TOWARD
EMPIRE
Chapter 21
America Past
and Present
America Looks
Outward
• Since 1790 American foreign policy had
been centered on expanding westward ,
protecting American interests abroad and
limiting foreign influence
• After the Civil War, the US became a
world power
• HOW?
William Seward
• Accomplishments:
– Lincoln and Johnson’s Sec. of State
– Helped prevent British and French aid to South in
Civil War
– Tried unsuccessfully to annex Hawaii
– Annexed Midway Islands
– Rec’d permission to build canal in Nicaragua
William
Seward
• Accomplishments:
– Invoked the Monroe Doctrine when Napoleon III
sent troops to occupy Mexico
– Lobbied to purchase Alaska from Russia for $7.2
million – Seward’s Folly; Seward’s Iceberg
ALASKA!!
• Alaska is twice the size of Texas
• It has natural resources: timber, fur, coal,
oil and gold
• Its population was Inuit
• Its location to Russia (which Palin can see
from her house) made a strategic location
for airbases in recent decades
Imperialism
• What is it???????????????
• The policy of expanding a nation’s
authority by acquiring new territory or
by the establishment of political and
economic hegemony over other nations.
• Your text uses the word ‘hegemony’
often. What does it mean?
• A dominant influence over another
New Imperialism
• The US intensified its foreign involvement
because it needed:
– Worldwide markets for its growing industrial and
agricultural surpluses
– New sources of raw materials
– Overseas outlets for growing violence and labormanagement disputes
– Adventures might offer a ‘safety valve’
International Social
Darwinism or
It’s Going to Get Real Ugly
• The concept of “survival of the fittest” was
applied to competition among world
markets
• Under the idea that only the ‘strong’
survived, America had to be strong
– Religiously, militarily, and politically
• To do this , the US had to acquire overseas
territories
Manifest Destiny
• Expansionists in the late 19th C extended
the idea of Manifest Destiny past N. Am
to all parts of the world
• Americans were not alone in this quest
• Many felt that America was sufficiently
populated to call the “frontier closed” ie.
Frederick Jackson Turner
China, 1900
Notice US
control of
Philippines
Manifest Destiny
• European nations were
gaining influence in
weaker nations,
particularly in Africa
• Many Americans
thought that America
had to do the same or
grow weak and fail to
survive
Manifest Destiny
• Some expansionists
included
– Missionaries
– Politicians
– Naval strategists
– Journalists
What was their
motivation?
Missionaries
• Rev. Josiah Strong wrote: Our Country: Its
Possible Future and Present Crisis, 1885
– Protestants had a Christian duty to colonize other
lands to spread Christianity and bring the “benefits”
of their “superior” civilization (medicine, science and
technology)
– Founded the Social Gospel
Politicians
• Many Republicans were tied to business
and wanted new markets
• Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore
Roosevelt were eager to build US power
through global expansion
Naval Power
• US Navy Captain Alfred
Thayer Mahan (Father of the
Modern Navy) wrote: The
Influence of Sea Power Upon
History, 1890
– A strong navy was crucial to the country’s
ambition to become a world power
– Sec. of the Navy Benjamin Tracy oversaw
the construction of the new navy.
USS Mahan
Naval Power
• Naval strategists convinced Congress to
build modern steel ships and
encouraged the acquisition of overseas
islands, such as Samoa
• By 1900, the US had the 3rd largest navy
in the world
Pan American
Conference
• “Pan” is a prefix which loosely means to
join all like people together
• The first Pan American Conference took
place in 1889
– US, Mexico and Central American countries
– Organized for international cooperation on trade
and other issues
Pan American
Conference
• The goal to reduce tariffs was not
achieved
• The idea of a customs union continued
and finally became the Organization of
American States in 1948
• Most countries distrusted the US and felt
any agreement would only help the US
Flexing our Muscle
• Pres. Cleveland got involved in a
boundary dispute between Venezuela
and the British colony of Guiana
• Using the Monroe Doctrine, Cleveland
threatened military action if the British
did not arbitrate
• Britain backed down and forged an
alliance with us which still exists.
Going to War
• Pres. Cleveland got involved in a
boundary dispute between Venezuela
and the British colony of Guiana
• Using the Monroe Doctrine, Cleveland
threatened military action if the British
did not arbitrate
• Britain backed down and forged an
alliance with us which still exists.
