Topic 7 – Imperialism and World War I
Imperialism: the policy in which stronger nations
extend their economic, political, and military control
over weaker countries
Factors fueling American imperialism:
-desire for military strength
-thirst for new markets
-belief in cultural superiority
Desire for military strength:
-Other nations establishing a global military presence
American leaders advised the U.S. build up its own military
strength
-Admiral Alfred Mahan urged government officials to build
up naval power in order to compete with other powerful
nations (The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 16601783)
Thirst for new markets:
-advances in technology  overproduction of goods
-needed raw materials and new markets
Belief in cultural superiority:
-some combined Social Darwinism (free-market
competition would lead to survival of the fittest) with a
belief in racial superiority of Anglo-Saxons
-the U.S. had a responsibility to spread Christianity and
“civilization” to the world’s “inferior peoples”
Alaska (1867): “Seward’s Folly”/”Seward’s
Icebox”
•William Seward – early
supporter of American
expansion
•Purchased from Russia for
$7.2 million
•Nicknamed “Seward’s
Icebox” or “Seward’s Folly”
•2 cents an acre for land
rich in timber, minerals,
and oil
Hawaii (1898)
•1790s – American
merchants began stopping
on the way to East Indies
and China
•1820s – Yankee
missionaries founded
Christian schools and
churches on the islands 
their children and
grandchildren became
sugar planters
•1900 – foreigners and
immigrant laborers
outnumbered native
Hawaiians 3:1
Hawaii (1898)
I, Liliuokalani, . . . do hereby solemnly protest
against any and all acts done against myself and
the constitutional government of the Hawaiian
Kingdom. . . . Now, to avoid any collision of
armed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do
under this protest . . .yield my authority until
such time as the Government of the United
States shall . . . undo the action of its
representatives and reinstate me in the
authority which I claim as the constitutional
sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.”
—quoted in Those Kings and Queens of Old
Hawaii
•1890 – McKinley Tariff eliminated dutyfree status of Hawaiian sugar  more
competition in the American market
•American planters called for annexation
•1887 – U.S. had built naval base at Pearl
Harbor
•1887 – Hawaii’s King Kalakaua had been
strong-armed into limiting voting rights to
only wealth landowners
•1891- Kalakaua died, his sister Queen
Liliuokalani came to power with a “Hawaii
for Hawaiians” agenda
•Business groups overthrew her with the
help of marines; gov’t set up under Sanford
B. Dole
•August 12, 1898 – Hawaii became an
American territory (although Hawaiians
never had the chance to vote)
•Became a state in 1959
The Spanish-American War (1898)
(2:30-43:15)
Summarize the main Political, Economic, Social and
Cultural CAUSES of the Spanish-American War from this
section. Identify each fact as P, E, S, C or a combination of
these.
The Spanish-American War (1898)
The Spanish-American War (1898)
War in the Philippines
•April 20 – war declared on Spain
•April 30 – Commodore George Dewey gave the command to open fire on
the Spanish fleet at Manila, the Philippine capital
•Within hours, every Spanish ship was destroyed
•Dewey had support of Filipinos who wanted freedom from Spain; over 2
months, 11,000 Americans joined forces with rebels (led by Emilio
Aguinaldo)
•August – Spanish troops in Manila surrendered
The Spanish-American War (1898)
War in the Caribbean
•Began with naval blockade of Cuba
•Dewey’s victory  superiority of U.S. naval forces; however, army was
ill-prepared (small professional fighting force supplemented by
inexperienced volunteers)
•June 1898 – landed in Cuba  army of 17,000 included four AfricanAmerican regiments and the Rough Riders – volunteer cavalry under
command of Leonard Wood and Teddy Roosevelt
•July 1 – first land battle at Santiago; victory on Kettle Hill by Rough
Riders and two African American regiments cleared way for an infantry
attack on strategically important San Juan Hill
•TR declared hero of San Juan Hill (even though he played only a minor
role)
•Spanish fleet tried to escape American blockade of the harbor of
Santiago  naval battle that followed ended in destruction of the
Spanish fleet
•American troops invaded Puerto Rico on July 25
The Spanish-American War (1898)
Treaty of Paris
•Armistice signed on August
12 (ended 15 weeks of
fighting)
•Treaty negotiated December
10, 1898
•Spain freed Cuba, turned over
Guam in the Pacific and Puerto
Rico to the U.S.
