2. QUESTIONS???
• What motivated American’s “new imperialism”
• What was the role of religion as a motive for American territorial
expansion?
• What were the causes of the war of 1898?
• What did America gain from the War of 1898?
• What were the main achievements of President Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign
policy, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”?
3. AMERICAN IMPERIALISM IN A GLOBAL
CONTEXT
• 2nd
Industrial Revolution
• New markets
• Raw materials
• European Imperialism in Great Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Spain
• Africa
• Asia
• Missionaries
• Bring Christianity and Civilization to inferior races around the world
• Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis by Josiah Strong (1885)
• The Anglo-Saxon race embodied 2 great ideas
• Civil Liberty
• “a pure, Spiritual Christianity”
• Anglo Saxons ; “divinely commissioned to be, in a peculiar sense, “his brother’s keeper”
4. NAVAL PRESENCE PARAMOUNT
• Capt. Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-
1783 (1890)
• Modern Economic Development required:
• Powerful navy
• Strong merchant marine
• Foreign commerce, colonies, naval bases
• American Destiny
• Control the Caribbean
• Connect the Caribbean & Pacific Oceans with an isthmus canal
• Spread Western Civilization in the Pacific
5. RACIAL SUPERIORITY AND IMPERIALISM
• Western Industrial nations including the U.S. used Social Darwinist
arguments to justify economic exploitation and territorial conquest
• Among nations just as among individuals, only the fittest, survive
• Superior character of Anglo-Saxon peoples and institutions
• Protestant work ethic: reform the less civilized races through hard work and
Christianity
6. SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM SEWARD
• Believed that the U.S. had to remove all foreign interests from the
northern Pacific Coast to gain access to valuable ports
• Sought to annex British Columbia
• Learned that Russia desired to sell Alaska in 1866
• Purchased Alaska for 7.2 million “Seward’s folly”
9. CHEAP LABOR IN HAWAII
• Sugar and Missionaries
• 1875: Reciprocal Agreement
• Hawaiian sugar was duty free
• Hawaii guaranteed that no other power would have access to its territory
• Hawaiian Minority by 1890
• McKinley Tariff of 1890 reimposed tariff on Hawaiian sugar and granted subsidy to
sugar producers in the U.S.
10. QUEEN LILIUOKALANI
• 1891 attempted to overturn the existing Hawaiian Constitution and give veto rights to
the monarchy and voting rights to native Hawaiians
• 1893 American planters revolted and seized power
• U.S. Ambassador called in the marines to support the coup
• Planter’s committee called for annexation of Hawaii to the United States
• Blount Report commissioned by President Grover Cleveland found the coup was
engineered illegally by American planters with help of the U.S. Ambassador
• December 18,1893 demanded the reinstatement of the Queen
• Provisional Government refused and Cleveland sent the issue to Congress
• Morgan Report of 1894 commissioned by the U.S. Senate found American planters
innocent
• July 4, 1894 Republic of Hawaii: Sanford B. Dole inaugurated as President
12. THE WAR OF 1898
• “Cuba Libre”
• Cuban drive for independence from Spain
• 1895 Spanish governor placed all members of Cuban opposition in jail
• U.S. sugar and mining interests traded more with Cuba than did Spain
• February 24, 1895: popular uprising
• Pressure for War
• Joseph Pulitzer New York World
• William Randolph Hearst, New York Journal
• Yellow Journalism
15. REMEMBER THE MAINE!
• U.S.S. Maine docked in Havana Harbor on January 25, 1898
• February 15, 1898 the Maine exploded
• 260 sailors died
• Rush to Judgment
• Claims of sabotage supported by the media
• True cause: accidental
18. THE “SPLENDID LITTLE WAR”
• 114 Days
• The Finale of Spain’s overseas empire
• Philippine Theatre - April 30: Commodore George Dewey destroyed
Spanish flotilla in Manila Bay
• Relied on Filipino guerillas to hold the islands against Spanish troops
19. THE “SPLENDID LITTLE WAR”
• Cuban Theatre
• Spanish Navy stationed at Havana
• American Navy blockaded Spanish Navy while American troops transported to Cuba
• Teddy Roosevelt & The Rough Riders
21. THE WAR OF 1898
• The Debate over Annexation
• Location: next to Asia
• Natural resources
• Opportunity to Christianize
• The Philippine-American War
• 1899 American soldier fired on a group of Filipino nationalists
• Guerilla war lasted 3 years
• Insurgents turned against Americans
23. THE WAR OF 1898
• Religion and Empire
• Protestant ministers supported war as opening up opportunities for evangelism
• Protestants favored annexation of Philippines
• Roman Catholics opposed
• Could Filipinos be converted or did evangelization make matters worse?
