America and the World
1897-1917
Expansion in the Pacific
War with Spain
Expansion in Latin America
Imperialism

The quest for colonial empire.
4 Reasons:
 Political; Economic; Social; Military

• Need for markets
• Need for raw materials
• Gain power
• Gain prestige
Alfred Thayer Mahan
The Influence of Sea Power upon History
 Book written by Mahan
 Key Argument:


United States needed a strong navy to
protect its economic interests in foreign
markets.
U.S. Imperialism

Other countries competing for expansion

Expansionism promoted within the states.

Through Imperialism the U.S. will:
• Spread Christianity
• Spread political system (democracy)
Acquiring Hawaii

Why interested?
Tropical climate
 Fertile soil


Perfect location for naval base/
coal station
• Why would the U.S. want to put a naval
base/ coal station in Hawaii?
Hawaii


American Sugar Companies
Strong influence over King Kalakaua
• (Sugar = The Big Business of Hawaii)

U.S.A.

Wanted Pearl Harbor
• Hawaiian Planters (business owners) form a league
• Force King Kalakaua to sign the Bayonette
Constitution.
• Signed at gunpoint.
The Hawaiian League


Made up of:
400 American

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Businessmen
Planters
Traders
• Sugar planters and American interests had strong
influence over Hawaiian trade, commerce, and were
looking to increase their power in Hawaiian politics.


Key:
IN FAVOR OF ANNEXATION

Annexation by the United States
• What is annexation?
The Bayonet Constitution
King Kalakua
 Refused to give U.S.A. Pearl
Harbor.


Sugar Planters – forced Klakaua
at gunpoint to sign a treaty
giving the U.S.A. a naval base at
Pearl Harbor.
Queen Liliuokalani

Nationalist
• Nationalist
Pride in her country
 Wanted to restore Hawaii and
rid Hawaii of foreign controls
(U.S.A.)

The Fall of Hawaii

Queen Liliuokalani
• Wanted to return power to native Hawaiians.
• Attempts to re-write the Bayonet Constitution

Supporters of Annexation:
• Rise Up
• Set up a provisional (temporary) government.
• Occupy government buildings.

U.S. Navy arrived to “protect” American
lives and property.

With guns;cannons; and the threat of
violence, the Queen surrenders Hawaii to
American control.
Queen Liliuokalani

Reading
Questions:
Why does the Queen surrender Hawaii?
Was this fair?
Why do you think the U.S.A. apologized? /
Do you believe the U.S.A. should have
apologized?
United States and China
Hawaii
 Serves as a convenient stopping
point for American trading ships
sailing to China.


What is the appeal of trading with
China?
Spheres of Influence

Regions where a particular country
has exclusive rights over mines,
railroads, and trades.
• Monopoly?
• Britain; Russia; France; Germany
• All maintained spheres of influence in China.
United States

Feared losing the Chinese Market

Getting “squeezed out” of trade with
China by Britain, Russia, France,
Germany.
• How is this similar to the United States
motivation for imperialism?
The Open Door Policy


Give all nations an equal right to trade
with China.
Protect China’s territorial integrity (right
to rule itself)
• A series of “Open Door Notes”

Developed by Secretary of State John Hay.
• European Nations – neither accept or deny policy.
• Hay – assumes acceptance.
The Boxer Rebellion
The Boxers
 Against foreign influence in China.
 “The Boxer Rebellion”
The Boxers:

• Attacked 300 missionaries in Northern China.
• Walled-in foreign settlements in China’s capital
Beijing
• Foreign countries sent in troops to protect the
foreigners.
Emerging Japan
1894
 Japan invades China

• What is this an example of?