Going to War
• Expansionists in he South had their eyes
on Cuba since before the Civil War
• In the 1890s, large investments in Cuban
sugar, Spanish misrule in Cuba and the
Monroe Doctrine provided justification
for US involvement in Cuba
Going to War
• Causes:
– Jingoism: an intense form of nationalism
calling for aggressive foreign policy, believe
that one country is superior to others
– Expansionists insisted that the US take its
place among other imperialistic nations
Going to War
• Causes:
– Cuban Revolt: Cuban nationals had been
fighting for years to overthrow Spanish rule
– In 1895, they used the strategy of
sabotaging and laying waste to Cuban
plantations
– Spain sent Gen. Weyler and more than
100,000 troops to suppress the revolt
Going to War
• Causes:
– Yellow journalism – Lurid
headlines and scandalous stories
to sell more papers
– Pulitzer’s New York World and
William Randolph Hearst’s New
York Journal printed
exaggerated and false accounts
of Spanish atrocities in Cuba
– People urged the US to help
Going to War
• Causes:
– deLome Letter, 1898 – the Spanish
minister wrote private, but critical letter
about Pres. Mckinley
– The letter was stolen in the Havana PO
and released to the public
– Hearst printed the letter in the Journal
– Americans were insulted
Going to War
• Causes:
– Less than a week after the
deLome letter, the USS Maine, anchored
in Havana harbor, exploded
– The yellow press blamed Spain
– Jingoists wanted war
– It was found later that the explosion was
caused by a problem in the engine room,
not Spain
Going to War
• Causes:
– McKinley’s War Message:
• Spain must proclaim an armistice
• Spain must protect lives and property of
Americans
• Spain must end concentration camps
and negotiate with Cuban rebels
Splendid Little War
• Teller Amendment
– Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing
war with Spain
– Stated that the US had no intention of taking
political control of Cuba
Splendid Little War
• The Spanish American War was fought
– In the Philippines and Cuba
• It was over in just a few months,
prompting Sec. of State to call it “a
splendid little war”
• Asst Sec of the Navy, Teddy Roosevelt,
eager to show off the new navy, quit is
post and enlisted to fight in Cuba
War in the
Philippines
• May 1, 1898, TR ordered a fleet,
commanded by Commodore George
Dewey to the Philippines – under
Spanish control since the 1500s
• Dewey fired on Spanish ships in Manila
Bay and invaded the city
• Manila fell on August 13, 1898
• The Filipinos looked forward to freedom
War in the
Philippines,
1898
Treaty of Peace
• Spain asked for peace:
– 1. Recognition of Cuban
independence
– 2. US acquisition of Puerto
Rico and Guam
– 3. US acquisition of the
Philippines in return for
payment of $20 million to
Spain
Lure of Hawaii and
Samoa
• The US wanted Hawaii long before
the war
• Missionaries had already set up
schools and churches
• Many stayed and became planters,
selling their crops to the US
Lure of Hawaii and
Samoa
American planters
brought in Japanese,
Chinese and Portuguese laborers until
the foreigners outnumbered the
Hawaiians
Soon they asked the US to annex
Hawaii to avoid paying a heavy duty
on exported sugar
Lure of Hawaii and
Samoa
Hawaii’s location in the
center of the Pacific was
appealing to lawmakers
When Queen Liliuokalani
came to power after her
brothers death, she
claimed “Hawaii for the
Hawaiians”
Lure of Hawaii and
Samoa
She removed the clause allowing
plantation owners to vote
Ambassador Stevens organized a
revolution and appointed Sanford Dole
(pineapple) to head the govt.
Pres. Cleveland ordered the Queen to
resume her position but Dole refused
to step down
Lure of Hawaii and
Samoa
Hawaiians were suppose
to vote for annexation
They never did and
Pres. McKinley saw
Hawaii become an
American Territory
American racism was
apparent
Controlling the
Philippines
• Americans and Congress
disagreed with annexing the Philippines
• Anti-imperialists argued that American
would be taking possession of a heavily
populated area whose people were of a
different race and culture
Controlling the
Philippines
• They also thought that annexation
violated the Dec. of Ind by depriving
Filipinos of “life, liberty and happiness’
• It would also entangle us in foreign
affairs
• The imperialist in Congress won by 2
votes
Controlling the
Philippines
• Filipino leader, Emilio Aquinaldo fought
with the Americans against Spain
• Now he led guerrilla
forces against
American troops
Controlling the
Philippines
• It took US troops 3 years to put down
Filipino resistance