US History Chapter 27 Notes
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The Path of Empire (1890-1899)
o After the Civil War, everyone was preoccupied with Reconstruction, the west, and the economy.
 There was little interest in foreign affairs.
o Near the end of the 1800s though, the US became an imperial power.
Imperialist Stirrings
o Reasons for overseas expansion/involvement:
 There was already high agricultural/industrial production, so farmers/factory owners wanted
more opportunity.
 Rising populations led to more labor unrest and unhappy farmers.
 Joseph Pulitzer published a sensationalist newspaper that glorified foreign adventuring.
 Missionaries went overseas to convert others.
 Rev. Josiah Strong wrote a book about need to spread religion to ‘less civilized’.
 Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge (politicians) thought Darwinism predicted the
American takeover of the globe.
 Also, they did not want to become colonized themselves.
 Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote a book about importance of the navy, leading to naval race
among other world powers.
 This also led the Americans to build the Panama Canal.
o In the 1880s, Africa had been colonized by many European powers, and China by many Asian powers.
o With new sense of imperialism, the United States:
 Tried to open Latin American markets and have them support the US.
 James Blaine created this policy (“Big Sister” policy).
 1889- Pan-American Conference helped reduce tariffs a bit; led to more cooperation.
 Almost started a war with Germany in 1889 over Samoan Islands.
 Almost started a war with Italy in 1891 after the US lynched 11 Italians.
 The US had to pay compensation to stop more violence.
 Almost started a war with Chile in 1892 when the US demanded things from Chile after two US
soldiers died there.
 They got Chile to pay eventually.
 Got into an argument with Canada about seal hunting in Alaska.
 1893- Arbitration resolved this.
Monroe’s Doctrine and the Venezuelan Squall
o The US felt particularly anti-British in 1895-1896 with a conflict in Venezuela.
o VZ had been trying to claim massive amounts of land from British Guyana for 50 years.
 They were thinking about arbitration. Then gold was found in the area.
o GC, president at the time, didn’t like Britain very much and decided to send Britain a note telling them
they were violating the Monroe Doctrine and that arbitration was in order.
 Richard Olney, who was presenting the note, also said the US was the main power of the Western
hemisphere. This was ridiculous, since Britain had the best navy ever.
o Britain took their time in responding (they thought the Democrats just wanted more Irish-American
support) and then eventually said the Monroe Doctrine was irrelevant and they could do as they pleased
without foreign interference.
o GC told Congress to find some arbitrators to make the new border.
 If Britain wouldn’t accept that, the US would fight for it.
 So everyone thought the US was about to go to war with Britain (again).
o But…the British didn’t really want to fight, since they worried about the US attacking Canada.
 Also, many of the European powers were not happy with Britain either.
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 Especially the German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II.
o Boers in South African (descended from Dutch) captured a British raiding party, and Wilhelm II
congratulated them, making the British furious against Germany instead of the US.
 So Britain said arbitration was fine.
 The British ended up getting most of what they wanted anyway.
o Even though this didn’t help VZ that much, it made the Monroe Doctrine look stronger.
 Latin America was also impressed that the US was trying to help them.
 “Great Rapprochement”- Britain decided to be nicer to the US.
Spurning the Hawaiian Pear
o The US had been using Hawaii as a place for sailors to get provisions since early 1800s.
o 1820- New England missionaries showed up and had much success.
 So the US started to think Hawaii was part of them.
o 1840s- State Department started telling people to stay away from Hawaii.
o 1875- Commercial reciprocity agreement. 1887- Treaty gave the US naval-base rights at Pearl Harbor.
 There was a lot of sugar cultivation in Hawaii.
o 1890- McKinley Tariff partially blocked Hawaiian sugar trade.
 So Americans decided the solution was just to annex HI.
 Queen Liliuokalani said absolutely not.
o 1893- So, the tiny minority of whites in HI revolted, helped by US soldiers.
o A treaty for annexation was made and brought to DC.
 But then Harrison’s term ended, and GC came back.
