United States
Imperialism
Chapter 19
Stirrings of Imperialism
• The New Manifest Destiny
• American attention shifted to foreign lands
for the following reasons:
• Fear that natural resources would dwindle &
must be found abroad
• Importance of foreign trade & a desire for new
markets
• Fear that America would be left out of the spoils
of imperialism due to Europe
• U.S. justified expansion by applying theory
of Social Darwinism to imperialism
Stirrings of Imperialism
• Josiah Strong’s Our Country: Its
Possible Future and Its Present Crisis
(1885) promoted Anglo-Saxon’s duty
to help less fortunate people.
• Admiral Alfred Mahan wrote The
Influence of Sea Power Upon History
(1890) promoted the idea that the
U.S. needed to have:
• Foreign commerce
• A strong Navy to defend trade routes
• Colonies to provide raw materials &
military bases
White Man’s Burden
Stirrings of Imperialism
• Hemispheric Hegemony
• Secretary of State James Blaine sought to expand U.S. influence into Latin
America through the Pan-American Congress.
Stirrings of Imperialism
• Hawaii & Samoa
• Americans that settled Hawaii
beginning in 1810 had come to
dominate it politically & economically
• Brought disease that decimated the
native population.
• U.S. Navy negotiated the use of Pearl
Harbor as a naval base (1887)
• Sugar became the island’s main crop
that could be traded tax free.
Stirrings of Imperialism
• When the U.S. eliminated duty-free sugar,
American planters felt the only way to
survive economically was to join the
United States.
• In 1893, a revolution was staged against
nationalist Queen Liliuokalani. President
Harrison signed an annexation agreement
that was eventually approved during the
Presidency of Cleveland in 1898.
• Samoa had served as a station for U.S.
ships since the mid-1800s. In 1899, the
U.S. & Germany split control over the
islands.
War with Spain
• Controversy over Cuba
• Cuba had sought independence from
Spain in 1868 & again in 1895.
• Spanish General Valeriano “the
butcher” Weyler used harsh tactics &
established concentration camps, which
caused public sympathy from the U.S.
Press & citizens.
• Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World &
William Randolph Hearst’s New York
Journal used “yellow journalism” on the
Cuban crisis to compete for circulation.
War with Spain
• Cuban Americans urged independence for Cuba (Cuba Libre)
• President Cleveland proclaimed U.S. neutrality, but President McKinley
protested Spanish conduct.
• The Spanish responded by removing Weyler.
War with Spain
• Two events in 1898 ended a
peaceful resolution:
• De Lome Letter – a letter from
Spanish minister to the U.S., Enrique
Dupuy de Lome, was intercepted &
published, which was critical of
President McKinley.
• “Remember the Maine” – a
mysterious explosion in Havana
Harbor of the U.S. battleship Maine
was blamed immediately on Spain &
resulted in a public outcry for war
against Spain.
War with Spain
• “A Splendid Little War”
• U.S. Secretary of State John Hay called the
war this because:
• It lasted only five months (April-August)
• Few U.S. battle deaths occurred although 5,000
died as a result of disease
• U.S. expanded its empire in the Caribbean &
Pacific
• The war effort was hampered by:
• Army supply problems
• Lack of U.S. military experience
• Use of volunteer units (Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough
Riders)
• Racial discrimination against African-American
soldiers
War with Spain
• Seizing the Philippines
• Theodore Roosevelt, the Secretary of the
Navy, strengthened the Pacific Fleet &
ordered Commodore George Dewey to
attack Spanish forces in the Philippines.
• By May 1898 Manila Bay had been
captured.
• The war to free Cuba had become a war to
strip Spain of its colonial possessions.
War with Spain
• The Battle of Cuba
• American forces attacked the
Spanish fleet in Santiago Harbor &
eventually captured Santiago &
Puerto Rico.