•Sold Philippines to the U.S.
for $20 million
This lithograph criticizes American foreign policy in
1898. In the cartoon, Uncle Sam is riding a bicycle
with wheels labeled “western hemisphere” and
“eastern hemisphere.” He has abandoned his horse,
on whose saddle appears “Monroe Doctrine,”
because the horse is too slow.
Cuba and the United States
•Treaty of Paris guaranteed Cuba its independence
•Occupied by American troops after the war  provided food
and clothing, helped farmers put land back into cultivation,
organized elementary schools, helped eliminate yellow fever
•Platt Amendment (to new Cuban constitution – army
wouldn’t withdraw until it was adopted) 
1. Cuba couldn’t make treaties that might limit its
independence
2. the U.S. reserved the right to intervene
3. Cuba was not to go into debt that the gov’t couldn’t repay
4. the U.S. could buy or lease land for naval and refueling
stations
•Cuba became a U.S. protectorate
Ruling Puerto Rico
•Occupied by the military during the Spanish-American War
•Puerto Rico’s importance  maintain presence in Caribbean,
protect future Panama Canal
•1900 – Foraker Act passed  ended military rule, set up civil
government
•Gave the President the power to appoint Puerto Rico’s
governor and members of the upper house of its legislature
•1901 – Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution didn’t
automatically apply to people in acquired territories
•Citizenship granted to Puerto Ricans in 1917
Filipinos Rebel
1:20:561:43:53
The Philippine-American
War
•What were its root causes?
•Discuss the debate that
ensued in the Senate about
the annexation of the
Philippines and the creation
of an overseas empire when
voting to ratify the Treaty of
Paris. Arguments for?
Against?
•How were the Filipinos
treated by the Americans
during the war?
•Results of the war?
American Interest in China
•Spheres of influence carved out by France, Germany, Britain, Russia, and
Japan
•1899 – John Hay issued Open Door notes – letters addressed to leaders of
imperialist nations proposing that nations share their trading rights with
the U.S. (creating an “open door”)
•Reluctantly accepted
•Boxer Rebellion  indication that the Chinese wanted foreigners out
1.
2.
3.
How did the Open Door policy reflect American beliefs about the U.S.
industrial capitalist economy?
Growth of the U.S. economy depended on exports
The U.S. had a right to intervene abroad to keep foreign markets open
They feared the closing of an area to American products, citizens, or
ideas threatened U.S. survival
Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal
•Why did Roosevelt feel we needed a canal?
•How did he acquire the land necessary to build it?
•What challenges were faced in building the canal?
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal
Panama Canal
Timelapse
“Speak softly and
carry a big stick;
you will go far.”
Teddy Roosevelt
Brazil
Philippines
S.America
Columbia
Europe
Presidential Policies in Latin America
Teddy Roosevelt: “Big
Stick Policy”
Woodrow Wilson:
“Moral Diplomacy”
William H. Taft:
“Dollar Democracy”
Review: Causes of WWI
Briefly describe how each of the following led to the outbreak of World War I:
Nationalism:
Imperialism:
Alliances:
Militarism:
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand:
U.S. Neutrality in 1914
The effect of the war upon the United States will depend upon what American citizens say and do. Every man
who really loves America will act and speak in the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impartiality
and fairness and friendliness to all concerned. The spirit of the nation in this critical matter will be
determined largely by what individuals and society and those gathered in public meetings do and say, upon
what newspapers and magazines contain, upon what ministers utter in their pulpits, and men proclaim as
their opinions upon the street.
The people of the United States are drawn from many nations, and chiefly from the nations now at war. It is
natural and inevitable that there should be the utmost variety of sympathy and desire among them with
regard to the issues and circumstances of the conflict. Some will wish one nation, others another, to succeed in
the momentous struggle. It will be easy to excite passion and difficult to allay it. Those responsible for exciting
it will assume a heavy responsibility, responsibility for no less a thing than that the people of the United
States, whose love of their country and whose loyalty to its government should unite them as Americans all,
bound in honor and affection to think first of her and her interests, may be divided in camps of hostile
opinion, hot against each other, involved in the war itself in impulse and opinion if not in action.
Such divisions amongst us would be fatal to our peace of mind and might seriously stand in the way of the
proper performance of our duty as the one great nation at peace, the one people holding itself ready to play a
part of impartial mediation and speak the counsels of peace and accommodation, not as a partisan, but as a
friend.
