American History
Imperialism
 Many European nations were
expanding overseas due to
imperialism, or the economic and
political domination of weaker
countries by stronger countries
 expanded to countries with resources
and to invest capital elsewhere
 To protect interests, countries began
dominating the territories
 Territories became either colonies or
protectorates, or colonies where the
local leader would stay in charge, and
the dominant country would protect
them from rebellion and invasion
Thoughts from United States
 The U.S. noticed the trend of
imperialism from Europe
 desired to expand overseas and
continue Manifest Destiny, since it
had already expanded as far West as it
could
 Social Darwinism stated that those
countries that expanded overseas,
thus economically, politically, and
militaristically, would survive and be
the strongest
 Anglo-Saxonism: English speaking
countries were far superior that
countries who did not speak English

had more character, ideas, and systems of
government
Expanding to the Pacific
 Japan:
 In 1852, President Franklin Pierce sent
Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan to
negotiate a trade treaty and open its doors to
the world
 Pago Pago:
 The U.S opened up its first Pacific naval base
in Pago Pago in 1878 to further speed up
trade between them and China and Japan
 Hawaii:
 To help the people of Hawaii out, the U.S.
signed a trade treaty that gave exclusive
rights to trade with Hawaii and build a port
in Pearl Harbor
 But wait, there’s more….
Hawaiian Paradise?
 Due to the trade treaty, sugar planters pressured the king to
sign a constitution limiting the king’s power and giving more
power to the planters
 Because of the McKinley tariff, Hawaiian sugar was more
expensive than American sugar, which caused it to be sold less,
which caused an economic downturn in Hawaii
 Queen Liliuokalani desired to gained original power back to
the monarchy
 was met with opposition by planters and U.S. troops
 was forced to abdicate her throne and have the U.S. set up a
provisional government
 President Cleveland was against imperialism and desired to
restore Liliuokalani to power
 Congress waited until another president came into office, and five
years later, annexed Hawaii as a territory
Influence in Latin America
 The U.S. also desired to expand into
Latin America in order to show
Europe it was a dominant power
 Secretary of State James Blaine set up
a conference with Latin American
countries in a desire to work together,
to support peace, and increase trade
 Pan-Americanism
 The conference set up a customs
union that would reduce tariffs
between both regions and treat each
other equally in trade
 Pan-American Union, or Organization
of American States (OAS)
Answer the following questions
with a partner:
 Why was expanding its territory so important to the
U.S.?
 Was attempting to expand into other inhabited
countries just?
 If not, why not?
Anticipation Guide
 Answer the following with a true or false, and if it’s false,
re-correct the statement:
 Many European nations spread across the world due to




imperalism
The U.S. desired to expand as well due to Manifest Destiny,
Social Darwinism, and Anglo-Saxonism
One of the islands the U.S. expanded to was the Philippines
The queen in charge of the Hawaiians was Queen Elizabeth I
The desire for the U.S. to establish peace with Latin American
was called Pan-Americanism
Building a modern Navy
 Three international incident that
almost led to war with the U.S. led
many to call for the building of a
modern navy
 would allow U.S. to set up ports
overseas in order to become more
involved in foreign markets
 would allow ships to become resupplied en route
 Many politicians, including
President Harrison and secretaries
of the navy McKinley and
Roosevelt, backed up the building
of the navy
The Cuban Rebellion
 Cuba was a Spanish colony which
produced 1/3 of the world’s sugar, which
made Spain very wealthy
 1/3 of the Cubans were enslaved by the
Spanish and forced to produce sugar
 Cuban rebels revolted in 1868, but
failed in 1878
 fled to U.S., a close economic ally, to
prepare another revolution
 Cuba suffered an economic crisis due to
increased tariffs from the U.S., which
sparked another revolution
 Rebels took eastern Cuba and
established the Republic of Cuba in 1895
Americans support the Cubans
 Even though Cleveland called
for the U.S. to be neutral, many
American supported the
Cubans
 Began smuggling weapons to
Cuba
 Two major newspapers, The
New York Journal and The New
York World began publishing
pieces supporting Cuba and
denouncing Spain