Japan and Russia:
• Constantly at conflict with each other for
Chinese land and resources.
The Russo-Japanese War

1904

Japanese attack Russian troops in
Manchuria (northern China).
U.S.A. Concerns:

If Russia wins:


Cut off trade with Manchuria
If Japan wins:

Cut off trade with China

President Theodore Roosevelt
• Japan had won a series of crucial battles
• Roosevelt was asked by Japan to help
negotiate a peace between the two powers.
Treaty of Portsmouth
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
 Ended the Russo-Japanese War


Both sides agree to leave Manchuria
Treaty of Portsmouth

Lasting Impact:
• Prestige (made U.S.A. look good)
• Theodore Roosevelt wins a Nobel Peace
Prize
• U.S.A. is concerned over Japan’s growing
power.
The Great White Fleet

What was it?
• The launching of 4 Destroyers and 16 Battleships on
a world tour.
•

Ships were painted in all white and traveled
46,000 miles on their tour.
Why launch it?
• To show the U.S.A. had a strong Navy
• To deter powers from waging war with U.S.A. in
time of conflict

Outcome:
• Demonstrated the power of the U.S.A. Navy
Review



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
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Secretary of State John Hay
Open Door Policy
Boxer Rebellion
Spheres of Influence
Bayonet Constitution.
Queen Liliuokalani
Treaty of Portsmouth
Russo-Japanese War
The Great White Fleet
Summarize the acquisition of Hawaii
The Spanish American War

Spanish Colonies:

Cuba and Puerto Rico

Conflict in Cuba:
• Cubans want independence


Cubans revolt!
Spanish General Valeriano Weyler
Weyler
• Puts down the Cuban revolt and puts revolutionaries
in concentration camps.
• 200,000 Cubans die of disease and/or starvation
in these camps.
The Influence of the Media

William Randolph Hearst


Joseph Pulitzer


New York Journal
New York World
Hearst
Pulitzer
Sympathized (sided on) the Cubans
side.

Why?
• Connection:
• Cuban independence and the American
Revolution
Yellow Journalism

journalism that downplays legitimate news in
favor of eye-catching headlines that sell more
newspapers.
• New York Journal and Herald both used
“yellow journalism” in reporting on the
Cuban Revolutionaries.
Male Spanish officials strip search an American woman tourist in Cuba looking for
messages from rebels; front page "yellow journalism" from Hearst (artist: Remington)
The Maine Incident

Hearst – pressed for U.S.A. intervention
in Cuba
• Why is Hearst’s motivation for war a problem?



McKinley
Anti-war with Spain
BUT
 Spain’s Minister to the U.S.A.
• Letter sold to Hearst and published.

Described McKinley as “weak, and a
bidder for the admiration of the
crowd.”
USS Maine Incident






Sent to Havana Harbor
Goal:
Protect U.S. sailors and property
February 15, 1898
Explosion on board the Maine.
Press / Americans – BLAMED
SPANISH!

Coal Bin Theory
• “Remember the Maine!”
Key Terms / People


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

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Platt Amendment
Protectorate
Foraker Act
Secretary of State John Hay
Philippe Buneau-Varilla
Hay-Buneau-Varilla Treaty
Monroe Doctrine
Roosevelt Corollary
Dollar Diplomacy
Expansion in Latin America

Governing Cuba and Puerto Rico

Cuba
• The Platt Amendment
• Limited Cuba’s freedom under the United States.
Platt Amendment


3 Main Points:
Authorized the U.S. to intervene in Cuban
affairs.

Limited the ability of Cuba to make
treaties.

Gave the United States a naval base
• Guantanamo Bay

In all:
• Cuba was made a U.S. protectorate
Protectorate

The United States promised to
protect Cuba from other nations
but reserved the right to intervene
in Cuba’s affairs.

Last until 1934
Puerto Rico

The Foraker Act


Allowed U.S. to appoint Puerto Rico’s
governor and upper house of
legislation.
Lower House – elected by Puerto Ricans
Puerto Rico

The Jones Act of 1917
Granted Puerto Ricans the right to elect
both houses of their legislature.
 Granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship


Puerto Rico:

Commonwealth of the United States
The Panama Canal

Key reasons for the canal:
A canal would cut the time in half that
it took to travel around the tip of South
America
 This would increase our Navy’s mobility
(ability to move quicker) and it would
strengthen it by doing so.

