Transcript American Imperialism - Mr. Pratt`s History Class

Roots of Expansion: The Gilded Age
1880—1890
• Population growing: 50 million (1880)
• Industry: # 2 in the world (UK = #1)
• America turned their attention inward after 1860—post-Civil War U.S.
continued to focus inward
• Navy was small and inadequate
• State Dept. was on the sidelines as Congress controlled the country
• However U.S. was beginning to out-grow it’s borders
• The West was closed off: (Turner Thesis) so now what?
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“American diplomacy in these years has been
characterized as a series of incidents, not the
pursuit of foreign policy.”
1. Commercial/Business
Interests
U. S. Foreign
Investments: 18691908
2. Military/Strategic Interests
Alfred T. Mahan The Influence of Sea Power on
History: 1660-1783
3. Social Darwinist Thinking
The Hierarchy
of Race
The White Man’s
Burden
4. Religious/Missionary Interests
American
Missionaries
in China, 1905
5. Closing the American Frontier
Frederick Jackson Turner’s
“Frontier Thesis”
“Seward’s Folly”: 1867
$7.2 million
WHY did the U.S. buy Alaska??
• Alaska had been settled by Russian
fur traders in the late 1700s, but by
1867 fur sources were becoming
scarce.
• In addition, Russia was struggling to
recover from the Crimean War. As a
result, Russia offered to sell Alaska
to the United States.
• Overcoming strong opposition from
Congress, Secretary of State William
Seward bought Alaska for $7.2
million in 1867.
• Critics scoffed at “Seward’s Folly,”
thinking that the territory was a
frozen wasteland. But after gold and
oil were discovered, Americans
appreciated the bargain. Seward
also acquired the
Midway Islands that same year.
U. S. View of Hawaiians
Hawaii becomes a U. S. Protectorate in 1849
by virtue of economic treaties.
Case Study:
Hawaii and Gilded Age Expansionism
• 1870’s: American businessmen invested in Hawaiian
sugar
• 1875: the sale of Hawaiian sugar in the U.S. became
duty-free.
• Over the years American businessmen increased their
investments and control over the Hawaiian economy.
• 1887: treaty signed that:
a) forced King Kalakaua to change the Hawaiian
constitution only allowing wealthy landowners voting
rights (Bayonet Constitution).
b) allowed for the construction of Pearl Harbor
- to protect American businessmen and their
business interests.
• 1890: McKinley Tariff eliminated duty-free Hawaiian
sugar, thus creating more competition for sugar in
the American market (Cuban sugar:equal playing field)
U. S. Business Interests In Hawaii
1890 – McKinley Tariff

1893 – American
businessmen backed an
uprising against Queen
Liliuokalani—why??.
Sanford B. Dole
The Hawaiian
“Republic”
• 1891: King dies, Queen Liliuokalani takes over and calls for a new
constitution that would restore voting rights and political power to the
Hawaiian people.
• 1893: Sugar planters, already upset at the tariff, revolted against the
Queen and called for a treaty of annexation led by US Ambassador John
Stevens.
• USS Boston sails into Honolulu; Marines on shore to “protect American
interests.”
• US takes control of the government and sets up a provisional
government led by Sanford B. Dole.
• Stevens immediately recognized Dole’s government and sent it to
Washington asking to annex the island.
• Cleveland said no to annexation, but recognized Republic of Hawaii.
• 1898: McKinley  Hawaii becomes a territory
Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani
Hawaii for the
Hawaiians!
Spanish Misrule in Cuba
• Since the 1860s, Cuba sought independence from Spain
• 1895 Jose Marti began a guerilla war rebellion to obtain Cuba
independence from Spain.
•
Valeriano Weyler (Span. Com.) – adopted a round then up (concentration
camp) style response.
Valeriano “The Butcher” Weyler’s
Reconcentration Policy
1. “Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism
Joseph Pulitzer –
“New York World”
Hearst to Frederick Remington: You furnish the
pictures, and I’ll furnish the war!
• Pres. McKinley was more concerned about
the disruption of business and called for the
war to end in Cuba – immediately – or else.
William Randolph Hearst • Jingoism—extreme nationalism marked by a
belligerent foreign policy.
— “New York Journal”
2. 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.
3. Remember the Maine
and to Hell with Spain!
Funeral for Maine
victims in Havana
The Spanish-American War:
Causes:
3) The USS Maine Explodes:
• 260 seamen dead
• McKinley now had to look at war as a possibility
• Tried to negotiate with Spain, but they rejected the
peace offering
• War hawks in Congress pushed for war
• McKinley reluctantly went to war; eventually saw it
as an opportunity for American expansion
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!
Resigns his position
to fight in Cuba.
The
“Rough
Riders”
Cuban Independence?
