•
American attention shifted to foreign lands
–
“closing of the frontier”
• 1890s led some to fear natural resources would dwindle
and must be found abroad,
–
Growing importance of foreign trade
• 300% growth in this area between 1870-1900
–
Depression of 1893
• desire for new markets, diversify economy
–
Fears
• Europe imperialism would lead America to be left out
of spoils
• “Feeble” China and Asia looked tempting
•
Social Darwinism–
•
only fittest nations survive, therefore just for strong
nations to dominate weaker ones
Josiah Strong’s
–
Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis
(1885)
• states Anglo-Saxon “race” represented liberty, Christianity
and should spread them;
•
John Burgess, political science professor
duty of A-S to uplift less fortunate
– Spread “superior institutions”
– “Barbarism” is not a right
–
•
Famous Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
–
wrote in The Influence of Sea Power Upon History
(1890)
• that countries w/ sea power were great nations of
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
historyUS needed to have foreign commerce
merchant marine,
Build Panama canal
navy to defend routes and possessions
colonies to provide raw materials and bases
claim Pacific Islands, HI
1900- US 3rd in Naval Power
•
Sec of State James Blaine 1880s
–
sought to expand US influence in Latin America
• to provide markets for surplus goods-
–
1889 organized Pan-American Congress.
• Created Pan-American Union
– Weak: Information Clearing House
• Rejected: Proposals for
– Inter-American Customs union
– Arbitration Procedures for disputes
–
Pres Cleveland 1895 had dispute w/ GB over Venezuela
border
• US Declared violation of Monroe Doctrine
• Talk of war pushed GB to arbitration
•
Hawaii appealing
b/c Navy wanted Pearl Harbor as base,
– Americans who had settled on island had come to
dominate political + economic life of islands
– Hawaii had been series of islands w/ self-sufficient
communities.
– After 1810 American traders, missionaries, planters
began settling there.
– Disease decimated Native populations;
– by 1840s Americans spread thru islands
–


1887 US Navy negotiated to use Pearl Harbor
as Navy base;
sugar exports to US
 basis of economy,

American plantation system
 displacing natives from their lands
 New Asian immigrants “more reliable and docile”

Queen Liliuokalani
1891.
Nationalist
 Challenged US
control
 Only in power 2
years
 American and
European interests
organized overthrow
and annexation to the
US.


Causes:

1895-Cuban struggle against Spain
 Concentration camps and “atrocities”
 General Valeriano “Butcher” Weyler (US press)

Wilson-Gormon Tariff
 Hurt Cuban economy (sugar cane).

Yellow Journalism
 Hearst and Pulitzer- New form of “sensational”
journalism fueled by intense competition.
 Searched for “atrocities” to report on.

Cuban-American support influenced public


Example 1: New York Tribune
Example 2: The New York Journal

Dupuy de Lome Letter- Called Mckinley
“weak” and pandering to the US public


Outraged Americans
The Maine: Battleship blew up in Havana
harbor.





Thought to be a Spanish Mine
Actually an internal explosion
Press: “Remember the Maine!!”
US public opinion in favor of war
Many in Mckinley’s admin pushed for war:
Roosevelt




Public support in favor of war
4-5 month war
450 battlefield casualties
5,200 to disease and sickness
Northern black
soldiers: Outraged
by treatment in the
South: led to
confrontations.
 Played important
roles in battles
 Angered by equal
treatment given to
Black Cuban Rebels


Commodore George Dewey
First hero of the war
 Instructed to destroy Spanish navy in Manila if war
broke out. No casualties
 Led to capture of the Philippines



Inefficient and poorly
planned
Rough Riders
Led by Roosevelt
 Gained fame in
charge up Kettle Hill
 Some deemed charge
“reckless”
 “the great day of my
life”





Spanish fleet destroyed at Santiago
Ground forces soon surrendered
Puerto Rico captured
Armistice


Cuban Independence declared
Puerto Rico and Guam ceded to US
 Jones Act:
 Declared Puerto Rico a US territory
 Made Puerto Ricans US citizens

American occupation of Manila



To Annex or Not to Annex?
Many Americans uncomfortable with idea due
to distance from home.
Treaty of Paris 1898



Ended the war
Ceding of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba
$20M payment for the Philippines

Opposed annexation of
the Philippines included
powerful names:




Carnegie
Mark Twain
Samuel Gompers





Claimed imperialism
was:
Immoral
Anti-American values:
anti-freedom
 “pollution” of US
population


Industrial workers
feared competition
Conservatives feared

Sugar growers


Large standing army
Entangling alliances
Threat to freedoms
Feared competition
How will you deal with
the “population”?

Roosevelt:


Reinvigorate and restore the nation
Business
Inroads to dominate Asian trade
 Profit in the Philippines


Republicans
Wanted political points for gaining new territories
 Easy to accomplish since US possessed the lands


Citizenship need NOT be granted

William Jennings Bryan
Anti-imperialist
 Supported the Treaty of Paris to make it an election
issue.
 Bryan Loses to McKinley

 Colonial issue
 Economic prosperity
 Personality and hero status of VP Roosevelt


Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico: Few problems
Cuba
US occupation till 1902 to prepare for
“independence”. Infrastructure investment
 US planned to dominate economic and political
landscape
 Platt Amendment:

 No foreign treaties
 US right to intervene in Cuba for independence, life,
property
 Naval bases

Dominated by US business
Plantations
 Factories
 Railroads
 Refineries



Capital Resources: much owned by US
Prompted small revolts against US Imperialism

Multiple military interventions


Rebels fought the US for independence
Relatively long: 1898 to 1902



4,300 US casualties
50,000 Native casualties
Tactics


Guerrilla warfare: New to Americans
Caused US to be more brutal and similar to Spanish
in Cuba: Weylar

Emilio Aguinaldo


Experienced in
fighting Spanish
Claimed to be
legitimate govt. of
Philippines

General Arthur MacArthur (father of Douglass
MacArthur)

Resorted to more brutal tactics as resistance became
stronger (with popular support).
 Prisoners executed
 Village evacuations
 Concentration camps
 “Shoot everyone over the age of 10”
 Death Ratio
 15 killed: 1 wounded
 1 killed: 5 wounded (US Civil War)


Eventual capture of Aguinaldo and defeat of
rebels
Large US infrastructure investment
Schools
 Hospitals
 Roads
 Sewers



US and Islands became economically linked
Philippine independence comes in 1946


US desire to expand Asian markets and trade
Weak China: Who wants some pie?
Japan
 Britain
 Germany
 Russia
 France
 US
All competing for piece of China


Sec. of State John Hay

Asked competing countries to obey 3 principles:
 Respect the rights and privileges of other nations
(EXCEPT CHINA!!!)
 Chinese officials to continue collection of tariffs.
 Favored the US
 Non-discrimination against other nations in relation to
transportation rates.

Advantages
 Allow US to continue in China w/o fear of war
 Retain “illusion” of Chinese sovereignty
 Prevent formal dismemberment of China (hurt US)



Cool reception from other nations
Open declaration from US that all nations had
agreed
Boxer Rebellion



Chinese rebellion against foreign influence
Diplomats trapped in China
US sends navy to rescue diplomats
 Film: The Sand Pebbles 1966

US helps broker end to conflict and retains Open
Door policy


Weaknesses of US military became obvious in
war with Spain
Elihu Root: appointed Sec of War by McKinley
Enlarged Army: 25K to 100K
 National Guard: insures stock of trained soldiers
 Officer training schools
 Creation of Joint Chiefs (military advisors)

 Supervise and coordinate the military