Chapter 17 – Entering the World Stage
Section Notes
Video
The Lure of Imperialism
The Spanish-American War
Roosevelt and Latin America
Wilson and the Mexican
Revolution
Entering the World Stage
Quick Facts
Causes of U.S. Expansionism
Visual Summary: Entering the
World Stage
Maps
The Spanish-American War, 1898
Imperialism, c. 1900
Images
The Boxer Rebellion
Buffalo Soldiers and Rough
Riders
Building the Panama Canal
Annexation of Hawaii
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Chapter 17
Entering the World Stage
Section 1 – The Lure of Imperialism
MAIN IDEA
The United States entered the imperialist competition late, but it
soon extended its power and influence in the Pacific region.
IMPERIALIST ACTIVITY. (1) By the late 1800s,
industrialized Western nations such as Great Britain,
France, and Germany looked to Africa, Asia, and
Latin America for new customers, placed to invest
and raw materials. This competition was known as
imperialism.
(2) The United States was eager to find new markets
and military advantages. (3) The imperialists had a
strong sense of nationalism and a feeling of cultural
superiority. (4) Social Darwinist encouraged people in
industrialized nations to believe that they were
superior to people who lived in less-developed
countries. They wanted to civilize less developed
countries and spread Christianity.
•TAKING CONTROL OF HAWAII. (5) Hawaii was
an ideal place for coaling stations and naval bases for
ships traveling to and from Asia. American traders and
missionaries came. They brought diseases that severely
reduced the number of number of native Hawaiians.
Some Americans became rich sugar planters and brought
in workers from Asia. American businessmen formed the
Hawaiian League to take over Hawaii. (6) They forced
King Kalakaua to sign a new constitution at gunpoint.
It was called the bayonet constitution. It gave Pearl
Harbor to the United States. When Kalakaua died, his
sister Liliuokalani became queen.
(7) The American minister to Hawaii, John L.
Stevens, ordered U.S. Marines ashore in support of
the planters and forced Queen Liliuokalani to
surrender. Sanford B. Dole became the president of the
Republic of Hawaii. An investigation by President
Cleveland condemned the revolt. However, (8) Dole
refused to step down. In 1898 President McKinley
annexed Hawaii. It became the 50th state in 1959. In
1993 Congress apologized for the U.S. role in
overthrowing Liliuokalani.
•INFLUENCE IN CHINA. In 1895 Japan seized
China’s Liaotung Peninsula and the island of Taiwan.
Russia, France, Germany, and Great Britain carved out
spheres of influence. These were geographic areas
where an outside nation had special political or
economic influence. (9) In 1899 the U.S. Secretary of
State John Hay proposed the Open Door Policy in
China in opposition to European spheres of
influence. (10) This would give all nations equal
trading rights with China. Many Chinese were
unhappy with the foreign influence. This led to the
Boxer Rebellion, during which a group of Chinese
rebels laid siege to the city of Beijing.
(11) American leaders thought it was too late to
secure a sphere of influence in China which lead
to the U.S. support of the Open Door Policy.
(12) The Boxer Rebellion increased support for
the Open Door Policy when Westerners realized
that they could more effectively exploit China if
they stuck together.
•INFLUENCE IN JAPAN. (13) The United States exerted
influence in Japan by two impressive displays of naval power
50 years apart. Japan became industrialized after the United
States forced it to open to trade. (14) Japan and Russia both
wanted control of Korea and Manchuria. This led to the
Russo-Japanese War. President Roosevelt helped negotiate a
peace treaty. Roosevelt convened a meeting with representatives
of Russia and Japan in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There,
they hammered out a compromise called the Treaty of
Portsmouth to end the war. With this victory, Japan became the
strongest power in East Asia. It rivaled the United States for
influence in China and the Pacific. (15) President Theodore
Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to
negotiate a peace treaty twetween Russia and Japan.