26. THE WAR OF 1898
• Organizing the Acquisitions
• Philippines added as Territory of U.S.
• William Howard Taft: 1st
Governor
• Puerto Rico
• Organized to provide a buffer against European aggression
• Guard post for future Isthmus Canal linking Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
• Cuba
• Constitution
• Platt Amendment
27.
28. IMPERIAL RIVALRIES IN EAST ASIA
• The “Open Door”
• 1853 Commodore Perry forced Japan to open markets to U.S. goods
• 1895 Japanese expansion
• 1st
Sino-Japanese War
• Islands
• Revealed Chinese weakness against foreign aggression
• The Boxer Rebellion
• Chinese nationalists opposed to foreign encroachments
• Germany, France, Great Britain divide China into markets for Western goods
• Boxer Rebellion defeated by British, German, Russian, Japanese and U.S. forces
31. EIGHT NATION ALLIANCE
Britain, Unite States, Australia, British India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy, Japan, 1908 Historica
Yamagawa Shuppan
32.
33. BIG-STICK DIPLOMACY
• Roosevelt’s Rise
• Governor of New York
• Vice President (1900)
• President (1901)
• The Panama Canal
• Opened in 1914
36. BIG-STICK DIPLOMACY
• The Roosevelt Corollary
• If a foreign nation had an issue with a Western Nation, it should deal with the
U.S. first and the U.S. would handle it
• The Russo-Japanese War
• Japan attacked Russia in 1904
• Japan destroyed Russian fleet
• Roosevelt sponsored meeting between Russia and Japan
• Treaty of Portsmouth: status quo ante
37.
38.
39. BIG-STICK DIPLOMACY
• Relations with Japan
• Japan disavowed claims to the Philippines in return for U.S. recognition of
Japanese control of Korean Peninsula
• San Francisco ordered Japanese students to attend separate but equal schools
• In response to Japanese government protest, Roosevelt forced city to change
policy and Japan agreed not to issue any visas for citizens to visit U.S.
• The United States and Europe
• 1907 Roosevelt and the Great White Fleet
40. Waterman, C.E. “Ships Steaming in Column from Hampton Roads, VA December 1907 (Public Domain)
43. Rogers, W.A. “Welcome Home,” New York Herald, February 22, 1909 (Library of Congress).
44. BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTE
• All images are in the Public Domain or Licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
• Attribution has been given where known.
Hinweis der Redaktion
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Cubans had repeatedly revolted against their Spanish colonizers. Each time insurrection broke out, it was put down bloodily. When another attempt broke out in 1895, the Spanish commander placed all of the Cubans in detention centers to prevent more joining the cause. His actions would be luridly portrayed by Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal newspapers, then locked in a competition for the most readers. Cleveland, still president at this time, tried to protect American interests in Cuba, while the newspapers engaged in sensationalist stories about Cuba that were dubbed “yellow journalism.”
Once McKinley was inaugurated, issues in Cuba grew more tenuous, and the battleship Maine was sent to Havana harbor to protect American citizens and interests. Around the same time, a letter sent from the Spanish ambassador to a friend in Havana and published in American papers denounced McKinley as a weak politician. Shortly thereafter, the Maine exploded, killing 260 sailors. (At first, the explosion was blamed on a mine in the harbor, but a 1976 study revealed that it had been an internal explosion.) On these grounds McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war, which was granted. Shortly after a Spanish official offered to give McKinley an official surrender.
The location of the Philippines next to Asia provoked an expansionist spirit in many Americans. The proximity of the island to China, the availability of vast quantities of natural resources, and the opportunity to “Christianize” its inhabitants marked it as a sure bet for colonization. Eventually, the peace treaty was ratified.
In 1899, an American solider outside Manila fired on a group of Filipino nationalists, and a new war erupted. It would take three years to suppress the nationalist uprising that followed. The same guerillas that Dewey had relied on to secure Manila before the army could arrive now turned against their American saviors.
Turmoil in the Philippines Emilio Aguinaldo (seated third from right) and other leaders of the Filipino insurgence.
Riding a wave of evangelism, many Protestant ministers promoted what they saw as a ripe opportunity to began the evangelization of the world. Many unabashedly promoted the benefits of the Anglo-Saxon race and the Christian religion. Many Americans found themselves divided by religious affiliation concerning the annexation of the former Spanish colonies. Protestants favored annexation, while Catholics warned that trying to convert the colonies to Protestantism would only exacerbate the problems.
