America
Becomes an
Imperial Power
Past American Foreign Policies
“The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations
is in extending our commercial relations to have with them as
little political connection as possible…. Tis our true policy to
steer clear of permanent alliances, with any portion of the
foreign world.”
-- Author???
(1796)
“The American continents…
are henceforth not to be
considered as subjects for
future colonization by any
European powers.”
-- Author???
(1823)
“..the fulfillment of our
manifest destiny to
overspread the continent
allotted by Providence for the
free development of our
yearly multiplying millions.”
-- Author???
(1845)
Why did the U.S.
enter the race
for territorial
acquisitions?
1. Commercial/Business Interests
U. S. Foreign
Investments:
1869-1908
American Foreign
Trade:
1870-1914
2. Military/Strategic Interests
Alfred T. Mahan The Influence of Sea
Power on History: 1660-1783
3. Scientific Racism
The Hierarchy
of Race
The White Man’s
Burden
4. Religious/Missionary Interests
American
Missionaries
in China, 1905
5. Closing the American Frontier
“The
Significance
of the
Frontier in
American
History”
F.J.
Turner
6. Nationalist Spirit
Treaty of Kanagawa
(1853)
Commodore Matthew
Perry Opens Up Japan
seeking whaling rights
“Gunboat Diplomacy”
U. S. Missionaries in Hawaii
Imiola
Church –
first built
in the late
1820s
U. S. View of Hawaiians
Hawaii
became a
U.S.
protectorate
in 1849 by
virtue of
economic
treaties
U. S. Business Interests In Hawaii
1875 – Reciprocity Treaty
1890 – McKinley Tariff
1893 – American
businessmen backed an
uprising against
Queen Liliuokalani
Sanford Dole proclaims the
Republic of Hawaii in 1894
“Hawaii
for the
Hawaiians!”
To The Victor Belongs the Spoils
Hawaiian
Annexation
Ceremony, 1898
Sanford Dole
Spanish Misrule in Cuba
Valeriano Weyler’s
“Reconcentration” Policy
De Lôme Letter
Enrique Dupuy de Lôme,
(Spanish Ambassador to
the U.S.)
Criticized President
McKinley as “weak and a
bidder for the admiration
of the crowd, besides
being a wouldwould-be politician
who tries to leave a door
open behind himself while
keeping on good terms
with the jingoes of his
party.”
Remember the Maine
and to Hell with Spain!
Funeral for Maine
victims in Havana
“Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism
Joseph Pulitzer
Hearst to Frederick Remington:
“You furnish the pictures,
William Randolph Hearst
and I’ll furnish the war!”
Hearst’s New York Journal
Current Hearst
Publications
Newspapers
•San Francisco Chronicle
•Seattle P-I
Magazines
•Cosmopolitan
•Esquire
•Good Housekeeping
•O
•Popular Mechanics
•Redbook
McKinley’s War Message
to Congress (1898)
“In the cause of humanity and to put
an end to the barbarities, bloodshed,
starvation, and horrible miseries”
miseries” in
Cuba
“The present condition of affairs in Cuba is a
constant menace to our peace and entails upon this
Government an enormous expense.”
“The right to intervene may be justified by the
very serious injury to the commerce, trade, and
business of our people and by the wanton
destruction of property and devastation of the
island.”
The
“Rough
Riders”
• TR resigned as Asst. Sec.
of US Navy to enlist in Army
• included many western
cowboys and sharpshooters
The SpanishSpanish-American War (1898):
• over a million
Americans enlisted,
though the call
was only for
200,000
• U.S. soldiers
had control of the
island in about 6
weeks
•about 5,000
deaths from
disease
(500 from combat)
“That Splendid Little War”
- John Hay (to TR)
Dewey Captures Manila!
Filipino Rebellion (1899(1899-1902)
U.S. flag was hoisted when Spain
relinquished control of the
Philippines
rebels began to plot against U.S.
U.S. generals censored reports
U.S. banned all antianti-American
ideas (pictures, writings, speech,
etc.), even the P.I. flag
U.S. created concentration camps
casualties:
4,000 Americans
200,000 Filipinos
(20,000 were soldiers)
William H. Taft, 1st
Gov.--General of the Philippines
Gov.
“Our little
brown brothers”
Taft set up/improved:
•
•
•
•
•
provincial governments
public schools
public works
communication
transportation
Independent
nation since 1946
America’s “Sphere of Influence”
The Treaty of Paris: 1898
Cuba was freed from Spanish rule
(became U.S. protectorate in 1903)
Spain gave up Puerto Rico and Guam to U.S.
the U. S. paid Spain
$20 mil. indemnity for
the Philippines (annexed
that same year)
the U. S. becomes an
imperial power!