• At the Battle of Kettle Hill a
volunteer unit led by Theodore
Roosevelt known as the Rough
Riders was victorious.
• An armistice with Spain in August
ended the war. Spain recognized
Cuban independence, ceded Puerto
Rico & Guam to the U.S., & accepted
occupation of the Philippines.
Puerto Rico & the United States
• The annexation of Puerto Rico
produced little controversy. The
American military controlled the
island until the 1900 Foraker Act
created a colonial government with
an American governor, a 2chamber legislature, and a US right
to amend/veto any legislation.
• In 1917 Congress passed the Jones
Act that made Puerto Rico a US
territory & Puerto Ricans American
citizens despite cries for their own
independence.
The Debate over the Philippines
• Debate over the Philippines was different because it
was not in the Western Hemisphere. It also was
densely populated and far away. President
McKinley was reluctant but believed no other
alternative existed. It could not be returned to
Spain or left for another imperialist nation, and the
Filipinos were “unfit for self govt”.
• The war with Spain ended in 1898 with the Treaty of
Paris. The US paid $20 million for the Philippines.
Fierce resistance occurred in the US over
ratification.
• Anti-imperialists (under Anti-Imperialist League)
were opposed because imperialism was immoral &
industrial workers feared cheap labor entering the
U.S.
The Debate over the Philippines
• Ratification was supported by imperialists such as
Theodore Roosevelt who saw the new U.S. Empire
as a means to reinvigorate the nation & dominate
Oriental trade.
• The treaty was ratified in 1899 because antiimperialist Democrat William Jennings Bryan
wanted to make it an issue in the 1900 election.
Bryan ran against McKinley. McKinley won & the
election became a referendum on war that showed
the American people supported imperialism.
The Republic as Empire
• Governing the Colonies
• Hawaii, Alaska, and Puerto Rico received
territory status (residents became US
citizens)
• The U.S. military remained in Cuba.
After a Cuban constitution failed to
mention the US, Congress passed the
1901 Platt Amendment that would bar
Cuba from making treaties, gave the U.S.
the right to intervene in Cuba (little
political independence given), &
American capital bought up much of the
Cuban economy and dominated it.
The Republic as Empire
• The Philippine War
• U.S. subjugation of natives led to a long, bloody
war with insurgent independence fighters. US
used same brutal tactics that it had opposed
Spain using in Cuba.
• The Rebellion was led by Emilio Aguinaldo with
a large popular following. By 1902 brutal and
savage US tactics had changed American public
opinion of the war, but by then war already over
(Aguinaldo captured 1901). The Philippine War
proved much more costly than the SpanishAmerican War.
• Power was given to US administrator William
Howard Taft who believed the U.S. mission was
to prepare Filipinos for independence.
Philippines were given broad local autonomy.
Trade with the U.S. grew and islands came to
almost depend on US markets.
The Republic as Empire
• The Open Door Policy
• The Philippine occupation strengthened US
interest in Asia and Chinese trade
• European nations were carving up China for
themselves; McKinley wanted to protect US
interest in China without war. Secretary of
State John Hay proposed in 1898 “Open
Door notes” to European nations allowing
access to China but would give no nation
special advantages. Allowed free trade
without creating a colony or military
involvement.
• The Boxer Rebellion arose against foreigners
in China. Siege of foreign diplomatic corps
resulted in McKinley and Hay participating
in quelling this rebellion.
The Republic as Empire
• A Modern Military System
• War with Spain showed the weakness of
the U.S. military system in training,
supply, & coordination. McKinley
appointed Elihu Root as Secretary of
War to overhaul U.S. forces.
• Root enlarged the army, created federal
standards for a National Guard, created
officer training schools, created Joint
Chiefs of Staff to advise the Secretary of
War & to supervise military
establishment. The modern military
system was created by the turn of
century.
1. How does the cartoonist portray President Theodore
Roosevelt?
2. Why is "The World's Constable" a good title for this cartoon?