OVERVIEW
  How far had the United States involved itself in
foreign affairs during the early to mid-nineteenth
century?
  What were the most significant reasons the United
States became an imperial power?
  How far did the United States develop imperial
interests before 1898?
How far had the United States involved
itself in foreign affairs during the early to
mid-nineteenth century?
  Stated position of isolationist
  Monroe Doctrine
  Great Britain
  China and Japan
  Traditionally the United States had been stated
isolationist
  Avoid foreign entanglements
  New immigrants had escaped problems of Europe and
Asia
Great Britain
  Conflict over trade restrictions during Napoleonic
Wars
  Conflict over perceived support for confederacy
Monroe Doctrine (1823)
  Declared the Western Hemisphere closed to
colonization
  To protect the Revolutions in Latin America against
Spain
  Used to demand the withdrawl of French troops
from Mexico in 1866
China and Japan
  Treaty of Wanghia (1844)
  1858 Japanese commercial treaty
  Pacific Bases and Coaling Stations
  Midway
  Guam
  Wake
  Samoa
What were the most significant reasons
the United States became an imperial
power?
  End of Westward Expansion
  Industrial development
  Naval Expansion and Sea power
  Manifest Destiny and Social Darwinism
  Preclusive Imperialism
End of Westward
Expansion
  1890 Census declared all lands as settled
  Fredric Jackson Turner: Thesis. That the US was
formed by expansion to a frontier
  Completion of Expansion into the west
  Homestead Act 1862
  Morrill Acts 1862,1890
  Alaska 1869
  1890 Census
  Wounded Knee (December 1890)
Industrial development
  Mechanization of Agriculture
  Power of the horse and oxen replaced with steam
  Improvements in transportation
  Transcontinental Railroads
  Union Pacific and Central Pacific (1869)
  Southern Pacific And Santa Fe (1881)
  Great Northern Railroad (1883)
  Increased industrialization
  Steel Industry
Oil Industry
Naval Expansion and
Sea Power
  Alfred Thayer Mahan
  Geographical Advantage
Alfred Thayer Mahan
  The Influence of Sea
Power Upon History,
1660–1783
  To be a world power
  Develop a Navy to
control sea lanes
and protect
commerce
  Obtain bases and
overseas colonies or
trading alliances
What ideas fueled the
desire for expansion?
Manifest Destiny
Social Darwinism
  Certain peoples and nations were superior, proven by
their ability to expand and dominate others
  It was the job of the superior people to raise the others to
self-reliance this was “the white man’s burden”
Work of American Missionaries
Present the WASP view of America
Preclusive Imperialism
  Effort to take over a colony so that another
country will not.
U.S. must expand to
restore their economic
prosperity?
  Panic of 1893
  Farmers and manufacturers producing too much for
domestic consumption
  Need to expand and provide a market for industrial
and agricultural surplus
  European market increasingly protectionist
How far did the United States develop imperial
interests before 1898?
  Us Involvement in the Pacific
  US Involvement in Latin America
Us Involvement in the
Pacific
  Acquisition of Samoa
  Annexation of Hawaii
Us Involvement in the
Latin America
  Pan-American Conference (1889)
  US takes the lead for free trade and internal arbitration
  Chile 1891.
  Forced to pay compensation for the death od American
sailors
  Venezuela, 1895
  Border dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela,
US demanded that Britain seek arbitration
Summing Up
  Traditionally the US has had a stated position of
isolationism.
  Not really the case and by the mid 19th Century
the US had begun its move towards Imperialism
  Because of internal changes the US was primed
for expansion beyond its borders
  By the end of the century, the US had abandoned
its isolationist position and had begun to seek and
gain colonies outside its borders.
Imperialism vs. AntiImperialist
  Is there a way for the United States to expand and
guarantee prosperity without becoming a
European type power with colonies.