Section 2 – The Spanish-American War
MAIN IDEA
A quick victory in the Spanish-American War gave the United
States a new role as a world power.
•SIMMERING UNREST IN CUBA. By the 1890s Spain’s only
colonies in the Western Hemisphere were Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Since 1868 Cuba had struggled for independence from Spain.
José Martí was one of the leaders of the Cuban independence
movement. He was exiled, but continued to promote
independence. Martí became one of Cuba’s greatest heroes and
was killed in battle. Spain’s ruthless treatment of Cuban civilians
shocked Americans.
•AMERICANS GET WAR FEVER. Many Americans felt
sympathy for the Cubans. (16) William Randolph Hearst used
his newspaper to support the Cubans against the Spanish by
refusing to use any Spanish sources. fed this sympathy in order
to sell papers. New York newspaper publishers William
Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer competed for readers. They
used an exaggerated style of reporting called yellow journalism.
Hearst’s newspaper, the Journal, published a letter from the
Spanish minister to the United States. The de Lôme letter, named
for its writer, ridiculed President McKinley. Then (17) & (18)
the USS Maine, a U.S. battleship, mysteriously blew up in
Havana Harbor. Americans blamed Spain. On April 25,
1898, Congress declared war on Spain.
•THE COURSE OF THE WAR. The war lasted about four
months. (19) Commodore George Dewey had orders to move
the U.S. Navy’s Asiatic Squadron to the Philippines if war
was declared. They attacked and destroyed the entire Spanish
fleet. Philippine rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo supported the
Americans. Spanish forces in the Philippines surrendered on
August 14, 1898. In Cuba, many soldiers were volunteers. (20)
The most famous volunteers were the Rough Riders. This
was a cavalry regiment led by Theodore Roosevelt.
(21) African American
soldiers of the Ninth and
Tenth Cavalries, known as
Buffalo Soldiers, also fought
with Roosevelt. In the Battle
of San Juan Hill the Buffalo
Soldiers led the attack,
supported by the Rough
Riders. They captured the
ridge above the city of
Santiago. Two days later the
U.S. Navy sank the entire
Spanish fleet off Cuba. Spain
signed a peace treaty giving up
all claims to Cuba. It also gave
Puerto Rico and Guam to the
United States. The United
States paid $20 million for the
Philippines.
•ANNEXING THE PHILIPPINES.
(22) Spanish forces in the Philippines were overcome by the
Filipino rebel army and the U.S. fleet. (23) After the SpanishAmerican War, a controversy arose over whether the United
States should annex the Philippines. (24) Some people
wanted the United States to annex the Philippines. Others,
like the Anti-Imperialist League, the Colored Citizens of
Boston, and AFL leader Samuel Gompers, thought that
annexation would be against American ideals. The United
States did annex the Philippines, infuriating the Filipinos. For
three years Filipino fighters fought the United States. Americans
won the war in 1901. The United States said its goal was to
prepare the islands for independence. The Philippines finally
became independent in 1946.
Section 3 – Roosevelt and Latin America
MAIN IDEA
The United States began to exert its influence over Latin America
in the wake of the Spanish-American War.
•CUBA AND PUERTO RICO. To restore order after the
Spanish-American War, President McKinley set up military
governments in Cuba and Puerto Rico. (25) Yellow fever was a
serious problem in Cuba. U.S. Army doctors Walter Reed and
William C. Gorgas, based their efforts on work done by
Carlos Juan Finley of Cuba, proved that mosquitoes caused it.
They got rid of breeding places for mosquitoes. To keep other
nations from taking over Cuba, the United States forced Cuba to
include the Platt Amendment in its constitution. This amendment
made Cuba a U.S. protectorate. It gave the United States the right
to intervene in Cuba’s affairs.
Work on the canal began in 1904. Building the canal posed great
technical problems. In addition, malaria slowed construction.
Sanitation workers had to drain swamps and clear vegetation to
get rid of the mosquitoes that caused malaria. (28) John F.