I venture, therefore, my fellow countrymen, to speak a solemn word of warning to you against that deepest,
most subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may spring out of partisanship, out of passionately
taking sides. The United States must be neutral in fact, as well as in name, during these days that are to try
men's souls. We must be impartial in thought, as well as action, must put a curb upon our sentiments, as well
as upon every transaction that might be construed as a preference of one party to the struggle before another.
Woodrow Wilson, Message to Congress, 63rd Cong., 2d Sess., Senate Doc. No. 566 (Washington, 1914)
U.S. Neutrality in 1914
Verse 1
Ten million soldiers to the war have gone, Who
may never return again. Ten million mother's
hearts must break For the ones who died in vain.
Head bowed down in sorrow In her lonely years,
I heard a mother murmur thru' her tears:
Verse 2
I didn't raise my boy to be a soldier, I brought
him up to be my pride and joy. Who dares to
place a musket on his shoulder, To shoot some
other mother's darling boy? Let nations
arbitrate their future troubles, It's time to lay
the sword and gun away. There'd be no war
today, If mothers all would say, "I didn't raise my
boy to be a soldier."
Verse 3
What victory can cheer a mother's heart, When
she looks at her blighted home? What victory
can bring her back All she cared to call her own?
Let each mother answer In the years to be,
Remember that my boy belongs to me!
Immigration: Ethnic Groups in America
Swiss
Polish
Swedish
Dutch
Spanish
English,
Scottish,
Welsh
Hungarian
Russian
Greek
German
Irish
Mexican
French
Italian
Japanese
Divided Loyalties: Could the U.S. really stay
neutral?
•Socialists criticized the war as a
capitalist and imperialist struggle
between Germany and England to
control markets and colonists
•Pacifists believed war was evil;
the U.S. should set an example of
peace to the world
•Naturalized U.S. citizens still had
ties to the nation from which they
had emigrated
•Many Americans felt close ties to
Britain  sympathy for them and
anger towards Germany
•Economic ties with Allies far
stronger than with Central Powers
U.S. Entry into WWI
Causes of U.S. Entry:
Read each document provided. For each, explain what it says and the
reason it shows for U.S. involvement/entry into WWI. Be as specific as
possible.
Reasons for U.S. Entry?
War Declaration (0:49)
Wilson’s Reasons for War
1) The Zimmerman Telegram showed that the Germans were
not trustworthy and would eventually go to war with the
United States.
2) Armed neutrality could not adequately protect American
shipping.
3) The democratic government in Russia after the revolution in
March 1917 proved to be more acceptable as an ally than the
Tsarist government of Nicholas II.
4) He was convinced that the United States could hasten the end
of the war and ensure a major role for itself in designing a
lasting peace.
Mobilizing for War
Verse 1
Most ev’ry fellow has a sweetheart
Some little girl with eyes of blue
My daddy also had a sweetheart
And he fought to win her too
There'll come a day when we must pay the
price of love and duty
Be there staunch and true
CHORUS
It’s time for ev’ry boy to be a soldier
To put his strength and courage to the test
It's time to place a musket on his shoulder
And wrap the Stars and Stripes around his
breast
It’s time to shout those noble words of Lincoln
And stand up for the land that gave you birth
“That the nation of the people by the people
for the people
Shall not perish from the earth”
Mobilizing for War
Raising an Army: The
Selective Service Act (May 18,
1917)
•Draft was necessary.
•By the end of the war,
24,231,021 men had been
registered and 2,810,296 had
been inducted.
• In addition, about 2 million
men & women volunteered.
Mobilizing for War
American Expeditionary
Force (AEF)
•Soldiers & marines sent to France
under the command of Major General
John J. Pershing
•AEF increased to over 2 million by
November 1918.
Over There
Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run,
On the run, on the run.
Hear them calling, you and me,
Every son of liberty.
Hurry right away,
No delay, go today,
Make your daddy glad
To have had such a lad.
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy's in line.
(chorus sung twice)
Johnnie, get your gun,
Get your gun, get your gun,
Johnnie show the Hun
Who's a son of a gun.
Hoist the flag and let her fly,
Yankee Doodle do or die.
Pack your little kit,
Show your grit, do your bit.
Yankee to the ranks,
From the towns and the tanks.
Make your mother proud of you,
And the old Red, White and Blue.
