Chapter 27
Empire and Expansion
1890-1909
The Imperial Menu
A pleased Uncle Sam gets ready to place his order with headwaiter
William McKinley. Swallowing some of these possessions
eventually produced political indigestion.
Imperialism
• America wanted to expand
• Spurred by yellow journalism and
missionaries
• Social Darwinism
• The Influence of Sea Power Upon History by
Alfred Thayer Mahan 1890
• James G. Blaine and the Big Sister PolicyPan American Conference 1889
Great Britain vs. Venezuela
• Boundary issue between British Guiana and
Venezuela- gold discovered there
• US letter sent by Secretary of State Richard
Olney to GB (Monroe Doctrine)
• GB= mind your own business
• On the brink of war, but issue calmed down
(anger redirected at Germany)
• GB= arbitration, Monroe Doctrine enhanced
• Great Rapprochement
They Can’t Fight
Britain and America waged a war of words during the Venezuelan boundary dispute,
but cooler heads prevailed. A new era of diplomatic cooperation between the two
former foes dawned, as they saw themselves bound together by ties of language,
culture, and mutual economic interest. As the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck
reportedly remarked, “The supreme geopolitical fact of the modern era is that the
Americans speak English.”
Hawaii
• Hawaii= long been desired by US
• 1887: naval base at Pearl Harbor
• Problems arose with McKinley Tariff 1890
bad for US sugar companies
• Annexation! Blocked by Queen Liliuokalani
and Grover Cleveland
• Would remain a “republic” for 5 years before
annexation in 1898
Queen Liliuokalani (1838– 1917)
Cuba
• 1895: Cuban revolt against Spain
• Insurrectos used scorched earth
• US business!= $50 million + $100
million/year in trade
• Spanish General Weyler (Butcher)
• Cleveland= anti-imperialist, anti-jingoist
The Maine
• Yellow journalism- Hearst and Pulitzer
• 1898 the Maine sent to Havana harbor
• February 15, 1898: Maine exploded in
Havana harbor
• 2 investigations= Spanish and American
conclusions
• “Remember the Maine!”
The Explosion of the Maine, February 15, 1898
Encouraged and amplified by the “yellow press,” the outcry over the tragedy of the
Maine helped drive the country into an impulsive war against Spain.
The Explosion of the Maine,
February 15, 1898
War with Spain
• 2 demands met by Spain- Americans still
called for war
• Jingoes: “Wobbly Willie”
• McKinley reluctant towards war- couldn’t
deny public opinion
• April 11, 1898: war message sent to
Congress- war declared
• Teller Amendment
War with Spain
• Civil War veterans commanding army in
tropics
• 28,000 soldiers and 2,100 officers vs.
200,000 Spanish
• Only real friend= GB
• US had a strong steel navy (Navy Secretary
John D. Long and assistant Secretary TR)
• Commodore George Dewey Philippines
Dewey’s Route in the Philippines, 1898
Philippines
• Dewey waited in Manila Bay harbor for US
soldiers- possible problems with Germans
• Emilio Aguinaldo
• Annexation of Hawaii- July 7, 1898
territorial status 1900
Emilio Aguinaldo (ca. 1869–1964) and Followers, 1900
Aguinaldo had a colorfully checkered career. Exiled from the Philippines by the Spanish in 1897, he was brought
back in 1898 to assist the American invasion. A year later he led the Filipino insurrection against the new
American rulers. Captured in 1901, he declared his loyalty to the United States. During World War II, he
collaborated with the Japanese when they occupied the Philippines…
Cuba
• Spanish navy= Admiral Cervera at Santiago
• US strategy led by General William R.
Shafter
• Rough Riders- TR
• 17,000 man army on transports from Tampa mid
June
• Shafter landed at Guantanamo Bay pushed
toward Santiago
• July 1st: Battle of El Caney and San Juan Hill
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt with Some of the “Rough Riders”
Roosevelt later described his first encounter with the Spanish enemy: “Soon we came to the brink of a deep
valley. There was a good deal of cracking of rifles way off in front of us, but as they used smokeless powder we
had no idea as to exactly where they were, or who they were shooting at. Then it dawned on us that we were the
target. The bullets began to come overhead, making a sound like the ripping of a silk dress, with sometimes a
kind of pop. . . . We advanced, firing at them, and drove them off.”