Stevens earned the title “Genius of the Panama Canal” by the
way he coordinated construction of the canal, and housing
and other facilities for workers. The canal finally opened in
1914.
•THE ROOSEVELT COROLLARY TO THE MONROE
DOCTRINE. The Monroe Doctrine had said that the Western
Hemisphere was off limits to European nations. However, the
United States did not back this up. Europeans and Americans
made large loans to Latin America. Latin American countries had
a hard time paying these off. President Roosevelt issued the
(29) Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine said that
the United States would use military force to keep Europe
from seizing Latin American territory for payment of debts.
(30) Later the United States renewed its commitment to
support the Monroe Doctrine with military force after the
Spanish-American War to protect its interest in Latin
America.
•RESHAPING U.S. DIPLOMACY. President William H. Taft
believed in dollar diplomacy. This was a policy that relied on
economic power instead of military force. Taft suggested that
Americans buy out European loans to Latin America. Some
Latin American countries disliked this policy. After American
banks made loans to Nicaragua, U.S. leaders had to send troops
to stop a revolt. President Woodrow Wilson disagreed with dollar
diplomacy. He preferred to protect U.S. interests by
strengthening constitutional governments.
Section 4 – Wilson and the Mexican Revolution
MAIN IDEA
American intervention in Mexico’s revolution caused strained
relations between the two neighbors.
•DICTATORSHIP SPARKS A REVOLUTION. Between 1877
and 1910, Mexico was ruled by the dictator Porfirio Díaz. Díaz
jailed his opponents. He did not permit freedom of the press. He
used the army to maintain order. Díaz used money from foreign
investors to modernize Mexico. However, the only ones who
benefited were the very wealthy. In the 1910 election, Francisco
Madero ran against Díaz. Madero was a wealthy landowner who
supported reforms. Díaz jailed Madero and claimed to have won
the election. Uprisings against Díaz started in different parts of
Mexico. In the south, Emiliano Zapata led an army of mostly
Native Americans. In northern Mexico, Francisco “Pancho”
Villa led a large-scale revolt. In May 1911, Díaz resigned and
Madero became president. In 1913 the commander of
government forces, Victoriano Huerta, overthrew him. Four
armies immediately rose up to fight Huerta.
•THE UNITED STATES INTERVENES. Many European
governments recognized Huerta’s government. The United
States did not. President Wilson supported Huerta’s enemies.
On April 9, 1914, nine American sailors were arrested in the
city of Tampico. They were quickly released, and Mexico
apologized. (31) U.S. Admiral Henry Mayo demanded a 21gun salute to the American flag. Mexico refused the
humiliating demand. Wilson used the Tampico incident as an
excuse to ask Congress to allow the use of armed force against
Mexico. Before Congress agreed, Wilson learned that a German
ship
with weapons for the Huerta government was headed for
Mexico. He ordered the U.S. Navy to seize the port of Veracruz.
The U.S. forces stopped the German ship. Huerta’s forces had
withdrawn from Veracruz. Only civilians and local authorities
were left behind. After the Battle of Veracruz, the United States
took the city. Six months later, Huerta resigned.
•THE REVOLUTION CONCLUDES. Venustiano Carranza
declared himself leader of the revolution in August 1914. By
then, the Mexican Revolution was a struggle between two
groups. One group supported Carranza. The other group
supported Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The United States
recognized Carranza. Villa led troops across the U.S. border on a
raid. It was the first armed invasion of the United States since the
War of 1812. President Wilson ordered a military expedition into
•Mexico to capture Villa. General John J. Pershing led the
expedition. They searched for 11 months but were never able to
find him. The Mexicans resented the American presence in their
country. In 1917 Wilson withdrew U.S. troops because of the
war in Europe. Also in that year, a new Mexican constitution
went into effect. It included the ideas of all the revolutionary
groups. It protected the liberties and rights of citizens.
However, fighting went on until 1920.