Becoming a World
Power 1890-1913
The Pressure to
Expand Ch. 18, Sec. 1
Imperialism
• Policy by a
stronger nation
to create an
empire by
dominating
weaker nations
economically,
politically,
culturally, or
militarily
Pressures for
Expansion
• 1. Overproduction of food
and goods
• 2. business and farmers
needed new markets
• 3. To spread democracy
• 4. To spread Christianity
• 5. Social Darwinism
Vocabulary
• Nationalism: devotion to one’s
country
• Annex: to join or attach
• Banana republic: term used to
describe a Central American
nation dominated by U.S.
business interests
Reasons for Imperialism
• 1. Economic factors: countries needed
natural resources such as rubber and
petroleum and new markets for
manufactured goods due to overproduction
• 2. Nationalist factors: competition among
nations for empires resulted from
nationalism
• 3. Military factors: advances in technology
and the need for military bases for fuel and
supplies
• 4. Humanitarian factors: spread Western
civilization, including law, medicine, and
Christian religion
Time Line
• 1796: Washington said, “
•
•
•
•
steer clear of permanent
alliances”
1853: Commodore
Matthew C. Perry opened
Japan to trade
1866: 50,000 American
soldiers sent to Mexico to
stop French from placing
an emperor on the throne
1867: Seward bought
Alaska from Russia
1867: annexed Midway
Islands
Matthew C. Perry in
Japan 1853
U. S. Foreign Affairs
• Began trade with China in 1860s
• Treaty with Hawaii 1870s to sell sugar to the U.S.
•
•
duty-free
1913 Minor C. Keith of United Fruit Company
dominated the governments of Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and Honduras; known as “banana
republics”
Growth of U.S. Navy: Alfred T. Mahan wrote The
Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783;
stated that economy needed markets abroad; by
1900 the U.S. had a powerful navy
U. S. Navy
Security: Naval
Power
• Naval Act 1890: construct
battleships, gunboats,
torpedo boats, and cruisers
• Great White Fleet – one of
the most powerful navies
in the world
United States and
Imperialism
• Promote economic
•
•
growth: expand
markets for sale of
overproduction of
goods
Protect American
security; Large Navy
and need for Pacific
bases
Preserve American
spirit; social
Darwinism
Question
• What factors influenced the United
States government to expand
abroad?
Write a paragraph in your notes describing the
pressures that led to U.S. imperialism. Include
a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.
The SpanishAmerican War Ch. 18,
Sec. 2
Key Words
• Arbitration: settlement of a
dispute by a person chosen
to listen to both sides and
come to a decision
• Jingoism: intense burst of
national pride and desire
for an aggressive foreign
policy
Key Words
• Spheres of Influence:
areas of economic and
political control in China
• Open Door Policy:
American approach to
China, favoring open trade
relations between China
and others
U.S. Involvement in
Latin America
• Chile: forced Chile to pay
•
money to families of slain
U.S. sailors
Brazil: U.S. Navy put down
rebellion to protect U.S.
business interests
Defending the Monroe
Doctrine
• In a dispute between Britain
and Venezuela, the U.S.
forced them to go to
arbitration to settle the
dispute over territory
between Venezuela and
British Guiana
Cuban Rebellion
• 1895 Cuba rebelled against Spain
• 150,000 Spanish troops under General
•
•
Valeriano Weyler, “The Butcher,” were
sent by Spain to stop the rebellion
Concentration Camps were set up for
Cubans; 200,000 Cubans die
Jose Marti: Cuban journalist
describes the horrors in Cuba
U. S. Position
• Cuban rebels attacked sugar plantations
•
and mills to get U.S. help. Business
owners increased pressure on the U.S.
government to help the Cubans.
American newspapers used “yellow
journalism” to get U. S. support for Cuba.
The New York World and the New York
Morning Journal competed.
Causes of War
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
Explosion of the Maine
Yellow journalism
The de Lome Letter
Sympathy for the
Cubans
Maine
• U.S. battleship U.S.S.
•
•
•
Maine blew up and sank
in Havana Harbor, killing
250 Americans.
Americans believed that
Spain had blown up the
ship
(Ships boiler blew up)
Pressure to declare war
from American citizens
William Randolph
Hearst
Joseph Pulitzer
De Lome Letter
• Letter written by ambassador to
•
Washington, Dupuy de Lome, describing
President McKinley as “weak and a bidder
for the admiration of the crowd” was
stolen and published.
U. S. citizens are angered
Battles
• May 1, 1898, Admiral George
Dewey attacked the Spanish
Pacific Fleet in Manila Bay,
Philippines
• Spanish fleet sunk in seven
hours.
• U.S. controlled the area
Philippines
Emilio Aguinaldo
• Filipino leader who helped
the U.S. contain Spanish
troops, hoping for
independence
• U.S. did not grant
independence until 1946
Battle in Cuba
• Navy attacked the
•
•
Spanish Atlantic Fleet
in Santiago, Cuba,
sinking the ships
Land war: Rough
Riders, under
Theodore Roosevelt
charged up San Juan
Hill
“A splendid little war”
John Hay
Treaty of Paris 1898
• Cuba gains independence
• U.S. gains Philippines,
Puerto Rico, and Guam as
unincorporated territories
• U.S. paid Spain $20 million
Results of War
• The U.S. fought Aguinaldo for
three years, resulting in many
Filipino deaths; The Philippines
remained a U.S. possession until
1946.
