Chapter 18: America Claims
an Empire
What is Imperialism?
•Imperialism: the policy in
which stronger nations
extend their economic,
political, or military control
over weaker territories
• European nations had been exerting
their influence over weaker territories
for centuries.
• By the late 1800s, the leading powers
of Europe (Britain, France, Belgium,
Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain)
carved up Africa and distributed
control of the pieces among
themselves.
•American support
for overseas
expansion began
picking up steam in
the late 1800s for
several reasons:
A Thirst for New Markets
•America needed access to
raw materials to fuel its
growing industrialization
and new markets to sell its
surplus of goods to.
Desire for Military Strength
• As U.S. commercial interests became
international, Americans began to
view overseas expansion more
favorably.
• Admiral Alfred Mahan argued for a
strong U.S. Navy to defend the
peacetime shipping lanes essential to
American economic growth.
• The U.S. Navy was enlarged and
modernized, making the U.S. one
of the world’s great sea powers.
• The U.S. acquired naval bases,
coaling stations, defense outposts,
and harbors in the Pacific Ocean
and the Caribbean.
Belief in Anglo-Saxon Superiority
• Some Americans combined the
philosophy of Social Darwinism with
the idea of the “White Man’s
Burden,” a belief that the U.S. had a
responsibility to spread Christianity
and civilization to the world’s
“inferior” peoples, to justify
American imperialism.
Nationalism
• Americans did not want to be left
behind as a second-rate power as the
countries of Europe became wealthier
by acquiring overseas territories.
• As the countries of Europe increased
their global military presence, joining
the race for overseas territories was
viewed as being in the U.S.’s national
interest.
The U.S.
Takes
Hawaii
• American interest in Hawaii dates
back to 1820 when missionaries went
there to spread Christianity. They
established schools, introduced
writing, and trained native teachers.
• New England fishing vessels used the
islands as headquarters for whaling
expeditions, and American merchant
ships stopped at Hawaii on their way
to China.
• Americans settled on the islands
and developed large sugar
plantations. Later, American
planters developed the Hawaiian
pineapple industry.
• In 1887 Hawaii leased Pearl
Harbor on the island of Oahu to
the United States as a naval base.
• In 1893 the native ruler, Queen
Liliuokalani, was overthrown in a
revolution organized by American
settlers and led by Sanford B. Dole.
• The new government petitioned the
U.S. to annex Hawaii.
• After the outbreak of the SpanishAmerican War, Congress accepted the
offer. Hawaii was organized as a
territory 2 years later.
The SpanishAmerican
War
•Cuba and Puerto Rico, in
the West Indies, were the
last remnants of Spain’s
former empire in the
Americas.
•The Cubans hated Spanish
rule and tried several times
to win their independence.
• Jose Marti, a Cuban poet and
journalist in exile in New York,
sparked a revolt in 1895 in which
Cuban patriots destroyed much
Spanish property.
• Spain retaliated by rounding up
thousands of Cubans and placing
them in concentration camps, where
many died of hunger and disease.
• Yellow journalism: reporting that
exaggerates the news to lure new
readers
• American newspapers, especially
those published by William
Randolph Hearst and Joseph
Pulitzer, used yellow journalism to
dramatize incidents of Spanish
cruelty.
Pulitzer
Hearst
• These sensational newspaper stories
aroused widespread sympathy for the
Cubans and touched off a demand that
the United States go to the aid of
Cuba.
• American business leaders, too,
clamored for intervention in the
Cuban struggle in order to safeguard
their considerable investments in the
Cuban sugar and tobacco industry.
America Declares War on Spain
• In February, 1898, the U.S. battleship
Maine, which had been sent to
Havana, Cuba, to protect American
lives and property, was destroyed by
an explosion of unknown origin.
• Public opinion placed the blame on
Spain, and all America was stirred by
the slogan, “Remember the Maine!”
•In April, 1898, President
William McKinley asked
Congress for the authority
to intervene in Cuba.