Yellow journalism: writers
exaggerated and made up stories
to attract attention
Yellow Journalism Project
 You are assigned to create a newsletter, like the one
you just saw, discussing a particular event in U.S.
History
 Ex. World War II, The War in Iraq, the Civil Rights
Movement, etc.
 Write an article, describing the event, what happened,
and your opinions of what happened
 Use persuasive language in order to gain support for
your opinions
 Include a letterhead and a picture of the event
 You have one week to complete the assignment
Calling out for war
 Cuban rebels destroyed American invested railroads
and plantations, thinking the Americans would
intervene to prevent further destruction
 rebels and families were placed in re-concentration
camps, where many died of starvation and disease
 To avoid war, President McKinley asked the Spanish
government to negotiate peace
 Spanish gave the Cubans autonomy, or control over their
government
 Spanish loyalists rioted against the decisions, placing
American lives in jeopardy
Remember the Maine!
 To control riots, the U.S. sent the U.S.S.
Maine to Havana Harbor for precaution
 exploded in Havana Bay, possibly from
misfire of munitions
 Because of this and an intercepted letter
called McKinley weak, Congress
authorized the president to prepare for
war
 used the slogan “Remember the Maine!”
 Republican Party showed jingoism, or
extreme nationalism
 McKinley, forced by Congress, asked
Congress to declare Cuba independent
and use force to end the conflict
 In response for the preparations, Spain
declared war on the United States on
April 24th, 1898
Answer the following questions
with a partner:
 Was yellow journalism an easy tactic in getting the
American public to support the Cuban rebellion?
 If so, why?
 Do you think the Cubans purposely committed acts
against the Americans in order to blame the Spanish
and gain support?
Anticipation Guide
 Answer the following with a true or false, and if it’s false,





re-correct the statement:
The U.S. government focused on building a modern army
The Cubans led a rebellion against the Spanish inhabitants
National newspapers helped gain American support for the
Cuban rebellion
President Cleveland negotiated with the Spanish to avoid
war
The sink of the battleship Maine was the immediate cause
for the Spanish-American War
Uneven match
 The Spanish had weakened
soldiers from fighting in the
tropics, old warships, and were
dependant on trade to mobilize
 The Americans had a stronger
navy, easy access to materials
from Cuba, and strategized to
take out the Spanish at sea
 had connections in Cuba and
Hong Kong, which would prove
to be beneficial during its
campaign in the Philippines and
Cuba
Campaign in the Philippines
 The Philippines was a Spanish colony that