The American AntiAnti-Imperialist
League
founded in 1899
Mark Twain, Andrew
Carnegie, William
James, and William
Jennings Bryan among
the leaders
campaigned against the
annexation of the
Philippines and other
acts of imperialism
Cuban Independence?
Senator
Orville Platt
Platt Amendment (1903)
1. Cuba was not to enter into any agreements with
foreign powers that would endanger its independence
2. The U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs if
necessary to maintain an efficient, independent govt
3. Cuba must lease Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for
naval and coaling station
4. Cuba must not build up an excessive public debt
Now that the U.S. was an imperial
power, a dilemma arose:
Did the Constitution
follow the flag?
Puerto Rico becomes the first test
Puerto Rico: 1898
The Insular Cases (1901(1901-1903)
Constitution does NOT follow flag
Imperialists ☺
Jones Act (1917):
• granted US citizenship
to Puerto Ricans
• reorganized the PR
government (US Pres.
kept veto power)
Panama: The King’s Crown
Clayton
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)
no exclusive control of future canal route
Hay
Hay-PauncefoteTreaty ((1901)
1901)
U.S. authorized to build and manage a canal;
guarantee
neutrality of region and int’l access
Philippe BunauBunau-Varilla
vigorously campaigned for canal; persuaded
Congress to fund construction through Panama
Hay
Hay-Bunau
Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903)
widened the zone; paid Panama $10 mil
Panama Canal
5,609 deaths
(disease, accidents)
TR in Panama
(construction from
1904-1914)
The Roosevelt Corollary
(to the Monroe Doctrine)
Venezuela and
Dominican Republic
owed $$$ to
Germany and
Britain
“Venezuelan Crisis”
(1902): Britain sank VZ
ships in attempt to
force to pay debts
TR announces that U.S.
would send gunboats to
Latin America (occupy
ports, take over customs
houses, etc) to collect
debts to Europe
The Roosevelt Corollary
(to the Monroe Doctrine)
• to keep European
powers out of west
Monroe Doctrine
• “preventive
intervention”
• U.S. becomes
“Policeman of the
Western Hemisphere”
The Roosevelt Corollary
(to the Monroe Doctrine)
U.S. had moral obligation to intervene
promoted “Bad Neighbor” policy
later used to justify wholesale
interventions and landings of U.S. marines
used in..
Dominican Republic (1905): collect tariffs
in Cuba (1906) after revolution
Stereotypes of the Chinese
Immigrant
Chinese Exclusion
Act (1882)
The Boxer Rebellion: 1900
The Society of
Harmonious Fists
The Open Door Policy
Sec. of State
John Hay
The Open Door Policy
1st Note:
all nations equal share
access to trade in China
ECONOMIC
2nd Note:
guaranteed that China
would NOT be taken
over by any one foreign
power
POLITICAL
The Open Door Policy
The Cares of a Growing Family
Speak Softly,
But Carry a Big Stick!
Constable of the World
Russo--Japanese War 1904
Russo
1904--05
• Russia and Japan went to war over ports in
Manchuria and Korea
• Japan destroyed much of Russian fleet West was shocked!
• TR wanted to prevent both sides from
dominance in Asia,
Asia, so helped negotiate
peace settlement
Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905
Russia conceded defeat; Japan awarded
southern half of Sakhalin, but no indemnity
And the Nobel Peace Prize for TR!
But neither side
was pleased…
Japan wanted all of Sakhalin and $$$
blamed U.S.
mistrust grew…along with naval arms race
U.S.
U.S.-Russia relations soured
“TR robbed them of victory”
Gentleman’s Agreement (1908)
San Francisco schools
segregated for Asian children
TR forced them to repeal it
agreed not to ban
Japanese from public schools
Japan promised to stop flow
of laborers to U.S.
Japan recognized the U.S.
right to exclude Japanese
immigrants holding passports
issued by other countries
Root--Takahira Agreement
Root
(1908)
U.S. and Japan
pledged to respect
each other’s
territorial
possessions in the
Pacific
uphold the Open
Door in China
Sec. of State
Elihu Root
To make sure Japan didn’t perceive
U.S. weakness, TR sent…
The Great White Fleet
Lodge Corollary
(to the Monroe Doctrine)
nonnon-European powers,
like Japan, would be
excluded from owning
territory in the Western
Hemisphere
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
America as a Pacific Power
What the
U. S. Has
Fought
For