•Congress adopted a joint
resolution that:
• 1) recognized the the independence of
Cuba
• 2) demanded the withdrawal of
Spanish armed forces from the
island
• 3) authorized the President to enforce
these demands, and
• 4) asserted that the United States had
no intention of assuming control of
Cuba
• Spain responded by breaking
diplomatic relations with the
United States and then
declaring war.
• The United States in turn
issued a declaration of war
against Spain.
Main
Events of
the War
The Philippines
• Shortly after the outbreak of
the war, George Dewey led a
squadron of U.S. warships into
Manila Bay and destroyed the
Spanish fleet that was
anchored there.
• With the arrival of American land
forces during the summer, U.S.
troops (aided by Filipino guerrillas
led by Emilio Aguinaldo) attacked
and occupied Manila (August
1898).
• The surrender of the Spanish
garrison gave the Americans
control of the Philippines.
Cuba
• In June, 1898 an American army
landed in Cuba and marched on
the city of Santiago.
• A volunteer cavalry unit led by
Teddy Roosevelt, known as the
Rough Riders, captured the
Spanish defenses guarding
Santiago atop San Juan Hill.
• As the Americans laid siege to
Santiago, the Spanish fleet guarding
the city attempted to escape from
Santiago Harbor, where it had been
bottled up by a squadron of U.S.
warships.
• The Spanish fleet was completely
destroyed and soon afterwards
Santiago surrendered (July, 1898).
Puerto Rico
• After the fall of Santiago, U.S.
troops invaded Puerto Rico.
• Encountering little opposition,
they soon occupied the island
and assumed control of its
management.
Treaty of Peace
• Realizing the hopelessness of
continuing the war, Spain sued for
peace.
• With the signing of the Treaty of Paris
(December, 1898) Spain granted
independence to Cuba and ceded
Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines to the United States.
• For the Philippines, the United
States agreed to pay Spain $20
million.
• The United States emerged from
the Spanish-American War as a
world power, a position that bred
new problems and imposed new
responsibilities.
U.S.
Relations
with Cuba
• At the outbreak of the SpanishAmerican War, the U.S. declared that
it had no desire to annex Cuba.
• Nevertheless, to maintain law and
order, an American army occupied
Cuba for four years.
• During this period, much progress
was made. Highways were built,
sanitation measures and education
system introduced, and yellow fever
all but eradicated.
• In 1902 the United States
withdrew its army of occupation.
• Cuba proclaimed itself a republic,
but its independence was limited
by certain provisions governing
future relations with the United
States that were made part of the
Cuban constitution.
• One provision, known as the Platt
Amendment, authorized the U.S. to
(1) maintain naval bases in Cuba, and
(2) intervene, if necessary, to preserve
Cuban independence and to maintain
law and order.
• On several occasions during the next
two decades, American troops were
sent to Cuba to preserve order or to
help put down armed rebellion.
U.S. Relations
with Puerto
Rico
• The Foraker Act of 1900 (1) made Puerto
Rico an unorganized territory, (2)
empowered the President to appoint a
governor and an upper house of the
legislature, and (3) provided for the
election by the people of an assembly, or
lower house.
• In 1917 Puerto Ricans received American
citizenship and the appointive council
was replaced by an elected assembly.
• Puerto Rico has benefited as an
American commonwealth.
• To this day, however, the issue of
independence, statehood, or
commonwealth is a dominant theme
of island politics.
• Proponents of all sides seek to gain
control of the Puerto Rican gov’t and
to convince a majority of the people
to support their views.
U.S. Relations
with the
Philippines
• Unlike Cuba, the Philippine Islands
were annexed and ruled directly by
the United States.
• Many Filipinos resented American
occupation and an anti-American
uprising broke out in 1899 led by
Emilio Aguinaldo.
• It took U.S. forces three years to
suppress the rebels.
• The United States continued to govern
the Philippines following the Filipino
uprising.
• Over time, the U.S. would hand more
control over to the Filipinos, and
Congress passed a law that would
grant the Philippines independence by
1946.
• In 1941 the Philippines was seized by
Japan during WWII.
U.S.