desired to become its own country
Stationed in Hong Kong, Commodore
George Dewey landed on Manila Bay and
began a campaign to take the Philippines
American troops, en route to support
Dewey, took Guam
Dewey contacted Emilio Aguinaldo, a
Filipino rebel, to organize a guerilla war
against the Spanish
Dewey and troops took the capital of
Manila, but did not allow Aguinaldo and
his men to enter the city, nor did he
recognize them as an organization
 would spark conflict between Americans
and Filipinos after the war
Campaign in Cuba
 Training American troops for mobilization to Cuba was more
challenging
 unsanitary conditions killed more troops than battle
 17,000 troops landed in Santiago, mainly to capture shore-based
guns to drive the Spanish fleet out of the harbor and into American
fleets nearby
 Rough Riders: volunteer cavalry unit, a mix of cowboys, miners, and law
officers, headed by Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt
 Troops and Rough Riders were successful in the Battle of San Juan
Hill and other preceding it
 Spanish commander in Santiago ordered his fleets to leave
 Americans sunk every vessel
 The Spanish surrendered Santiago and the nearby island of Puerto
Rico, and agreed to a cease-fire with the U.S. on August 12, 1898
The Birth of the American Empire
 With the war over, the U.S. had
acquired a lot of territories
 Cuba: gained independence, as
promised
 Puerto Rico and Guam: annexed by
U.S.
 The Philippines: ?
 Many wanted to annex the Philippines
because it provided a base on the way
to China, large market for American
goods, and a way to spread American
ideals to the “uncivilized”
 The U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty
of Paris on December 10th, 1898
 Cuba was declared as an independent
country, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico
and Guam, and paid $20 million for
the Philippines from Spain
Rebellion in the Philippines
 Emilio Aguinaldo saw the U.S. occupation as
an aggressive seizure, so he organized to
attack American troops
 Rebels were placed in re-concentration
camps, where the same issues from Cuba
occurred in the Philippines
 The island’s first governor, William Howard
Taft, desired to make peace with the Filipinos
 reformed education, transportation, and
health care
 reduced Filipino hostility
 After the capture of Aguinaldo, he agreed for
the war to be over and for the Americans to
take control of the Philippines
 By the 1930’s, they elected their own
congress and president, and by 1946, they
were declared independent of the U.S.
Puerto Rico and Cuba
 Congress passed the Foraker Act, declaring Puerto Rico an
unincorporated territory, which allowed the U.S. to do whatever
they wanted to the island
 eventually would be allowed to be citizens and to elect their own
governor
 status is still argued today
 The U.S. established a military government for Cuba to keep ties
strong
 In 1901, Cuba added the Platt Amendment to its constitution
 Cuba could not sign a treaty that would weaken its government or
allow another country to gain territory in Cuba
 Cuba had to allow the U.S. to buy or lease naval stations
 Cuba’s debts had to be low in order to prevent other countries from
invading and enforce payment
 U.S. could intervene to preserve Cuban independence
Roosevelt becomes president
 After McKinley was elected a 2nd
term in 1900, he was assassinated by
an anarchist
 Roosevelt brought charisma and
energy to the presidency
 Passionate on increasing the power of
the U.S.
 Born sickly, but overcame obstacles
by participating in unique activities,
such as marksmanship, wrestling,
and boxing
 Thought that conflict and
cooperation made one healthy
Diplomacy in China
 China and Japan went to war over Korea in
1894
 Japan won, showing its Western strength,
and received the region of Manchuria,
along with Korean independence
 Russia was afraid of China occupying
Manchuria
 backed by France and Germany, forced
Japan to lease Manchuria for European use
 Sphere of influence: foreign nation
controlled economic development
 McKinley supported an Open Door Policy,
in which all countries should trade with
China
 Secret societies against foreign influence,
began to revolt
 Boxer Rebellion: Boxer group revolted
 To keep the peace with China, no powers
would split China into colonies
The Great White Fleet
 Roosevelt negotiated between
Russia and Japan to end the
Ruso-Japanese War in 1905
 asked Russia to recognize
Japan’s territorial gains, and for
Japan to stop fighting
 earned a Noble Peace Prize for
his efforts
 After the negotiations, Japan
and U.S. relations worsened
 Roosevelt had 16 warships from
the U.S. Navy, called the Great
White Fleet, tour around the
world to show the military
might of the U.S.
The Panama Canal
 The U.S. and Great Britain signed the
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the U.S.
the rights to build and control a canal
through Central America
 The French began operations to open a
canal in the 1850’s, but abandoned it due
to bankruptcy
 gave U.S. rights to continue operations in
1903
 Since Panama was still part of Columbia,
the U.S. offered it $10 million and a yearly
rent for Panama
 they refused, which caused Panama to
revolt against Columbia, for fear it would
lose the canal deal
 U.S. recognized Panama as a country, and
began building in 1903
The Roosevelt Corollary
 Growing American involvement in
foreign affairs led Roosevelt to
address the issue
 Roosevelt Corollary: stated U.S.
would intervene in Latin America
when necessary to maintain
economic and political stability
 First used it on the Dominican
Republic, taking on its debts to
foreign nations
 Roosevelt’s successor, William
Howard Taft, focused on helping
Latin American industry
 Dollar diplomacy: U.S. would
increase trade and profits, and Latin
American and Asian countries would
rise out of poverty through support
from American businesses