• Teller Amendment promised that
the U.S. would not annex Cuba
• Constitution of Cuba 1900
Platt Amendment
• Cuban government could not
enter foreign agreements
• Had to give the U.S. two bases
(Guantanamo Bay)
• U.S. had right to intervene if
necessary; in effect until 1934
Puerto Rico
• No independence
• People given citizenship in 1917
• May vote on statehood again in a few
years
Pacific
• Trade agreement – Hawaiian sugar sold
duty free in the U.S.
• Hawaii: U.S. leased Pearl Harbor
-Queen Liliuokalani: pineapple guru
Sanford B. Dole removed her from the
throne in 1893
-Annexed in 1898
• Samoa: Divided islands with Germany;
U.S. got harbor, Pago Pago
"Now, children, you've got to learn these lessons whether you want to or not! But just take
a look at the class ahead of you, and remember that in a little while, you will be as glad to
be here as they are!"
Queen Liliuokalani
China
• Vast market
• Spheres of Influence
• John Hay developed “Open Door
Policy
• “Boxer” Rebellion - 1900
rebellion against foreigners;
“Righteous and Harmonious
Fists”- 300 killed
Time Zones
• World is divided into 24 time zones
• Prime Meridian, which passes
through Greenwich, England is Oo
longitude
• International Date Line is 180o
longitude; the calendar date to the
east of this line is one day earlier.
• Page 526
Expansion Under
Roosevelt and Taft
Chapter 18
Section 3 & 4
Presidents of this Era
• 25 1897-1901 William McKinley
– Garret A. Hobart and Theodore Roosevelt
• 26 1901-1909 Theodore Roosevelt
• 27 1909-1913 William Howard Taft
• 28 1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson
• 29 1921-1923 Warren G. Harding
– Calvin Coolidge
Key Words
• Concession: grant for a piece
of land in exchange for a
promise to use the land for a
specific purpose
• Dollar diplomacy: encourage
investment abroad
Key Words
• Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
•
Doctrine: extension of a previously
accepted idea
1. Not use the Monroe Doctrine for
territorial aggression
2. U.S. intervene to prevent intervention
from other powers
Racism: belief that differences in character
or intelligence are due to one’s race
William McKinley
• Reelected in
1900
• Assassinated
in 1901
• Vice President
Theodore
Roosevelt
becomes
president
Theodore Roosevelt’s
Foreign Policy
• U.S. a world power
• Intervenes in the
•
affairs of countries
that were of economic
and strategic interest
Spanish-American War
shows the need for a
shorter route between
the Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans
The Panama Canal
Panama Canal
• Isthmus of Panama: belonged to Columbia
• Ferdinand de Lesseps bought a concession in
•
•
•
1879 to build a canal.
After 10 years, the company abandoned the
project.
Congress passed the Spooner Act in 1902,
authorizing the purchase of the French assets for
$40 million.
Colombia would not negotiate with the U.S.
Lease
• Roosevelt indicated that the U.S. would not
•
•
•
interfere if the French company organized a
Panamanian revolt against Colombia.
In November, 1903 a revolt broke out with U.S.
warships offshore to provide support for the
rebels.
The U.S. recognized Panama as an independent
country and ratified the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty
in 1904.
The treaty gave the U.S. a grant of a 10-mile-wide
strip for a Canal Zone for $10 million.
Construction
• Construction, which began in 1904, was finished
•
•
•
in 1914
William C. Gorgas virtually eliminated malaria and
yellow fever.
Roosevelt’s tactics used to acquire the Panama
Canal caused ill-will among Latin Americans
toward the U.S.
In 1921, Congress paid Colombia $25 million in
recognition of the illegal means used to acquire
the Canal Zone
Foreign Policy
• “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go
•
•
•
far.” This quote by TR alluded to the threat of
military force to conduct an aggressive foreign
policy.
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: the
U.S. government would intervene to prevent
intervention from other powers.
Santo Domingo: U.S. took over finances and
paid European debt
U.S. continued to intervene in Latin America
Russo-Japanese War
• In 1905, Roosevelt
mediated the conflict.
• He received the Nobel
Peace Prize for his role
as mediator.
Japan received land
and control over
Korea; Russia left
Manchuria; China
remained open to all
for trade.
William Howard Taft
• Elected in 1908
• Foreign policy goals
•
were to maintain the
open door in Asia and
preserve stability in
Latin America
Dollar diplomacy
substituted dollars for
bullets, although the
results were not
always profitable.
Chapter 18, Section 4
“Debating American’s New Role”
Anti-Imperialists
• Moral and political arguments: nation was
•
•
founded on “liberty for all”
Racial arguments: some Americans
believed that people Anglo-Saxon heritage
were superior
Economic arguments: some felt that
expansion cost too much in maintaining
necessary armed forces or that people
from annexed territories would take jobs
Imperialism’s Appeal
• Many Americans felt that imperialism
•
•
•
offered a New Frontier abroad.
Many supported the effort to gain foreign
markets for U.S. products
The U.S. became a powerful player on the
world stage
Roosevelt sent part of the Navy on a cruise
around the world to demonstrate the
Great White Fleet.
Question
• During the late 1800s, the press
fanned the flames of the SpanishAmerican War by publishing
sensational stories about Spanish
cruelties in Cuba. On what current
issues has the press played a major
role in influencing public opinion?
• Answer in paragraph form in your notes