Intervention in
Latin America
• In 1890, Alfred T. Mahan had urged
the U.S. to develop a modern navy,
establish naval bases in the
Caribbean, acquire Hawaii and other
Pacific islands, and construct a canal
across the isthmus of Panama.
• By 1900, all but the last of these had
been achieved.
• Teddy Roosevelt set out to cut a canal
through Central America.
The Panama
Canal
• Such a canal would eliminate the need
for sailing around South America,
thus shortening the water route from
New York to San Francisco by 8,000
miles.
• The importance of a short route
became more apparent with the
acquisition by the U.S. of new
territories in the Caribbean and the
Pacific.
• These widely dispersed holdings
could be better defended if the
U.S. Navy could move freely
between the Atlantic and Pacific.
• The French had previously tried to
build a canal across Panama, but
abandoned their efforts due to high
costs and disease.
• The French offered to sell the
rights to build the canal to the
U.S. for $40 million.
• Congress authorized President
Roosevelt to accept the offer
provided that Colombia, which
owned Panama, agreed to U.S.
control of the Canal Zone.
• A treaty negotiated in 1903
specified that the U.S. would pay
Colombia $10 million in cash and
$250,000 in yearly rent, but the
Colombian senate held out for
better terms.
• The delay aroused anger from
Americans and Panamanians, both
of which were anxious to see the
canal built.
• The inhabitants of Panama then
revolted and proclaimed their
independence from Colombia.
• The revolution was successful largely
because American warships and
marines, dispatched to the area by
Roosevelt, prevented the entry of
Colombian military forces into
Panama.
• The U.S. quickly recognized the new
republic and negotiated a treaty
transferring the Canal Zone to the
U.S. for $40 million and $250,000
annually.
• The Panama Canal was opened to
traffic in 1914, completed at a cost of
over 5,600 men and almost
$400,000,000.
Roosevelt’s
Foreign
Policy
• The Spanish-American War
marked a changing of U.S. foreign
policy from isolationism to
imperialism.
• Roosevelt’s active role in
acquiring the canal zone in
Panama was a prime example of
America’s new foreign policy.
• Roosevelt often quoted an old African
proverb: “Speak softly, and carry a
big stick; you will go far.”
• The “Big Stick” was the American
military, which Roosevelt
strengthened and modernized.
America’s military might would be
used as leverage in gaining and
protecting U.S. interests abroad.
• Roosevelt’s active foreign policy
became known as “Big Stick
Diplomacy.”
• Roosevelt wanted it made clear that
the U.S. was the leading power in the
Americas.
• He reminded European powers of the
Monroe Doctrine, which stated that
the U.S. would not tolerate European
intervention in the Americas.
• Roosevelt added the Roosevelt
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
(1904), which stated that if a
situation arose in the Western
Hemisphere that required
“international police power,” the
U.S. would do the job.
• Less than a year later, U.S.
Marines were doing just that in the
Dominican Republic.
• The Dominican Republic had been
unable to pay its foreign debts, so the
U.S. took charge of the nation’s
finances and arranged payments of its
debts.
• In 1906 U.S. troops landed in Cuba to
prevent a revolution there.
• Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy also
came to be known as gunboat
diplomacy.
Taft’s
Foreign
Policy
• William Howard Taft,
Roosevelt’s successor, further
extended U.S. influence in
Latin America.
• Taft favored “substituting
dollars for bullets” – economic
influence for military force –
as a means of protecting U.S.
interests in Latin America.
• To implement this policy, which came
to be known as dollar diplomacy, Taft
suggested replacing European loans
with American ones.
• He reasoned that this would decrease
the risk of European intervention in
Latin America.
• Nicaragua was one of the places that
Taft put dollar diplomacy to the test.
• At the invitation of the Nicaraguan
president, American bankers made
loans totaling $1.5 million to
Nicaragua in 1911.
• The following year, Taft sent more
than 2,000 marines to crush a revolt
and protect the U.S. investments that
poured in.
• They did not leave until 1933.
Wilson’s
Foreign
Policy
• In 1913, President Woodrow
Wilson gave the Monroe Doctrine
a moral tone.
