SS.912.A.4.1 Analyze the major factors that
drove United
States imperialism.
SS.912.A.4.1 Analyze the major factors
that drove United
States imperialism.

 Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan: The Influence of Sea Power
upon History, (1890)
 Thesis: Control of the sea was the key to world dominance
and empire.
 U.S. should build large navy and build defensive bases
and refueling stations strategically placed on world’s
oceans.
 Take Hawaii and other Pacific islands.
 Josiah Strong: Our Country
 Advocated superiority of Anglo-Saxon civilization
 Urged Americans spread religion and democratic values
to “backward” peoples.
SS.912.A.4.3 Examine causes,
course, and consequences of the
Spanish-American War.

 Direct Cause of Spanish-American war
 USA sent a ship to support and protect Americans in
danger in Cuba
 Explosion of the USS Maine-1898
 266 soldiers dead
 Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!
Yellow Journalism

 Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst
 Used their positions as journalists to support the
concept of war
 Hearst sent artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to draw
sketches.
 “Your furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”
Course of Spanish
American War

 USA much weaker than Spain militarily
 Theodore Roosevelt and the “Rough Riders” led the
army on the Ground in Cuba
 US navy completely destroyed the Spanish fleet
 Teller Amendment-assured the world that Cuba
would be returned to its people after the war
Spanish American war in
the Philippines

 When fighting began the US sent ships to attack
Spain’s Philippine holdings
 US destroyed 10 Spanish ships and killed or
wounded 400 Spainards in the Philippines
SS.912.A.4.2 Explain the motives of the
United States’
acquisition of the territories.

 The United States increased their policy of Imperialism
after the Spanish American War.
 Annexation of Hawaii (July 1898)
 U.S. used the pretense of needing Hawaii as military naval base.
 Annexation of Hawaii was rushed through Congress and approved by
President McKinley
 Hawaiians granted U.S. citizenship and received full territorial status in
1900.
 U.S. Army invaded Puerto Rico
 U.S. sought to take the island before the war with Spain ended.
 Most of population regarded U.S. soldiers as liberating heroes.
 Spain signed an Armistice on August 12, 1898.

Treaty of Paris

 Treaty of Paris, 1898
 Cuba freed from Spain
 U.S. received Pacific island of Guam which they had captured
early in the war.
 U.S. gained Puerto Rico.
Imperialism Debate

 Anti-Imperialist League
 Williams Jennings Bryan (Democrat)
 Feared lower wages for immigrants, factories
relocating overseas
 Did not want to increase size of military because it
would increase taxes
 Platt Amendment
 Changed the Teller Amendment to give the US the
ability to reinvade Cuba if neccessary
Insurrection in the
Philippines

 Filipinos assumed they would be granted freedom after
the war, like the Cubans.
 Open rebellion began Feb. 1899; Emilio Aguinaldo
declared Philippines independent.
 More savage fighting and resulted in more casualties than
Spanish American War.
 Filipino armies fled to the jungle where they waged
vicious guerrilla warfare.
 Insurrection finally broken in 1901 when Aguinaldo was
captured.
China

 Open Door Policy-Agreement between the western
countries granting equal rights to trading ports in
China
 Written by the United States
 Increased the US presence in Asia
 Boxer Rebellion-Chinese uprising put down by
Japan, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and US
troops.
SS.912.A.4.4 Analyze the economic, military,
and security motivations of the United
States to complete the Panama Canal as
well as major obstacles involved in its
construction.

 Theodore Roosevelt- “Big Stick Policy”
 Panama Canal- United States helped Panama fight
off Columbian rulers
 Took Control of Panama and built the Canal to
improve shipping and naval efficiency
 Disease and death plagued construction
Dollar Diplomacy

 China -- Manchurian Railroad Scheme
 1909, Taft proposed that a group of U.S. and foreign bankers
buy the railroads and turn them over to China.
 Japan and Russia refused to give up important railroads.
 President Taft showered in ridicule.
 Caribbean
 Taft urged Wall Street bankers to loan money to Honduras
and Haiti to keep out foreign funds.
 Ultimately, U.S. sent forces to Cuba, Honduras, the
Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua to keep control and
order.
Missionary Diplomacy

 Latin America and the Caribbean
 Kept Marines in Nicaragua making that country, in
effect, a U.S. protectorate.
 U.S. forces sent to Haiti in 1914-15 when Haitian
president torn to pieces.
 1916, U.S. Marines sent to Dominican Republic when
riots and civil war broke out.
 1917, U.S. purchased Virgin Islands from Denmark