Puerto Rico
• Surrender of Santiago after entire Spanish
fleet destroyed
• May 12th: navy attacked at Puerto Rico
followed by General Nelson A. Miles June
25th
• Help from Puerto Ricans
• Major killers- malaria, typhoid, dysentery,
yellow fever = evacuation of 80%
End of the War
• Armistice called for August 12, 1898
• Treaty of Paris (again!)= Cuba, Guam,
Puerto Rico
• Technicality over Philippines Americans
unsure if they wanted it too
• Missionaries and business= pay Spain $20
million
The New Jingoism
Questions of Imperialism
• Philippines= un-assimilatable
• Anti Imperialist League formed
• Expansionists= Philippines is an
opportunity White Man’s Burden
• Treaty of Paris helped passed by William
Jennings Bryan! (anti- imperialism)
Questions of Imperialism
• Puerto Rico- Foraker Act 1900
• Insular Cases- does the Constitution follow the
flag?
• US military government in Cuba under
General Leonard Wood eradicate yellow
fever
• Abided by Teller amendment with 2
insistences Platt Amendment and
Guantanamo Bay
Questions of Imperialism
• Spanish-American War: 113 days, low
casualties, big payout
• “splendid little war”
• Naval power proven (Mahan)
• Growth of jingoism, healing of North-South
divide
Philippine-American War
• Philippines angry over lack of independence
• Warfare and guerrilla warfare led by Emilio
Aguinaldo
• Reconcentration camps and torture
• US opposition from Anti-Imperialists
• Philippine Commission
Open Door Policy
• Economic imperialism in China following
Sino-Japanese War
• Secretary of State John Hay’s Open Door note
(policy)
• Boxer Rebellion 1900 international coalition
to put down
• Indemnity to be paid by China
• Extension of Open Door to include territorial
integrity
1900 Election
• Republicans= William McKinley and
Theodore Roosevelt (VP)
– Platform: gold standard, “full dinner pail,”
successful war, expansion
• Democrats= William Jennings Bryan (silver
and anti-imperialism)
– TR sapped many midwestern votes
– “Bryanism” could hurt prosperity= McKinley
victory 292 vs. 155 EV
Theodore Roosevelt
TR and Big Stick Diplomacy
• September 6, 1901: McKinley assassinated
by Leon Czolgosz
• TR: “that damned cowboy” big
personality and popular with regular people
• Big Stick Diplomacy- “Walk softly and
carry a big stick”
Panama Canal
• Spanish-American War= renewed interest in
canal
– The Oregon
• Hay Pauncefote Treaty 1901 (undid ClaytonBulwer Treaty)
• US bought rights to canal from French
(Philippe Bunau-Varilla)
• Colombia stood in way
• 1904 election approaching!
Panama Canal
• Panama Revolution November 3, 1903
Colombia blocked by US navy
• US recognized new Panamanian
“government” 3 days later
• Hays- Bunau-Varilla Treaty (same price, 10
mile area)
• US- Latin American relations ↓ (Big Brother)
• TR= “mandate from civilization”
Panama Canal
• Canal building started 1904 (labor,
landslides, sanitation issues)
• Colonel George Washington Goethals (head
of engineering)
• Colonel William Gorgas (head of
sanitation yellow fever, malaria)
• Finished 1914 (WWI soon)
Roosevelt Corollary
• Debt ridden Latin America= nervous TR
• Roosevelt Corollary (to the Monroe
Doctrine)
• Regional police force (economic) and soon
turned to military to intervene
• “Bad Neighbor Policy”
Russia vs. Japan
• 1904 Russo-Japanese War over Port Arthur
and Korea
• Railroad in Manchuria threatened Japanese
sphere of influence= war
• Japan= westernized, Russia ↓ under czar
• TR as mediator with Portsmouth Treaty
1905= Nobel Peace Prize!
US vs. Japan
• Racism and lack of citizenship for Japanese
immigrants
• “the yellow peril,” segregated San Francisco
schools= Japan angry
• Gentlemen’s Agreement
• The Great White Fleet 1907= 43,000 miles to
show off US navy
• Root-Takahira Agreement 1908
United States Expansion, 1857–1917