having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the
world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring
interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands
for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down
upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify
mankind upon a cross of gold.”
William Jennings
Bryan in 1896
22
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Crisis of the 1890s
– The Conservative Victory
 “Fusion”: Populists had expected both parties to remain conservative,
leaving plenty of room for their candidates, but Democrats had stolen
their thunder. Many Populists argued “fusing” with the Democrats
would destroy their party, but saw no other alternative.
 Birth of Modern Campaigning: It had been seen as undignified for
presidential candidates to go out and make stump speeches, but Bryan
traveled 18,000 miles and addressed 5 million people in many
“whistle stops” and other events, setting a new precedent.
 McKinley Victory: McKinley beat Bryan by 271 electoral votes to
176, and received 51.1 % of the popular vote to Bryan’s 47.7.
 End of the People’s Party: The Populists’ merger with the Democrats
was a disaster, and led to that party’s quick disintegration.
23
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
24
Election of 1896
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Crisis of the 1890s
– McKinley and Recovery
 Return to Stability: The McKinley administration oversaw a return
to political stability in part because the opposition had played out,
its shrewd policies, and the bettering of economic conditions.
 Tariff: The McKinley administration pushed for and got passed the
Dingley Tariff of 1897, the highest ever: it doubled taxes on
woolens, linens, silks, China, and sugar, averaging 52 percent on
all imported goods in its first year.
 Gold Standard Act of 1900: This legislation confirmed the nation’s
commitment to the gold standard.
 Economic Improvement: This began in 1898, when crop failures
drove up agricultural prices, and businesses began to expand. New
gold processing techniques also increased the supply, thus
allowing the currency expansion needed for economic growth.
25
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
Captain Alfred T.
Mahan

Stirrings of Imperialism
– The New Manifest Destiny
 Sources of Imperialism: The experience of subjugating Indian peoples
and exerting control over them had created an imperialist model.
 Depression: The 1890s economic troubles encouraged businesses to
look for new markets around the globe.
 Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914): This U.S. navy officer wrote an
influential book in 1890, The Influence of Sea Power in History
(1890), that argued that the great nations of history were great sea
powers. He feared the U.S. did not have enough naval power to
pursue the new global role that he envisioned for it.
26
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

Stirrings of Imperialism
– Hemispheric Hegemony
 Pan-American Congress: Secretary of State James G. Blaine created
this organization in 1889 to promote U.S. interests in Latin America.
 Venezuelan Dispute: The Cleveland administration sided with
Venezuela in a border dispute with British Guiana, threatening war.
– Hawaii and Samoa
 Hawaii Coveted: By the 1880s, the U.S. Navy wanted Pearl Harbor for
a base. Hawaii had long been an important way station for U.S. ships
involved in whaling and the China trade, and in 1887, a treaty was
negotiated that allowed for the naval base. In addition, American sugar
growers—who had started to settle in the 1840s—had been able to ship
their product to the U.S. duty-free because of an 1875 agreement.
27
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

