4.1 - Imperialism
Why did Americans show little interest in
expanding their nation’s territory and
international power in the years immediately
following the Civil War?
 They were focused on reconstructing the South,
building up the nation’s industries and settling the
West.
2. What is imperialism?
 Economic and political domination of a strong
nation over other weaker nations
1.
What part did tariffs play in European expansion in the
later 1800s?

They reduced trade between industrial countries,
forcing companies to look overseas for places to sell
their products
4. What is a protectorate?
 the imperial power allowed local rulers to stay in
control and protected them against rebellion and
invasion
3.
•
In exchange for protection rulers had to accept advice
on how to govern their countries.
•
(Think of this like a hug from a big brother)
5. How did Social Darwinism justify the idea of

expanding American power overseas?
Many supporters of S.D. argued that nations
competed with each other politically, economically
and militarily, and that only the strongest nations
would survive.
6. How did Anglo-Saxonism fit with the idea of Manifest
Destiny?
Anglo-Saxonism
idea that English-speaking nations had superior character, ideas
and government, and were destined to dominate the planet.
Manifest Destiny
As a result, many Americans believed that it was our destiny to
expand overseas and spread our civilization to other people.
7. How did the minister Josiah Strong convince many
Americans to support imperialism?
 By linking missionary work to Anglo-Saxonism
8. Why did Japan’s rulers not want to open trade with
the US and other countries in the west?
 Japan’s rulers believed that excessive contact with
the United States would destroy the Japanese
culture.
Japan was impressed by American technology and fire
power (they had never seen steam ships)
9. How did Japan respond to the forced trade with the
United States, and what was the result by the
1890’s?
Japanese leaders concluded that the time had come
to remake their society. They adopted Western
technology and launched their own industrial
revolution.


Turning point in history: This puts Japan on a path
to become a world power This will be important
when we get to WWII.
As trade with China and Japan grew, many Americans
became interested in Hawaii.
American settlers quickly discovered the climate and soil
was suitable for growing sugar cane.
Economic changes forced Hawaii to be more dependent on
sugar planters, who gained more power.
10. What were the elements of the new Hawaiian
constitution forced by a group of prominent planters?
 The king’s authority was sharply limited, and the power
of the planters increased.
11. Queen L.
ascended the
throne in 1891.
She disliked the
influence that
American settlers
had gained in
Hawaii, and tried
unsuccessfully to
impose a new
constitution that
reasserted her
authority as ruler
of the Hawaiian
people.
Queen Liliuokalani
12.From where
did Latin
Americans buy
most of their
manufactured
goods?
• Europe.
Latin America
13. What was the purpose of a customs union?

A customs union would require all of the American
nations to reduce their tariffs (taxes) against each
other and to treat each other equally in trade.
14. What three ideas, combined by Alfred T. Mahan, convinced
Congress to pay for the construction of a modern navy?
Business
• Wanted new
markets
overseas
Manifest
Destiny
• Americans
believed they
were destined
to take over
the world
Security
• Growing
European
imperialism
threatened
America’s
security
Chapter 4.2
Where was the
USS Maine
when it
exploded in
1898?
In the harbor in
Havana, Cuba.
The sinking of the Maine
 How did Americans regard Cuba at the time of the
explosion?
 The Cuban people were fighting for independence
from Spain, and many Americans regarded the
Spanish as tyrants and supported the Cubans in their
struggle.
Who was José
Martí?
An exiled Cuban
writer and poet
(living in the US)
who organized
other exiles and
raised funds from
sympathetic
Americans,
purchased
weapons, and
trained troops in
preparation for and
invasion of Cuba.
José Martí
How did the US and Cuba become closely linked
economically?
CUBA
Cuba exported
much of its sugar
to the US
US invested $50
million in Cuba’s
mines, railroads
and sugar
plantations
US
5. What prompted most Americans to side with the
Cuban rebels against Spain?
 The dramatic and gruesome stories of Spanish
atrocities in the New York Journal and the New
York World.
Plantations
Sugar Mills
#6-Targets
of Cuban
Guerrillas
Railroad tracks
Supply depots
7. Why did President McKinley finally send the USS

Maine to Havana?
He was worried that American citizens might be
attacked and need to be evacuated.
#8- How were the Spanish not prepared for war?
Weakened soldiers due to
disease and fighting
Warships were old
Ship crews were poorly
trained
9. Where did both sides know the war would
ultimately be fought?
 At sea
10. Why was defeating the Spanish fleet of importance
to the US?
 If the US could defeat Spain’s fleet, the Spanish
would not be able to get supplies to its troops in
Cuba. Eventually, the would have to surrender.
#11Who defeated
the Spanish in
the Philippines?
Commodore George Dewey
12. How many Americans died in training camps

compared to those killed in battle in Cuba?
More Americans died in the training camps than in
actual battle.
#13Who were the
Rough Riders?
A volunteer
cavalry regiment
from the
American West,
made up of
cowboys, miners
and law officers.
Rough Riders
#14Who were the
commanders of
the Rough
Riders?
Colonel Leonard
Wood and
Theodore
Roosevelt
General Joseph Wheeler, Leonard
Wood and Theodore Roosevelt,
Cuba, 1898
15. Why did some Americans support annexing the
Philippines?
 Some wanted a naval base in Asia as a stopover
on the way to China, and a large market for
American goods ($$$)
 Others believed America had a duty to teach
“less civilized” peoples how to live properly
Puerto Rico
“Unincorporated Territory”
US Congress
Puerto Ricans
No
could pass
were not
Constitutional
whatever laws
citizens
Rights
it wanted