(chorus sung twice)
George M. Cohan
Chorus
Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over
there That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming
Ev'rywhere.
So prepare, say a pray'r,
Send the word, send the word to
beware.
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's over
Over there.
Mobilizing for War
Mobilizing the Home Front: War
Industry Board (WIB)
•
•
Headed, by Bernard Baruch, the WIB:
1)
Allocated raw materials
2)
Standardized manufactured
products
3)
Instituted strict production &
purchasing controls
4)
Paid high prices to businesses for
their products
American industry was just beginning
to produce heavy armaments when the
war ended.
Mobilizing for War
The Food Administration:
•Headed by Herbert Hoover
 Fixed high prices to
encourage the production of
wheat, pork, and other
products.
 Encouraged the
conservation of food
(“wheatless,” “sweetless,”
“meatless,” and “porkless”)
 Food exports by 1919
were almost triple those of
the prewar years & farmers’
incomes rose almost 30%.
Mobilizing for War
The Fuel Administration was established in August 1917:
 “Fuelless Mondays” > for nonessential industries to conserve
coal
 “Gasless Sundays” > for automobile owners to save gasoline.
Gasless
Sunday in
Market
Square
c.1918
(Chicopee,
MA)
Mobilizing for War
•The U.S. Railroad Administration
was established:
 The government took over
& operated all the railroads in
the nation.
 The government paid the
owners rent for their use of
their lines.
 Spent over $500 million
on improved tracks &
equipment.
•The U.S. Shipping Board was
established to buy, build, lease,
and operate merchant ships for
the war effort.
Mobilizing for War
War Finance & Taxation
• The war cost about $33 billion.
• The U.S. government raised
about $10.5 billion in taxes &
borrowed the remaining $23
billion.
• The Revenue Act of 1918
imposed a personal income tax
•Liberty Bonds:
 Public pressure, peer
pressure & employer
pressure was used on
citizens to buy war bonds,
which covered a major part
of the borrowing.
Mobilizing for War
The Committee on Public
Information (CPI)
•Journalist George Creel headed the CPI.
• Established a successful system of
voluntary censorship of the press & a
propaganda campaign to build support
for the American cause.
War Labor Board (WLB)
•Created to prevent strikes & work
stoppages under the direction of
former President William Howard
Taft.
•It prohibited strikes, but also
encouraged higher wages, the 8-hour
day, and unionization (union
membership doubled during the war
from 2.5 million to about 5 million.)
Mobilizing for War
War Hysteria
• The American Protective League (25,000 members)
 publicly humiliated people accused of not buying war bonds
 persecuted, beat, and sometimes killed people of German descent.
• As a result of the CPI and vigilante groups:
 German language instruction in schools was banned
 German music was banned in many areas (i.e. Bach & Beethoven)
 German measles became “liberty measles”
 Sauerkraut became “liberty cabbage”
 Pretzels were banned in some cities
In rare occasions, dachshunds were stoned to death
• Anti-German hysteria was far worse in the U.S. than either Britain or
France.
Mobilizing for War
The War Encourages Social Change
•W.E.B. DuBois  African
American support for the war
would strengthen calls for social
justice
•William Monroe Trotter (founder
of the Boston Guardian)  victims
of racism shouldn’t support a
racist government
“That which the German power represents today
spells death to the aspirations of Negroes and all
darker races for equality, freedom and
democracy… Let us, while this war lasts, forget
our special grievances and close our ranks
shoulder to shoulder with our own white fellow
citizens and the allied nations that are fighting for
democracy.”
The War Encourages Social Change
•WWI accelerated the Great Migration (about 500,000 African Americans moved
to the North and Midwest)
•Reasons for black migration: escape racial discrimination, floods and droughts
(ruined many of the South’s cotton fields), job opportunities due to the war and
the drop in immigration
“Mr. President, why not make America
safe for Democracy?”
(In 1917, there were race riots in
26 cities in the North & South,
with the worst in East St. Louis,
Illinois)
President Woodrow Wilson
The World Must
Be Made Safe
For
Democracy?”
The 369th
-Among the first regiments to arrive in France: the
“Harlem Hellfighters”
-All-black regiment under the command of mostly
white officers
-Remember Plessy v. Ferguson?  Impact on African
American soldiers?
-380,000 African Americans served in the wartime
Army; 200,000 of these were sent to Europe
-More than half of those sent abroad were assigned
to labor battalions, but they performed essential
duties nonetheless, building roads, bridges, and
trenches in support of the front-line battle
-Roughly 42,000 saw combat.