The Panama Canal

Secretary of State John Hay
1903 Treaty
 Rejected by Colombia

• United States would have paid:
• $10 million for the canal
• $250,000 yearly rental
President Roosevelt

In response to Colombia

Will not be allowed to “bar one of the
future highways of civilization.”
Revolution

Phillippe Bunau-Varilla




Went to United States to ask for support of
the revolution.
United States sends U.S. Marines to Panama
(Colombia).
Revolution begins.
U.S. Marines keep Colombian troops from
reaching the rebellion.
Independent Panama
United States recognizes the newly
independent Republic of Panama.
 Two days after their revolution.


Secretary of State Hay begins
working a treaty.
The Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty
Gave the United States:
 Unending Power (sovereignty) over
a 10 mile wide Canal Zone.

Building of the Canal
Beginning 1904
 Completed August 15, 1914


160 trainloads of earth a day
Review





What country did Panama gain its
independence from?
Who was most influential in gaining Panama
its independence?
What was the United States’ role in the
Panamanian Revolution?
Why did the United States get involved in the
Panamanian Revolution?
What did the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty give to
the United States? What do you believe is the
most important aspect of the treaty?
The U.S. and Latin America
Long history of involvement in Latin
America.
 Wanted to limit the influence of
foreign nations in Latin America


Latin America
• South America
• Caribbean Islands – Cuba; Puerto Rico, etc.
• “Middle” America
The Monroe Doctrine
President James Monroe
 Main Idea:


The United States is the protector
of the Western Hemisphere.
The Dominican Republic

Unable to pay back debts to Europeans

United States concerned
• Why?

United States feared that European
countries would forcefully collect their
debts and assert control over parts of
Latin America.
• How would this interfere with the Monroe Doctrine?
The Roosevelt Corollary

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
Doctrine.

Who wrote it?
• Theodore Roosevelt

What was it?
• United States pledged to use armed forces to
prevent any European country from seizing
Dominican [ or any other Latin American] territory.
• WITHOUT CONSENT (permission) OF ANY LATIN
AMERICAN COUNTRY
The Roosevelt Corollary

“If a nation… keeps order and pays
its obligations, it need fear no
interference from the United States.
Chronic wrongdoing… in the
Western Hemisphere… may force
the United States, however
reluctantly,… to the exercise of an
international police power.”
European Reaction / U.S. Response


European countries want their money!
What does the United States do?


Intervenes in Latin America
How?
• Ex: Dominican Republic

What happens?
• United States sends in marines

What do the marines do?
• Collect customs duties.

1916-1924
Dollar Diplomacy

What was it?


Who was behind it?


Use economic, rather than military
force in Latin America.
President William H. Taft
Main Idea:

Replace bullets with dollars.
Dollar Diplomacy in Action



U.S. banks invest in Latin America
How? Through Loans
BUT:

Nicaragua
• A shift in government with United States’
investments at stake:



Revolt to overthrow government (that
United States liked)
U.S. intervenes
How?

Sends marines to protect U.S. interests
Woodrow Wilson



Intervention in Latin America
Believed democracy should prevail in
Latin America.
Democracy would keep European powers
out of Latin America.




Uses Military to put down revolts against
democratic countries in Latin America.
Promotes revolts for democracy in
undemocratic Latin American countries.
Haiti
1915-1934
Review

1. Explain the term Dollar Diplomacy. How was dollar diplomacy put into
action?

2. What was the purpose behind the Roosevelt Corollary?

3. How does the Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine relate? [consider the goals of each]

4. How was the Roosevelt Corollary put into action?

5. Explain the policy toward Latin America of the following Presidents:
Wilson; Roosevelt; Taft.

6. How did the United States appease (calm the nerves of) European
investors that were owed money by Latin American countries?

7. Which of the various tactics used by the Presidents is best?
Explain/justify your answer.
Essay Question

Explain how American Imperialism
was consistent with the ideas of
Alfred Thayer Mahan. Provide three
specific examples of American
Imperialism that directly tie into
Mahan’s argument and be sure to
explain how they relate.