• According to Wilson’s
“missionary diplomacy,” the U.S.
had a moral responsibility to deny
recognition of any Latin American
government it viewed as
oppressive, undemocratic, or
hostile to U.S. interests.
• The Mexican Revolution put Wilson’s
policy to the test almost immediately.
• The Mexican Revolution began in
1911 when longtime Mexican dictator
Porifiro Diaz was overthrown.
• Diaz had been friendly to the U.S.,
allowing American companies to
invest $1 billion in Mexican oil wells,
mines, railroads, and ranches.
• For a brief period, Francisco Madero
became Mexico’s elected president.
• He had intentions of reforming
Mexico’s economy and restoring
more control to Mexicans.
• Early in 1913 Madero was
assassinated by General Victoriano
Huerta, who set up a military
dictatorship.
• President Wilson refused to
recognize Huerta as the leader
of Mexico because he had not
been democratically elected.
• Huerta responded with attacks
on American citizens,
including the arrest of a squad
of American Marines in 1914.
• Wilson used the incident as a excuse
to intervene in Mexico and ordered
Marines to land in Mexico.
• War was narrowly averted when the
ABC Powers (Argentina, Brazil, and
Chile) offered to mediate the dispute.
• Venustiano Carranza then forced
Huerta out of power and was
recognized by the U.S. as the new
president of Mexico.
• Opposing Carranza was one of his
own generals Pancho Villa, a bandit
who fled to the mountains of Northern
Mexico.
• Angry at the U.S. for its support of
Carranza, Villa killed 17 Americans
in northern Mexico.
• Later he crossed the border and killed
17 more Americans in New Mexico.
• President Wilson sent the U.S.
Army, under the command of
John J. Pershing, into Mexico
to capture Villa.
• The pursuit was unsuccessful,
and the troops were recalled in
1917.
• Actions in Latin America were rarely
questioned in the U.S.
• Americans saw their nation as a good
police officer, keeping the peace and
preventing disorder.
• Many Latin Americans believed the
opposite. To them the U.S. was a
bully more concerned with its
business investments than with the
people of Latin America.
China and the
Open Door
Policy
• By 1900 China was a highly
populated country with over 3,000
years of history.
• To preserve its culture, China tried to
remain apart from the rest of the
world.
• It made no effort to keep pace with
Western industrialization or to build a
modern army and navy.
• In the 19th Century the industrialized
nations looked upon China as a source
of raw materials and as a market for
their finished products.
• Taking advantage of China’s military
weakness, Japan and the European
powers forced the Chinese to grant
them leases to many of China’s
seaports and economic centers.
• These areas were called spheres of
influence.
• Ever since the colonial period,
American merchants had been
carrying on a brisk trade with China.
• After the U.S. acquired Hawaii, the
Philippines, and the island coaling
stations in the Pacific, Americans
hoped to expand their commercial
activities in the Far East.
• The U.S. found itself disadvantaged,
however, because of the special
commercial privileges wrung from
China by Japan, Great Britain,
Germany, Russia, and other powerful
countries.
• To safeguard American interests,
Secretary of State John Hay in 1899
proposed that the great powers agree
on an Open Door Policy in China.
• Such a policy would provide all
nations equal trading rights in
China.
• Early in 1900 Hay announced that
the Open Door Policy had been
accepted by all the leading powers.
• Meanwhile, many Chinese
resented foreign influence of any
kind.
• A secret society called the
Righteous and Harmonious
Fists (the western press called
them Boxers) started a
rebellion in the spring on 1900
that led to the massacre of
three hundred foreigners and
Christian Chinese.
•Although the European
powers eventually defeated
the Boxers, Secretary Hay
feared that the imperialist
nations would use the
rebellion as an excuse to
seize more Chinese
territory.
• Consequently, he issued a
second series of Open Door
notes, reaffirming the principle
of open trade in China and
made an even stronger
statement about the intention
of the United States to
preserve it.
• For better or worse,
imperialism had drawn the
United States deeper into
world affairs. At the same
time, imperialism pushed
Europeans toward the most
destructive war they had yet
experienced – a war the United
States could not avoid.