 1893- GC knew something was amiss, so he got rid of the treaty and sent an investigation team to
Hawaii. The team found that the majority of Hawaiians didn’t want to be annexed.
 Unfortunately, GC couldn’t get the whites to bring back Liliuokalani, whom they had deposed,
without using the military. So he didn’t.
o In the end, people were not happy with GC’s (honorable) decision. HI was annexed in 1898.
Cubans Rise in Revolt
o The Cubans were not happy with the Spanish, who had been oppressing them.
o 1894- The US made a tariff that damaged the Cuban economy, which exported sugar.
o 1895- So revolters in Cuba began destroying everything, with the hopes that Spain would leave or that the
US would come and help them.
o The US felt nostalgic and decided to support Cuba.
 Also, they had a lot of money in the Cuban economy and didn’t want to see it disappear.
 The Spanish were also threatening their shipping routes in the area.
o The Spanish general Weyler showed up and sent Cubans into concentration camps.
 These were really bad, as expected.
o 1896- At the encouragement of the American public, Congress made a resolution calling for GC to
recognize Cuba. GC was anti-imperialist and said no way.
The Mystery of the Maine Explosion
o Joseph Pulitzer and William R. Hearst were having a publishing war with their sensationalist news.
 They particularly liked writing about the problems in Cuba.
o When there weren’t enough problems in Cuba, they would make stuff up.
 An artist Remington, sent to Cuba by Hearst, drew many false pictures of injustices.
o 1897- Weyler got removed, but things kept getting worse.
o Spain considered giving Cuba self-government, but Spaniards there didn’t like that and rioted.
o The US sent the battleship ‘Maine’ to Cuba, saying it was for friendly purposes, but really it was just to
help Americans evacuate if need be.
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February 1898- Hearst published a letter from Dupuy de Lôme, which had been stolen, and which insulted
President McKinley.
 There was outrage, and Lôme was made to resign.
o Shortly afterwards, ‘Maine’ exploded in Havana, killing 260.
 Spanish and American teams separately investigated the explosion.
 The Spanish said it was accidental, the Americans blamed a submarine mine.
 The US wouldn’t have the dispute arbitrated.
o It was actually not likely that the Spanish had done it, since there wasn’t a strong motive.
o It was discovered (in 1976) that there really was an internal explosion, like the Spanish had said.
o 1898- The Americans thought the Spanish had done it, and now wanted war.
McKinley Unleashes the Dogs of War
o The US had demanded the end of concentration camps and fighting with Cuba. Spain agreed.
o But the American public still wasn’t happy. They didn’t like McKinley’s caution.
o McKinley didn’t war because the Civil War had not been fun. The business leader who had gotten WMK
into office (Marcus Hanna) didn’t want war either (it might disrupt business).
o The people didn’t care. They wanted war.
o So WMK started the fight.
 He didn’t really trust Spain, and wanted the people to have power, and didn’t want to cause
problems for his political party (the Republicans).
o April 1898- WMK asked congress to intervene in Cuba dispute. Congress wholeheartedly agreed.
 They also made Teller Amendment- when they won, Cuba would go free. (Unlikely!)
Dewey’s May Day Victory at Manila
o The US military marched in gleefully, even though they were small and unprepared.
o Also, Europe was in favor of Spain (except Britain) so the US did not have that much power.
o However, Spain’s navy was not doing very well, and they were far from home.
 The US navy was very good, thanks to SecNav John D. Long and assistant Theodore Roosevelt.
o February 1898- Long left for the weekend, and Roosevelt ordered Commodore George Dewey (in Hong
Kong) to attack the Spanish-owned Philippines if war started. WMK agreed.
o May 1898- Dewey attacked Manila and destroyed the Spanish ships with ease.
Unexpected Imperialistic Plums
o Dewey became a hero and an admiral. But problem! He couldn’t attack Spanish forts in Manila, so he had
to wait for reinforcements.
o And…European powers were sending in their own warships to protect their nationals in the area.