Teller Amendment (1898)
Platt Amendment (1903)
Senator
Orville Platt
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.
The Spanish-American War (1898):
“That Splendid Little War”
Before TR headed to
Cuba, he gave orders
to attack Philippines.
U.S. destroyed
Spanish fleet in a
matter of hours.
Dewey received help
on the mainland from
rebel leader Emilio
Aguinaldo.
Dewey Captures Manila!
Meanwhile . . .the War in Cuba
•U.S. issued Teller Amendment: promised to allow Cuba to
govern itself once freed from Spain.
•Wool uniforms and mess kits from Civil War slowed efforts!
•Rough Riders (on foot) charged San Juan Hill.
•In less than 4 months, Spain was defeated.
The Treaty of Paris: 1898
Cuba was freed from Spanish rule.
Spain gave up Puerto Rico and the island of
Guam.
The U. S. becomes
an imperial power!
What to do about the
Philippines??
Annexing the Philippines
• Having been promised independence for
fighting alongside the Americans against
Spain, Filipinos expected independence.
Annexing the Philippines
•Pres. McKinley
believed we had to
“educate and uplift” our
“ little brown brothers”
•Emilio Aguinaldo
fought U.S. soldiers for
3 years—4,000 U.S.
soldiers and 220,000
Filipinos died.
•Not until 1946 would
the Philippines be
granted their
independence.
William H. Taft, 1st
Gov.-General of the Philippines
US refused to acknowledge the
Filipino request to gain
independence
Taft (governor-general)
promised indep. and high
degree of self-rule.
The Philippines would not
be granted independence
until 1946.
The Philippines
•
Feeling betrayed, Emilio Aguinaldo & Filipino rebels enter a war against the
U.S.
•
Jan. 1899 Aguinaldo proclaimed the Philippines independent
Philippine-American War (1899—1902) U.S. deaths: 4,200
Filipino deaths: 20,000
•
Long-drawn out conflict with the use of some brutal tactics by both sides.
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 Imperialist Tailor
Our “Sphere of Influence”
Puerto Rico: 1898
1900 - Foraker Act.
§ PR became an “unincorporated territory.”
§ Citizens of PR, not of the US.
§ Import duties on PR goods
1901-1903
the Insular Cases.
§ Constitutional rights were not automatically
extended to territorial possessions.
§ Congress had the power to decide these rights.
§ Import duties laid down by the Foraker Act were
legal!
Puerto Rico: 1898
1917 – Jones Act.
§ Gave full territorial status to PR.
§ Removed tariff duties on PR goods coming
into the US.
§ PRs elected their
own legislators &
governor to enforce
local laws.
§ PRs could NOT vote
in US presidential
elections.
§ A resident commissioner was sent to
Washington to vote for PR in the House.
Panama: The King’s Crown
1850
Clayton-BulwerTreaty.
1901
Hay-PaunceforteTreaty.
treaty signed by the U.S. & the U.K.
as a preliminary to the creation of the
Panama Canal
nullified the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of
1850; gave the U.S. right to create
and control a canal across the
Central American isthmus connecting
the Pacific & Atlantic
Dr. Walter Reed- Yellow Fever
1903
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty.
Panama Canal
TR in Panama
(Construction begins in
1904)
The Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine: 1905
Chronic wrongdoing…
may in America, as
elsewhere, ultimately
require intervention by
some civilized nation, and
in the Western Hemisphere
the adherence of the
United States to the
Monroe Doctrine may force
the United States, however
reluctantly, in flagrant
cases of such wrongdoing
or impotence, to the
exercise of an international
police power .
Speak Softly,
But Carry a Big Stick!
America as a Pacific Power
The Cares of a Growing Family
Constable of the World
U. S. Interventions in
Latin America: 1898-1920s
Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905
Nobel Peace Prize for Teddy
The Great White Fleet: 1907
Taft’s “Dollar
Diplomacy”
Improve financial
opportunities for
American businesses.
Use private capital to
further U. S. interests
overseas.
Therefore, the U.S.
should create stability
and order abroad that
would best promote
America’s commercial
interests.
The Mexican Revolution: 1910s
Victoriano Huerta seizes control of Mexico
and puts Madero in prison where he was
murdered.
Venustiano Carranza, Pancho Villa, Emiliano
Zapata, and Alvaro Obregon fought against
Huerta.
The U.S. also got involved by occupying
Veracruz and Huerta fled the country.
Eventually Carranza would gain power in
Mexico.
The Mexican Revolution: 1910s
Emiliano Zapata
Pancho Villa
Venustiano Carranza
Porfirio
Diaz
Francisco I Madero
Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
The U. S. should
be the conscience
of the world.
Spread democracy.
Promote peace.
Condemn
colonialism.
Uncle Sam: One of the “Boys?”
Political Cartoon Activity