-Fought in segregated units alongside the French
Henry Johnson
The War Encourages Social Change
What was the impact of WWI on women in the United
States?
The War’s Impact on Civil Liberties
The Espionage & Sedition Acts
The Espionage Act of 1917
• Provided fines & imprisonment for people who:
 made false statements which aided the enemy
 incited rebellion in the military
 obstructed recruitment or the draft
The Sedition Act of 1918
• forbade any criticism of the U.S. government, flag, or uniform
The War’s Impact on Civil Liberties
Schenck vs. United States (1919)
Origins of the Case: Charles Schenck, an official of the U.S. Socialist Party, distributed
leaflets that called the draft a “deed against humanity” and compared conscription
to slavery, urging conscripts to “assert your rights.” Schenck was convicted of
sedition and sentenced to prison, but he argued that the conviction, punishment,
and even the law itself violated his right to free speech. The Supreme Court agreed
to hear his appeal.
Question Presented: Whether Schenck’s First Amendment right to freedom of
speech was violated when he was convicted of conspiring to obstruct the
recruitment and enlistment of service.
The Ruling: A unanimous court upheld his conviction, staring that under wartime
conditions, the words in the leaflets were not protected by the right to free speech.
The War’s Impact on Civil Liberties
•The Supreme Court’s opinion in the case,
written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Jr., has become famous as a guide for how
the 1st Amendment defines the right of free
speech
“The question in every case is whether the
words used are used in such circumstances
and are of such a nature as to create a clear
and present danger that they will bring
about the substantive evils that Congress
has a right to prevent… Protection of free
speech would not protect a man in falsely
shouting ‘Fire!’ in a theatre and causing a
panic.”
Wilson Fights for Peace
•January 18, 1918 – Wilson delivered “Fourteen Points” speech to Congress
First Five Points – how to prevent another war:
1. No secret treaties
2. Freedom of seas for all
3. Tariffs/economic barriers lowered or abolished to foster free trade
4. Reduction of arms
5. Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial peoples as
well as the imperialist powers
Next Eight Points – boundary changes:
• Provisions based on principles of self-determination “along historically
established lines of nationality”
Fourteenth Point – League of Nations
• Creation of an international organization to address diplomatic crises
like those that sparked the war
The Allies Reject Wilson’s Plan
David Lloyd George (British
Prime Minister)
“Make Germany Pay”
Georges Clemenceau (French
premier)
Determined to prevent future
German invasions of France
Vittorio Orlando (Italian
Prime Minister)
Wanted control of Austrianheld territory
Provisions of the Treaty
•Est. 9 new nations and shifted the boundaries of other nations
•Carved out five areas of the Ottoman Empire and gave them to France and
Great Britain as mandates (temporary colonies)
•Barred Germany from maintaining an army, had to return Alsace-Lorraine to
France, had to pay reparations, lost colonial possessions in the Pacific
The Treaty’s Weaknesses
•Humiliated Germany –
war-guilt clause forced
Germany to admit sole
responsibility for
starting the war
•Russia lost more
territory than Germany
did – became
determined to regain it
•Ignored claims of
colonized people for
self-determination
Political Cartoon Analysis
How do the following cartoons represent the opposition
Wilson faced in Congress in order to ratify the Treaty of
Versailles?
Opposing Viewpoints
The United States Should Join the League
of Nations (1919)
James D. Phelan – Senator (D) from
California
The United States Should Not Join the
League of Nations (1919)
Lawrence Sherman – Senator (R)
from Illinois
Wilson’s Refusal to Compromise
•Had Wilson been more willing to accept a compromise on the League,
the Senate might have approved the treaty
•Delivered 34 speeches in 3 weeks (8,000 mile tour), explaining why
the U.S. should join the League
•Oct. 2, 1919 – suffered a stroke
•Senate rejected the treaty in both Nov. 1919 and March 1920
•Finally signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921
Legacy of WWI on the United States and the World
1. Strengthened U.S. military
and power of government
2. Accelerated social change
3. Propaganda provoked fears
and antagonisms that didn’t
go away
4. Europe – severely damaged
social and political systems
5. Americans began calling
WWI “the war to end all
wars”
6. Treaty of Versailles solved
nothing  fueled desire by
some to resume the fight