Chapter 20
Politics and Expansion in an
Industrializing Age
1877-1900
Expansionist Stirrings and War with
Spain, 1878-1901
• Roots of Expansionist Sentiment
– In the late 19th century the U.S.A. showed heightened
interest in overseas empire
– The example of European nations and Japan, which were
seizing colonies in Asia and Africa, stimulated U.S.
expansionism
– During the depression of 1893-1897, American
businessmen and politicians argued that the U.S.A. must
capture overseas markets to maintain prosperity
Roots of Expansionist Sentiment
(cont.)
• Republican politicians claimed that to be a great
power the U.S. must:
– build up its navy
– obtain far-flung colonies
• to establish fueling stations and bases
– Show its influence in the world as a superior county
• Inspired by:
– Alfred T. Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power upon History
– Social Darwinist ideas
Roots of Expansionist Sentiment
(cont.)
• Leading Republicans
were:
– Theodore Roosevelt
– Henry Cabot Lodge
– John Hay
Roots of Expansionist Sentiment
(cont.)
• Our Country
– 1885
– Josiah Strong
– Combined religion and Social Darwinism racism
– Told Americans that, as members of the superior
Anglo-Saxon race, they were destined to spread
Christianity and civilization to “inferior” people
Pacific Expansion
• Expansionist enthusiasm led the United States to
overtake some Pacific Islands:
– Samoan Island
• U.S. established a joint protectorate with Germany and Great
Britain
– Hawai’i
• American sugar plantation owners overthrew the govt. of Queen
Liliuokalani
• Asked U.S. to take over the island
• President Cleveland, who was not an expansionist, declined to do
so
• President McKinley requested Congress to annex Hawai’i
• 1898
Crisis over Cuba
• The Cubans revolted against Spanish rule in 1895
• The Spanish authorities brutally attempted to
suppress the rebellion
• Public opinion in the U.S. turned against the Spanish
because of yellow-journalism
– William Randolph Hearst=Journal
– Joseph Pulitzer=World
– Both featured daily accounts of Spanish atrocities
Crisis over Cuba (cont.)
• President McKinley did not want to intervene in Cuba
• He did send the battleship Maine to Havana to protect the
lives and property of Americans on Cuba
• On Feb. 15, 1898, an explosion the Maine killed 266 of its
crewmen
USS Maine
USS Maine
Crisis over Cuba (cont.)
• The yellow press immediately accused the
Spanish of blowing up the ship
• The public demanded revenge
• Giving in to popular pressure, McKinley asked
Congress to declare war on Spain
• Congress declared war on April 1898
Crisis over Cuba (cont.)
• Congress also passed the Teller Amendment
– Proclaimed that the U.S. had no desire to overtake
Cuba and would leave the island as soon as its
independence was ensured
– Teller Amendment
The Spanish-American War, 1898
• The fighting against Spain lasted less than 4 months
• Admiral George Dewey attacked the Spanish fleet in
the Philippines
• American troops took Manila Bay in August
• By July, the Spanish were driven from Cuba
• The defeated Spanish:
– Recognized Cuba’s independence
– Ceded to the United States:
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Guam
The Spanish-American War, 1898
(cont.)
• Contrary to the Teller Amendment, the U.S. occupied
Cuba from 1898 to 1902
• The U.S. withdrew its forces only after Cuba agreed
to the conditions set forth in the 1901 Platt
Amendment
– Platt Amendment
– It limited Cuba’s sovereignty by:
• Reserving to the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuba
• The U.S. could maintain a naval base on Cuba
The Spanish-American War, 1898
(cont.)
• Although the Platt Amendment was abrogated
in 1934, the United States still retains the base
at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
Critics of Empire
• Some Americans were horrified by their nation’s
actions in the Spanish-American War
• They founded the Anti-Imperialist League
– Pointed out that imposing U.S. rule on other peoples by
military force violated the principles of human equality
and liberty championed in our own Declaration of
Independence
Critics of Empire (cont.)
• Some members of the Anti-Imperialist League:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Carl Schurz (civil-service reformer)
E.L. Godkin (civil-service reformer)
William Jennings Bryan (ag. spokesman)
Jane Addams (settlement house founder)
Mark Twain (writer)
William James (writer)
Critics of Empire (cont.)
• Despite the League’s efforts, the Senate
ratified the treaty annexing the Philippines
• In 1900 pro-expansionist McKinley again
defeated anti-imperialist Bryan for the
presidency
Guerrilla War in the Philippines,
1898-1902
• Pres. McKinley was persuaded that the U.S.
should keep the Philippines by the arguments
of:
– the expansionists
– businessmen to use the islands as a way of
penetrating nearby Chinese markets
• This U.S. decision led to a war against Filipino
independence fighters
Guerrilla War in the Philippines,
1898-1902 (cont.)
• To crush the guerrilla resistance of the
Filipinos, the U.S. used brutal tactics
• The U.S. lost many more soldiers than it had in
the Spanish-American War
• In 1946, the U.S. granted the Philippines their
independence