 The Germans brought a superior naval force and got into disputes with Dewey, but no fighting
happened. The British claimed they had intervened, stopping the fight (false).
o August 1898- US reinforcements finally showed up and got Manila.
o But in getting the ships there, the US had annexed Hawaii (even though it was unnecessary).
 People of HI became citizens. HI became a territory in 1900.
The Confused Invasion of Cuba
o Spain sent warships to Cuba, run by Admiral Cervera, after the war began.
o Americans freaked out, so the US Navy sent in old Civil War ships (unhelpful).
o Cervera went to the Santiago harbor and was blockaded by the US.
 So the US needed to send in an army on land to get rid of Cervera.
o William Shafter ran this army, which only brought cold-weather clothes.
 Some of the army was volunteers- cowboys, ex-cons, etc. The “Rough Riders”.
 Leonard Wood commanded the army, but Roosevelt had organized it.
o June 1898- army of Americans came disorganizedly to Cuba, without their horses.
o They fought with Spain in July, and had serious casualties, even though Spain was also disorganized.
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Curtains for Spain in America
o Spain told Cervera to keep fighting even though the US was approaching Santiago.
o The US destroyed all the Spanish ships and killed many Spaniards with few of their own casualties.
o So Santiago surrendered, and then the US army went to Puerto Rico, led by Nelson Miles.
 The Puerto Ricans were happy to see them.
o August 1898- Spain made an armistice.
o The US had almost died in Cuba because of malaria, typhoid, yellow fever, etc.
McKinley Heeds Duty, Destiny, and Dollars
o Late 1898- Spain and US went to Paris to figure out a treaty.
o Cuba went free and the US got Guam and Puerto Rico.
o But what about the Philippines? WMK didn’t want to give it back to Spain, but he thought that with
independence, the Philippine gov’t would crumble, or be conquered by Germany.
 If that happened, the US would have to go to war.
o So…he decided that the US needed to get the Philippines, and then maybe release them later.
 Protestant missionaries wanted to convert the Catholics in the Philippines.
 MH and other business leaders thought having the Philippines would be helpful.
o Problem: the US got Manila right after the armistice. So it wasn’t necessarily theirs.
o So the US bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million.
America’s Course (Curse?) of Empire
o The problem with getting the Philippines was that it had a large population with entirely different ideas
and customs.
o Anti-Imperialistic League was created to stop WMK from expanding.
 Some important people (like Andrew Carnegie and Samuel Gompers) were in this league.
 The League said that annexing the unwilling Philippines violated American principles.
 Also, this could lead to other problems in the area.
o Imperialists wanted profits from the Philippines under the guise of helping them.
o There was a lot of opposition to the treaty in the Senate, but then Bryan surprisingly defended it so as to
end the war, and hasten the independence of the Philippines.
Perplexities in Puerto Rico and Cuba
o Puerto Rico’s population was growing, and most people were impoverished.
o Foraker Act of 1900- PR got a bit of popular gov’t. 1917- PR residents got US citizenship.
o There were many immigrants to the US mainland, especially to NYC.
o 1901- Insular Cases. The SC said that not all of the Constitution applied to new lands.
 So the new lands had to follow American rule without getting rights.
o Leonard Wood (American) set up a military gov’t in Cuba and helped with health, education, etc.
 They got rid of Yellow Fever in the capital.
o 1902- The US followed Teller Amendment and left Cuba.
 But in 1901, Cubans had made a Constitution and had had to add Platt Amendment.
 This forbid them from making treaties with other nations, or going into debt with other nations,
and let the US come in with troops to restore order when needed. Also, Cuba had to sell naval
stations to the US (like Guantanamo).
New Horizons in Two Hemispheres
o The Spanish-American War didn’t make the US a world power. It just made everyone acknowledge it.
o The war not very bad for the US, and Europe was more wary of it. Americans became overly confident in
their ability to be unprepared and still win.
o The US became power in the Far East, but they couldn’t really defend the Philippines.
o They supported the navy more, and a War College was made in DC by Elihu Root.
o The war finally reunited the north and south in spirit.