Stirrings of Imperialism
– Hawaii and Samoa
 Queen Liliuokalani (1838-1817): Native Hawaiians, upset with having
land taken away by American planters and their population ravaged by
disease, put a strong nationalist queen on the throne in 1891.
 Sugar Duties Restored: In 1890, U.S. Congress repealed the customs
exemption on Hawaiian sugar as a part of the McKinley Tariff,
devastating the islands’ economy.
 Hawaii Annexed: In 1893, American sugar planters revolted and asked
for U.S. protection. Congress approved a treaty of annexation in 1898.
 Acquisition of Samoa: In 1878 the Hayes administration negotiated a
treaty for a naval station in the Samoan harbor of Pago Pago, 3,000
miles closer to Asia than Hawaii. In 1899, the island chain was divided
between the U.S. and Germany.
28
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
– Controversy over Cuba
 Cuban Revolt: The “Ten Years’ War” broke out in 1868, when sugar
planters tried to rebel against Spanish rule but failed. In 1895, Cubans
revolted again, and garnered much sympathy in the U.S., especially as
word got out about the atrocities of Spanish general, Valeriano
Weyler, who committed atrocities, used torture, and set up
concentration camps (rebels also committed atrocities).
 Yellow Journalism: A circulation war between Joseph Pulitzer's New
York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal created
a demand for sensational stories about Spanish atrocities.
 Dupuy de Lôme Letter: A Cuban agent intercepted a letter of the
Spanish minister in Washington that described President McKinley as
weak-willed, which was unacceptable to Americans (even though
they themselves said the same thing.
29
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
U.S.S. Maine in 1898
– Controversy over Cuba
 The Maine: February 15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine, a battleship
commissioned in 1889, mysteriously exploded and sunk in Havana
harbor, killing over 260 people. A naval inquiry commission reported
an underwater mine was responsible for the explosion, although later
evidence shows points to an accidental engine-room explosion.
 War Declared: McKinley hoped to avoid war through and negotiated
with Spain to stop fighting, eliminate the concentration camps, and
negotiated with the rebels. The Spanish refused to talk with the rebels,
so Congress declared war on April 25 at McKinley’s request.
30
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
– “A Splendid Little War” (Sec. of State John Hay coined this)
 Short Duration: Lasted only from April to August 1898, in part
because Cuban rebels had weakened Spanish resistance.
 Supply and Mobilization Problems: U.S. forces had a shortage of
modern rifles and clothing appropriate for the tropics. The small
standing army of 28,000 was used to fighting Indians, not armies,
and inexperienced National Guardsmen were used in big numbers.
 Racial Tensions in the Military: As black soldiers traveled through
the south toward Tampa where they would leave to fight, several
conflicts broke out as they resisted segregation. One nightlong race
riot in Tampa left 30 wounded. Many of the Cuban fighters were
black—including one general—which led American black soldiers
to feel the injustice of discrimination even more acutely.
31
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
– Seizing the Philippines
 Eye on the Philippines: Assistant Secretary of the
Navy Theodore Roosevelt was a big supporter of
Mahan’s theories and the U.S. pursuit of
imperialist goals. He strengthened the Navy’s
Pacific Squadron and ordered its commander,
Commodore George Dewey, to seize the
Philippines in the event of war with Spain.
 Dewey Victorious: Dewey sailed his squadron
into Manila harbor on May 1 and destroyed the
aging Spanish fleet there. When the army arrived
several months later, the Spanish surrender
Manila.
32
Commodore Dewey
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
– The Battle for Cuba
 Cuba: U.S. forces were slow to react until a Spanish fleet sailed into
Santiago harbor at the end of May. A force of 17,000 U.S. soldiers left
Tampa in June and landed in Cuba.
 Battle of San Juan Hill: On July 1, U.S. forces pushed to take the city.
Teddy Roosevelt, who had resigned as assistant secretary of the navy to
take part in the fighting, commanded his “Rough Riders” cavalry unit up
Kettle Hill in a reckless charge into Spanish guns that succeeded. Buffalo
Soldiers bore the worst brunt of the fighting.
 Santiago Blockade: The U.S. Navy blockaded the Spanish fleet in the
Santiago Bay, but destroyed it when it tried to break out on July 3.
Spanish ground forces surrendered the city on July 16.
 Puerto Rico Occupied: On July 25, U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico, and
encountered some resistance, which ended with the signing of a peace
protocol on August 12.
33
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
The Spanish-American War in
Cuba, 1898
Teddy Roosevelt and the “Rough Riders” on
San Juan Hill
34
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

