Transcript Foreign Policy and Imperialism

Zoë Dennis
Caleb Stevens
Kellie White
The Second “Manifest Destiny”



Resources- Fear that natural resources caused
high power figures to begin looking at other
nations as a source.
Trade- The U.S. began to raise more than able to
sell and saw the acquisition of colonies a
possibility to expand trade.
Social Darwinism- Philosophical justification for
Imperialism.
Hawaii
Way station for U.S. ships in the
China trade since early 1800s.
 Self sufficient ancient civilization
of Polynesian people.
 William Hooper, first U.S.
merchant to buy land and
establish a sugar plantation on
the islands.
 Beginning of U.S. settlement
and impacted Hawaiian society
negatively.

Hawaiian Relations
1887- Treaty was
negotiated between U.S.
and Hawaii to open the
naval base at Pearl
Harbor.
 1875- Agreement
reached to allow
Hawaiian sugar to enter
United States duty free.
 1893- President Harrison
signed an annexation
agreement of Hawaii

Samoa
Served as a way station
for American ships in
the Pacific trade.
 1878- A treaty between
Samoan leaders and
U.S. opened an
American naval station
at Pago Pago.
 Great Britain, Germany,
and U.S. had an
agreement in ruling the
islands. In 1899, U.S.
and Germany divided
islands and gave other
Pacific territories to
Great Britain.

Cuban Controversy
Wilson-Gorman Tariff 1894Cut off exports of sugar to
the U.S. due to high duties.
 Cuban Revolt – The Cubans
rose up against the Spanish
misrule. Both sides of the
conflict became so horrific.
 General Valeriano WeylerLeader of the Spanish. U.S.
press dubbed him “Butcher
Weyler” due to his opening of
concentration camps.

Yellow Journalism



New kind of newspaper that specialized in lurid
and sensational news.
Joseph Pulitzer and Randolph Hearst are two of
the most famous yellow journalists.
Covered the Cuban crisis and persuaded the
U.S.’s opinions to be for war.
“Remember the Maine!”
Two incidents that were immediate triggers for
Spanish-American War
 De Lôme letter- Cuban agent stole a private letter
written by Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish minister in
Washington, that slammed President McKinley
 U.S.S. Maine- The American battleship Maine
blew up in Havana harbor. Americans believed it to
be the doings of the Spanish and war hysteria
swept the country.
“A Splendid Little War”



Spanish-American War- declared in April 1898 and
ended in August 1898.
Secretary of State John Hay dubbed the conflict “
a splendid little war”.
Formal end to war came with the Treaty of Paris in
December 1898 following the armistice concerning
Cuba in August of 1898.
Battle for Cuba
Cuba was main focus of U.S.
military efforts during the
Spanish-American War
 The Rough Riders- Led by
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
(nominally led by General
Leonard Wood), was a
cavalry unit that was involved
in several conflicts in Cuba
 San Juan Hill- Famous
charge in which the invasion
force was actually integrated
with Black soldiers.

Philippines & Puerto Rico


Philippines: Commodore George Dewey was
instructed to attack Spanish naval forces in the
Philippines. In May of 1898, Dewey was victorious
in destroying the Spanish fleet.
Puerto Rico: Acquired Puerto Rico during SpanishAmerican War and annexed it.
Anti-Imperialist League
Following the Spanish-American
war, the annexation of the
Philippines inspired an intense
debate. An Anti-Imperialist
movement arose against the
acquisition of the Philippines.
 Anti-imperialists included
Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain,
Samuel Gompers and others.
 The debate between antiimperialists and imperialists was
prevalent in the election of
1900. McKinley won and
showed that imperialism was
still favored among the nation.

Philippine War

Four year war involving Filipino insurgents and the United
States. After the U.S. stepped in to aid the Filipinos
against Spanish rule, the U.S. planned to settle in the
islands. This caused the Filipino government to turn
against the U.S. resulting in one of the longest and
bloodiest wars the United States has ever been involved
with. Ended with an agreement and trade increased
between the Philippines and the United States.
Open-Doors and Boxers

Open-Door Policy
 Each nation with a sphere of influence in China was to respect
the rights and privileges of other nations in its sphere
 Chinese officials were to continue to collect tariff duties in all
spheres.
 Nations were not to discriminate against other nations in levying
port dues and railroad rates within their spheres.

Boxer Rebellion- The boxers, a secret Chinese martialarts society, rebelled against the foreign powers in
China. Expeditionary forces from the Imperial powers
stopped the siege.
U.S. “Scoreboard”

Territories acquired





Hawaii
Samoan Islands (split with Germany)
Puerto Rico
Guam
Philippines
 Cuba ceded from Spanish rule but became a
protectorate since it did not end up belonging to
the U.S.
Roosevelt Administration and
Foreign Policy


Following McKinley’s death, Theodore Roosevelt
took over as President. His foreign policies first
began with protecting the Open Door in China. He
negotiated the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
The Japanese became a naval power in the
pacific and Roosevelt sent the reminder that the
U.S. was a force to be reckoned with by sending
the “Great White Fleet”.
Panama



Roosevelt took interest in Latin America with the
creation of the Roosevelt Corollary
The Panama canal was created to increase U.S.
access to international trade.
Roosevelt orchestrated a Panamanian Revolt
against the Colombian government which in turn
helped Panama gain its independence.