The “New” Imperialism
1878 - 1914
Is the “New” Imperialism New?
Not new – U.S. continually expanding
New in two senses:
Non-contiguous expansion
Colonization, not usurpation
Tied to economic expansion
U.S. exports increase from $234 million in 1865 to $1.5
billion in 1900, 2.5 billion in 1914
Particularly in Latin America: by 1914, . . .
• U.S. exported $300 million worth of goods to region
• U.S. investments in region totaled $1.26 billion
Growth of Exports, 1875-1915
U.S. Intervention in the Caribbean
American Exceptionalism
Rev. Josiah Strong (Our Country,
1885):
U.S. chosen by God to uplift the
world
“As America goes, so goes the
world”
Continued belief in “Manifest
Destiny” – new frontier was
overseas
Missionaries spread both Christianity
& American culture as package deal
Undergirded by racist belief in
“White Man’s Burden”
U.S. Imperial Expansion
Alaska purchased
from Russia in 1867
U.S. divided Samoa
with British &
Germans in 1889;
annexed 1899
Sanford Dole led
revolution in
Hawaii in 1893;
annexed in 1898
The Road to War with Spain
José Martí collected money, men & arms in U.S. to
start 1895 revolt
Americans appalled by Gen. Weyler’s brutality &
“reconcentration policy”
William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal
published sensational stories, but only inflamed
existing passions
De Lôme Letter (pub. Feb. 9, 1898) called Pres.
McKinley “weak”
U.S.S. Maine exploded & sank in Havana Feb. 15,
1898, killing 266 of 354 American sailors
U.S.S. Maine
U.S.S. Maine
The wreckage of the Maine
McKinley Forces the Issue
McKinley sent ultimatum to Spain
Demanded end to hostilities &
reconcentration
Insisted U.S. mediate a settlement
Rejected by Spain April 10
April 19: Congress passed joint
resolution to force resolution
Pres. William McKinley
Teller Amendment disavowed annexation
April 22: U.S. Navy began blockade of
Cuba
April 24: Spain declared war on U.S.
The Caribbean Theater
June 22 – siege of
Santiago began
July 1 – Battle of San
Juan & Kettle Hills
July 13 – Santiago
surrendered
Puerto Rico captured
without a fight
Aug. 12 – armistice
signed
The Philippines Theater
May 1 - George Dewey’s
fleet defeats the Spanish
in Manila Bay
Dewey joined forces with
rebel leader Emilio
Aguinaldo
Aug. 13 – Manila
surrendered
Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders
Battle of Kettle Hill
Effects of Imperialism - Caribbean
Treaty of Paris (Dec. 1898; ratified Feb. 1899):
U.S. got Philippines, Guam & Puerto Rico
Spain got $20 million
Cuba granted independence (became U.S. protectorate)
Platt Amendment gave U.S. control over Cuba’s
foreign policy & right of intervention
Foraker Act (1900) denied U.S. citizenship to
Puerto Ricans (got it in 1917)
Insular Cases – Supreme Court ruled Constitution
doesn’t follow the flag
Effects of Imperialism - Asia
Dewey denied promising Aguinaldo
independence
Guerilla war vs. Aguinaldo’s rebels in the
Philippines, 1899-1902
200,000 Filipinos killed
5,000 Americans killed
U.S. soon realized difficulty of defending islands
against Japanese aggression, so cut deals:
Emilio Aguinaldo
Taft-Katsura Agreement (1905): U.S.
recognized Japan’s conquest of Korea
Root-Takahira Agreement (1907): U.S.
recognized Japanese control of Manchuria
George Dewey
Anti-Imperialist Sentiment
Anti-Imperialist Sentiment
Anti-Imperialist Sentiment
The Panama Canal
Hay-Paunceforte Treaty
(1901): Britain allowed U.S.
to build canal by itself
1903 treaty paying Colombia
$10 million and $250
thousand a year in rent
rejected by Colombian
Senate
Philippe Bunau-Varilla
staged revolt in Panama with
U.S. help
Canal completed in 1914
U.S. ruled Canal Zone
Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy