US
Expansion
Purchase of Alaska
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“Seward’s Folly”
Purchased from Russia
by Sec. of State William
Seward for $7.2 million
in 1867
US wanted Russian
competition out of
North America
Turned out, Alaska was
loaded with gold & oil!
Americans in Hawaii
First Americans arrived in
1819 (Christian missionaries)
 Thousands of Americans
soon flooded the islands to
create sugar plantations,
coming to dominate the
islands’ economy and present
a threat to the native
monarchy
 Americans forced the
“Bayonet Constitution” on
Hawaiian king in 1887 which
gave whites the vote &
limited the monarch’s power
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Queen Liliuokalani
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1838 – 1917
Queen 1891 – 1893
Lydia Kamaka’eha Kaola
Mali’i Lili’uokalani
Attempted to throw out the
Bayonet Constitution and
extend suffrage to native
Hawaiians and Asians
This angered Americans in
Hawaii, and they began to
plot an overthrow of the
queen
Economic Pressure
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American sugar
planters in Hawaii were
also upset that the
McKinley Tariff had
placed a high tariff on
Hawaiian sugar; if they
could convince US to
annex Hawaii, they
would be part of the US
and not subject to the
tariff
Overthrow of the Queen
1893: Americans staged a
coup, then reported to
the American consulate
that American lives and
property were in danger
due to the coup!
 US consulate called
Marines ashore from the
US naval base at Pearl
Harbor
 Hawaiians interpreted this
as US support for the
coup and surrendered
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Annexation of Hawaii
American sugar planters
established a temporary
government, believing that
the US would annex Hawaii
immediately
 Pres. Cleveland was furious
with the way the sugar
planters had manipulated the
coup to look like it was US
backed and blocked attempts
to annex Hawaii
 The independent Republic of
Hawaii existed from 1893 1898
 US finally annexed Hawaii in
1898 under Pres. McKinley
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Rebellion in Cuba
Cuba was a Spanish
colony, but wanted to
become independent
and rebelled from 186878, 1879-80, & 1895-98
 Jose Marti was the
symbolic leader of the
revolutionary
movement, but he was
killed in battle in 1895
 Spanish put down
rebellions cruelly and
with little regard to
human rights
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Spanish Atrocities in Cuba
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Spanish governor
General Valeriano “El
Carnicero” Weyler
began to relocate
rebellious Cuban
natives to
“reconcentration
camps” where they
could be monitored by
the military; thousands
died of disease or
starvation
Yellow Journalism
US newspapers began to
carry sensationalized stories
about the actions of the
Spanish in Cuba, causing
many Americans to
sympathize with the Cuban
desire for independence
 The term “yellow journalism”
describes the use of eyecatching headlines (but
usually with little factual
support, and sometimes
simply made-up stories) to
sell newspapers; the “yellow”
part comes from a
newspaper comic-strip called
The Yellow Kid which was
popular at the time
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Joseph Pulitzer
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1847 – 1911
Publisher of New York
World newspaper
Sold his papers cheap:
$0.02/issue
Filled papers with crime
stories, sensationalized
news, but also with
some serious news and
calls for social reform
Later established the
Pulitzer Prizes for
journalism
William Randolph Hearst
1863 – 1951
Publisher of New York
Journal newspaper
 Sold his paper even
cheaper – just
$0.01/issue; offset his
costs by being one of the
first publishers to sell
large amounts of
advertising to department
stores
 Hearst and Pulitzer
became bitter rivals, each
trying to best the other
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McKinley Tries Negotiations
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US business interests in Cuba
were threatened by the unrest
McKinley threatened to
recognize Cuba as an
independent state if Spain did
not establish some stability
there; Spain agreed to give
Cuba autonomy (but not
independence)
This led Spanish loyalists to
riot in Havana, forcing
McKinley to dispatch the USS
Maine to protect US interests
in Cuba and to evacuate
Americans if things got too
violent
The Enrique Dupuy de Lôme Letter
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February, 1898
A private letter written by
Spanish Ambassador to
the US Enrique Dupuy de
Lôme was stolen and
published in Pulitzer’s
papers
The letter described Pres.
McKinley as “weak and a
bidder for the admiration
of the crowd” and as
someone unwilling to go
to war over Cuba
Americans were enraged
The USS Maine
Feb. 15, 1898
 USS Maine exploded in
Havana Harbor, killing
266 sailors
 US investigation
concluded that the ship
had been deliberately
blown up by a Spanish
mine
 Angry US citizens began
calling for war with
Spain
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Jingoism
McKinley was reluctant to go
to war and hoped for peace
 Many Republicans (including
a young Theodore Roosevelt)
grew angry with McKinley’s
reluctance for war; they
believed in a form of
nationalism called “jingoism”
– a blind willingness to use
force against other nations to
protect the best interests of
the US
 McKinley caved to the
pressure in April 1898 and
asked Congress to authorize
the use of force against
Spain
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The Spanish-American War
April 1898: US
demanded that
Spain withdraw from
Cuba or face US
force; Spain
responded by
declaring war on US
 The war would be
short and one-sided,
ended in August
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The Philippines & Guam
US Asiatic fleet attacked
Spanish colony of the
Philippines, crushing
Spain’s navy in a matter
of hours with only nine
wounded US sailors
 US soldiers on their way
to occupy the Philippines
also seized the Spanish
colony of Guam in the
Central Pacific
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War in Cuba
US Navy blockaded
Cuban ports and
destroyed the Spanish
fleet sent to protect
Cuba
 17,000 US ground forces
fought in Cuba between
June 14 and August 12,
winning several major
battles, such as the
Battle of San Juan Hill
before the Spanish
agreed to a cease-fire
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Puerto Rico
Also saw fighting
between US and Spanish
forces during the war
 1900: Foraker Act made
Puerto Rico a territory of
the US under the direct
control of Congress, but
did not make Puerto
Ricans US citizens or
give them constitutional
rights
 Today, Puerto Rico
remains part of the US
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US Soldiers
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The “Rough Riders”:
volunteer regiment of
which Theodore Roosevelt
was 2nd in command
Buffalo Soldiers: about
25% of US soldiers who
fought in the war were
black
345 Americans died in the
war (mostly from disease)
although hundreds more
died from disease
epidemics in training
camps in the US
Treaty of Paris (1898)
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Dec. 10, 1898
Ended the war
Cuba became
independent
US gains control of
Guam and Puerto
Rico
US purchases
Philippines from Spain
for $20 million
The Teller Amendment
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Passed prior to the
war, the
Amendment stated
that the US would
not attempt to
annex Cuba;
instead, the US
vowed to support
Cuban
independence
The Platt Amendment
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US military occupied Cuba until a
new, US-approved constitution
could be written
Platt Amendment was forced on
Cuba by the US:
Cuba could not enter into alliances
that might threaten its
independence
Could not allow foreign powers
(except the US, who gained
control of a naval base at
Guantanamo Bay) to control
territory in Cuba
Could not go into debt to foreign
nations
US would have the right to
intervene at any time to protect
Cuban independence or to
maintain order