Transcript The White Man`s Burden

• Take out a sheet of paper & fold it vertically to
create TWO columns.
• Left Column: Label “White Man’s Burden”
• Right Column: Label “Beliefs About Race &
the Other”
• LISTEN to the film and jot down notes related
to the above concepts…think about
meanings/ideologies, causes & effects of
these ideas…
• What role did beliefs
about race play in
the American
colonization of
Mexican territory,
Cuba, the
Philippines, Guam
and Puerto Rico?
• Organizers of the
1904 St. Louis
World’s Fair put on
display people
whom they defined
as “other.” What
characterizes those
who are defined as
different?
New Manifest Destiny Developments
1. Subjugation of Indian tribes established a precedent for
“control over dependent people.”
New Manifest Destiny Developments
2. Closing of the Frontier – Fear of natural resources dwindling;
Overseas adventures might offer outlet/safety valve for
restless Americans (Social Protest…)
New Manifest Destiny Developments
3. Commercial and Business Interests: Looking for new markets
abroad as a result of Depression in 1890s
New Manifest Destiny Developments
Alfred T.
Mahan 
The
Influence
of Sea
Power on
History:
1660-1783
4. Naval Power: Strong navy crucial to a country’s ability to
secure foreign markets and become a world power.
New Manifest Destiny Developments
American Missionaries
in China, 1905
5.
Religious Motives – Missionaries: “Duty” to colonize other lands for
purpose of spreading Christianity and Western Civilization.
New Manifest Destiny Developments
The White Man’s Burden
The Hierarchy of Race
6. International Darwinism: Strong nations will (should)
dominate weak ones…survival of the fittest.
• Cuba a colony of Spain
• Cuban Revolt:
– Bands of Cuban nationalists fighting for 10 years to overthrow Spanish colonial
rule
– 1895, adopt the strategy of sabotaging and destroying Cuban plantations to
either force Spain’s withdrawal or involve the United States
• Why would the U.S. be interested? Up until this point…American people sympathized
with Cubans but the U.S. never intervened…
• BUT…American companies owned several sugar mills and plantations in Cuba!
• Now they’re INTERESTED…Cleveland did not react but McKinley did.
– Spain responds with placing the rebels in guarded camps (Reconcentration
camps) – dismal conditions
– Estimated 200,000 Cubans died in the camps
Valeriano Weyler’s
“Reconcentration” Policy
General Valeriano Weyler understood very quickly that the key to a
Spanish victory over the insurgents was to strip the guerrillas of
their abilities to live off the land and camouflage themselves in
groups of civilians. To this end, he began a policy of moving Cuban
civilians to central locations where they would be under the control
of the Spanish army. In addition, he put the entire island under
martial law.
The policy had disastrous consequences. Unlike many concentration
camps in the twentieth century, the idea was to keep the Cuban
civilians alive and protected until the Spanish were victorious.
Unfortunately at least 30% perished from lack of proper food,
sanitary conditions, and medicines. The policy generated severe
anti-Spanish feeling in the United States which helped propel it into
war in 1898. Finally, it did not benefit the Spanish in the war.
“Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism
Joseph Pulitzer
Hearst to Frederick Remington:
You furnish the pictures,
and I’ll furnish the war!
William Randolph Hearst
Jingoism – extreme patriotism that includes
war as foreign policy measure
De Lôme Letter
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 would-be politician
who tries to leave a door
open behind himself while
keeping on good terms
with the jingoes of his
party.
Theodore Roosevelt
Assistant Secretary of
the Navy in the McKinley
administration.
Imperialist and American
nationalist.
Criticized President
McKinley as having the
backbone of a chocolate
éclair!
Eventually, resigns his
position to fight in Cuba.
Remember the Maine
and to Hell with Spain!
Funeral for Maine
victims in Havana
The Spanish-American War (1898):
“That Splendid Little War”
McKinley’s War Message:
1. “Put an end to the
barbarities, bloodshed,
starvation, and horrible
miseries” in Cuba
2. Protect the lives and property
of U.S. citizens living in Cuba
3. End “the very serious injury
to the commerce, trade, and
business of our people”
4. End “the constant menace to
our peace” arising from the
disorders in Cuba
• Congress passed a resolution authorizing war…(but the Teller Amendment
stated the U.S. had no intention of taking political control of Cuba and that,
once peace was restored, the Cubans would control their own government…)
Dewey Captures Manila!
Emilio Aguinaldo
Leader
of the Filipino
Uprising.
July 4, 1946:
Philippine independence
The American Anti-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.
The
Invasion
of Cuba
The “Rough Riders”
The Treaty of Paris: 1898
Cuba was freed from Spanish rule.
Spain gave up Puerto Rico and the
island of Guam.
The U.S. paid Spain
$20 mil. for the
Philippines.
The U.S. becomes
an imperial power!