•
United States Imperialism:
Building an Empire
Step 1—acquisition (buy or take it!)
Step 2—territory (govern it!)
Step 3—statehood (annex it!)

World Map Directions—see atlas p. 12-13
1. Label: Equator, Prime Meridian, International
Dateline (p. 10), Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of
Capricorn
2. Label: 7 Continents and 4 Oceans
3. Add: Compass Rose (cardinal directions)
4. Label all countries and seas mentioned in the notes on U.S. Imperialism

1. Imperialism
2. Expansionism
3. Missionaries
4. Yellow Journalism
5. Rough Riders
6. Yellow Fever
7. Dollar Diplomacy
8. Spheres of Influence
9. Open Door Policy
Building an empire
Wanting new lands
Went to Hawaii
Exaggerated the news in Cuba
TR’s cavalry in Cuba
Disease in Cuba and Panama
Taft’s foreign policy in L. Am.
Trading areas in China
U.S. trade with China and
Africa

• Free trade is an imperialistic idea because it means that countries not willing to trade would be forced and conquered.

• Purchased from Russia in 1867
• $7.2 million— “Seward’s Folly”
• Mineral resources
• Statehood—1959

• Trade in new markets
• Navy bases
• Expansionism means power
• New resources
• New customers
• Monroe Doctrine—Europe promised to stay out of Latin America—U.S. influence

• How does Social Darwinism influence the U.S. role in imperialism?
• How does the Gospel of Wealth…?
• How does America of the Puritans, Protestant
Work Ethic, and Great Awakening…?
• How does eugenics…?

• Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote book
• Influence of Sea Power Upon History
• The Great White Fleet was built and sent around the world to exhibit American strength

• Captain Cook—1778
• Reverend Josiah Strong urged missionaries to go to Hawaii in 1820s
• American whalers and farmers
• Sanford Dole overthrew Queen Liliuokalani in
1893
• Pres. McKinley acquired Hawaii as territory in
1898—Pearl Harbor—statehood in 1959

V. Other acquisitions—atlas p. 80-1
• Samoa
• Midway Island
• Wake Island
• Guam
• Caroline Islands
• Mariana Islands
• Marshall Islands

VI. The Spanish American War-1898
Causes:
• Spain’s concentration camps in Cuba
(revolutionaries led by Jose Marti)
• American yellow journalism—Hearst and
Pulitzer newspapers
• Explosion of The Maine in Havana
• The De Lome Letter insulted President
McKinley

• Commodore Dewey attacked Manila Bay in
Philippines
• Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders fought at San
Juan Hill in Cuba
• American occupation and rebuilding of Cuba and
Puerto Rico

• 113 day war
• 932 casualties
• American victory
• We gained Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Philippines and Guam—an empire!
• Treaty of Paris—we paid Spain $20 million for
Philippines

Americans gave Cuba independence in 1901

• Americans could intervene in Cuban affairs and keep naval base
• Guantanamo Bay
• “Gitmo” POW
Camp—to be closed soon!?

U.S. established Puerto Rico and keeps it as a territory—they are U.S. citizens

• McKinley wanted U.S. occupation (for the wrong reasons!)
• They struggled for independence
• Filipino leader—Emilio Aguinaldo
• 216,000 Filipino deaths vs. 4000 U.S. deaths
• Territory until 1946 (after World War II)

• Opposed acquisition of Philippines and argued that it violated America’s long-established commitment to the principles of selfdetermination and anti-colonialism
• Why were we committed to the acquisition of
The Philippines?
• War ensued (1899-1902)

• “You provide the pictures—I’ll provide the war!”—Hearst
• “Remember the Maine!”—yellow journalism
• “That’s bully!”--TR
• “It was a splendid little war!”—Sec. of State
Hay
• “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”—TR on diplomacy

“It is not the critic who counts. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and
blood, who strives valiantly. His place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

• U.S. wanted to unite Atlantic and Pacific fleets
• Colombia controlled Panama and was against canal
• U.S financed Panama’s revolution against
Colombia (TR’s big stick!)
• Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty
• 10 miles strip—40 square miles
• $335 million—opened in 1914

“Results worth having can only be achieved by men who combine worthy ideals with practical good sense.
If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness.”

• U.S. owned The Canal Zone
• John McCain was born in The Canal Zone
• President Carter in 1978 and 2000
• President GHW Bush in 1989 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uw w

(British controls other part of
V.I.)
Purchased from Denmark in 1917

• Spheres of influence
• Open Door Policy
• Boxer Rebellion in 1900 against all foreigners—U.S. support for China

• Isolationist until 1853 and treaty at Commodore
Perry’s Tokyo Bay
• Industrialized and Militarized
• Russo-Japanese War—
TR negotiated Treaty of
Portsmouth in 1905
(won Nobel Prize)
• “Gentleman’s Agreement”

• Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
(U.S will intervene as needed in Latin America as “police”)
• Dominican Republic—TR sent troops for stability
• TR’s “Big Stick” policy
• Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”
• Wilson sent Pershing to Mexico to capture
Pancho Villa (unsuccessful)

• Racist
• Militaristic
• Interventionist
• Power-hungry
• Too much responsibility
• Ties to foreigners
• Expensive

List five significant events or policies between 1898 and 1920 that led the U.S. to move from isolationism to a world power.
EVENT OR POLICY YEAR RESULT

For each person or group, explain the role played in moving the U.S. from isolationism to expansionism, imperialism, and status as a world power.
Name Event Result
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Theodore Roosevelt
Missionaries to Hawaii
Sanford B. Dole
Henry Cabot Lodge

• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• 5.
• 6.
• 7.
• 8.
• 9.
• 10.
• 11.
• 12.
• 13.
• 14.

• What is Cuba’s government today?
• Can we go to Cuba? Why or why not?
• What is Obama’s plan for Guantanamo? Why?
• Should the Constitution follow the flag?
• Should Puerto Rico become a state?
• Who controls the Panama Canal today?
• Why do some Latin American countries dislike the
U.S.? (Venezuela, Colombia, …)
• Do you like TR? Why or why not?
• Whatever happened to Manuel Noriega of Panama?

• ‘‘Congress possesses power to set territorial government within the territory of the U.S.
The power of Congress over such territory is exclusive and universal…’’
• ‘‘All territory under the control of the federal government is considered part of the U.S. for purposes of law . ’’
• The U.S. Dept. of Interior manages federal affairs within U.S. territory.

The U.S. currently administers 14 territories as insular* areas:
• American Samoa
• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Puerto Rico
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• Minor Outlying Islands (Bajo Nuevo, Baker, Howland)
• Jarvis Island
• Johnston Atoll
• Kingman Reef
• Midway Islands
• Navassa Island
• Palmyra Atoll
• *insular areas are not states or federal districts—they live as American citizens and vote in certain areas—American Samoans are nationals not
U.S. citizens

• Incorporated—land that has been incorporated with the sovereignty of the U.S. and to which U.S Constitution applies
• Unincorporated—land held by the U.S. to which Congress applies selected parts of the
Constitution

• Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba
• Panama Canal Zone until 2000
AND
• The U.S. reserves the right to make a claim in
Antarctica but has not done so
• Maritime law dictates that maritime territory is adjacent to territories and states