“The water cure” A prisoner of war being tortured during the Philippine-American War.
Why was President McKinley eager to acquire territory in the Pacific and the Caribbean? What kind of political system did the U.S. government create in Hawaii and in the Philippines? How did Filipinos and Hawaiians resist the Americans?
The Philippines eventually would be added as a territory of the United States and future president William Howard Taft would be named the first governor. Succeeding legislation would provide for greater Filipino control of the islands, culminating in their independence in 1946. Puerto Rico had come under U.S. control in the peace treaty, and it was organized to provide a bastion from future European aggression and as a guard post for a future isthmus canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Cuba would be allowed to craft its own constitution but was limited in its freedom by the Platt Amendment, which placed restrictions on its rights.
“Well, I Hardly Know Which to Take First!” At the end of the nineteenth century, it seemed that Uncle Sam had developed a considerable appetite for foreign territory.
In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry had sailed to Japan to force its acceptance of items from Western markets. By 1895, Japan had begun to expand by defeating China in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), taking several islands and, more importantly, revealing China’s weakness against aggression.
Acting on this new revelation, Germany, France, Russia, and Great Britain began dividing China up into markets for their expansion. Unwilling to accept a China that was divided so many ways, the United States issued the Open Door Note, which proposed leaving China open to trade by all nations.
A group of Chinese nationalists known as the Boxers would rebel against the foreign encroachments into their country, but they were eventually put down by intervention from a joint assault of British, German, Russian, Japanese, and American forces.
“The Open Door” Cartoon depicting Uncle Sam propping open a door for China with a brick labeled “U.S. Army and Navy Prestige,” as colonial powers look on.
Trade with China U.S. troops marching in Beijing after quelling the Boxer Rebellion.
Mr. Imperialism This 1900 cartoon shows the Republican vice-presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt, overshadowing his running mate, President William McKinley.
Theodore Roosevelt was the first modern president. In fact, it can be argued that he, more than any other president, shaped what Americans’ expect of the president in this era. After his role in the Spanish-American War, he became governor of New York, and in 1900, he was elected vice-president under McKinley. Then, in 1901, McKinley was assassinated, making Roosevelt the youngest president ever to hold the office.
The Spanish American War once again revealed the need for a canal between the two seas. The United States now set out to build one, but where should it be located? Two paths were proposed, one through Panama, a province of Columbia, and one through Nicaragua. Eventually Panama was chosen, and when Columbia refused to go along, the Panamanians declared their independence, and Columbia was unable to respond due to U.S. warships “conveniently” located in the way. The canal would eventually open in 1914.
Why did America want to build the Panama Canal? How did the U.S. government interfere with Colombian politics in an effort to gain control of the canal? What was the Roosevelt Corollary?
Digging the canal President Theodore Roosevelt operating a steam shovel during his 1906 visit to the Panama Canal.
The Caribbean was ripe for armed intervention from European powers on the premise of collecting of debts owed them by those nations. In 1904, Roosevelt would issue the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that if a foreign nation had an issue with a Western nation, it should come to the United States for redress of its grievances and the United States would take care of it.
Japan attacked Russia in 1904, when Japan felt that Russia’s ambitions counteracted its own. In a brilliant attack on the Russian navy, Japan destroyed its fleet. Roosevelt sponsored a meeting between the two nations, and the result was the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905.
The world’s policeman President Theodore Roosevelt wields “the big stick,” symbolizing his aggressive diplomacy.
While Roosevelt met with Russian and Japanese leaders to secure the peace, he sent William Howard Taft to Tokyo to secure an agreement with Japan in which Japan disavowed any claim to the Philippines in return for U.S. recognition of Japanese control of the Korean peninsula. However, distrust reigned on both sides, and when the city of San Francisco ordered Asian students to attend separate schools, Japan protested the action vigorously. Roosevelt would force the city to change its policy while at the same time securing an agreement that Japan would no longer issue visas for its citizens to visit the United States.
Africa was the last continent to face colonization. In 1905, the German kaiser, Wilhelm II, brought the world to the precipice of war with his remarks. Roosevelt intervened and secured a peace between the aggrieved nations. The capstone of Roosevelt’s successes as president came in 1907 when he sent the entire navy, dubbed the Great White Fleet (which had been painted white in time of peace) across the globe. It landed at every major port, illustrating the might of the United States.