War with Spain
– Puerto Rico and the United States
 Colonial History: Puerto Rico had been a part of the Spanish Empire
since 1508, and its society was largely a Spanish elite with African
slaves growing sugar and coffee. Slavery had been abolished in 1873.
 Foraker Act of 1900: This law did away with U.S. military rule of the
government and created a colonial government.
 Sugar Industry: As in Hawaii, Americans began to move in and create
big sugar plantations, pushing Puerto Ricans off their land and forcing
them into wage labor positions.
 Jones Act of 1917: With pressure from a vocal independence
movement, Congress passed a law that made Puerto Rico a U.S.
territory and made all of its inhabitants U.S. citizens.
35
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
– The Debate over the Philippines
 The Philippines Question: Annexation generated much more anxiety
and debate than in the case of Puerto Rico, since it was a densely
populated territory thousands of miles away, seeming more like the
naked imperialist aggression of European powers. McKinley saw no
other alternative since he viewed Filipinos as “unfit” for self-rule.
 Anti-Imperialist Sentiment: Many major figures in the U.S. opposed
annexation, including Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Samuel
Gompers, etc.
 Anti-Imperialist League: This group of upper-class Bostonians
campaigned vigorously against the 1898 Treaty of Paris. Many were
Grover Cleveland-style Democrats who believed in small government
and free trade.
36
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
– The Debate over the Philippines
 Supporters of Annexation: Imperialists like Roosevelt favored
annexation, while some business interests saw it as an opportunity to
expand overseas markets. Others used the example of dependent
Indian nations as an appropriate model.
 Election of 1900: Pro-annexation forces got a boost from a strange
supporter—William Jennings Bryan, a fervent anti-imperialist—who
wanted to make annexation the central issue of the 1900 presidential
election. Yet this strategy misfired, because McKinley won by a
bigger margin than in 1896, benefitting from returning prosperity and
the colorful personality of his vice presidential candidate, the hero of
San Juan Hill, Teddy Roosevelt.
37
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Republic as Empire
– Governing the Colonies
 Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico: These three possessions became
territories without much problem: Hawaii in 1900, Alaska in 1912,
and Puerto Rico in 1917.
 Platt Amendment: Cuba was more difficult. When Cuba prepared a
constitution without reference to the U.S., Congress passed this
amendment in 1901, which barred Cuba from making treaties with
other countries, gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuban affairs,
and required permanent naval stations (like Guantanamo Bay).
 Economic Imperialism: U.S. investors dominated plantations,
railroads, and factories. When uprisings happened, U.S. troops
intervened (1906-1909, 1912, and 1917-1922).
38
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Republic as Empire
– The Philippine War
 Filipino Desire for Independence: Filipinos had
rebelled against the Spanish well before the U.S. arrived, and initially fought
with the Americans to get rid of the Spaniards.
 Emilio Aguinaldo (1869-1964): This able rebel leader began the fight against
the Americans when he realized they were not leaving, and viewed himself as
the leader of the legitimate government. He conducted a four-year guerilla
war that killed 4,300 American deaths and probably caused at least 50,000
Filipino deaths.
 The Philippines Brutally Subjugated: General Arthur MacArthur used brutal
tactics like torture and summary execution to put down the uprising.
Aguinaldo was captured in 1901, and who signed a document to tell his
followers to stop fighting. Intermittent violence continued until 1906.
 Gradual Shift to Self-Rule: Filipinos were finally granted independence on
July 4, 1946, after World War II and Japanese occupation.
39
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire
American soldiers applying the “water cure” torture—a variation of
what we know call “water-boarding”—on a Filipino prisoner in May 1901
40
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Republic as Empire
– The Open Door
 Interest in Asia: The acquisition of the Philippines drove increased
American interest in Asia, especially in the fate of a greatly weakened
China, which was being carved up by England, France, Germany, Russia,
and Japan around the turn of the century.
 Hay’s “Open Door Notes”: Secretary of State John Hay issued notes to
imperial powers in China asking them to allow other powers to trade with
China, and that the U.S. wanted no special privileges there.
 Boxer Rebellion: A secret martial-arts society known in the west as the
“Boxers” lay siege to the European diplomatic corps in 1900, leading to
all of the imperial powers (including the U.S.) to send an expeditionary
force to rescue the diplomats. Hay was able to negotiate a peace that
preserved nominal Chinese territorial integrity and U.S. access to Chinese
markets.
41
Chapter Nineteen:
From Crisis to Empire

The Republic as Empire
– A Modern Military System
 Creation of the Modern Military: The war with Spain had
revealed American military deficiencies despite the victory.
 Elihu Root (1845-1937): McKinley appointed this very capable
corporate attorney as Secretary of War after the war, and he
greatly reformed the military, making the standing army a force
of 100,000 rather than just 25,000, and required federal training
standards for the National Guard. He also created an Army
Staff College and a Joint Chiefs of Staff, resulting in a better
trained and more efficient command structure.
42