Desire for Military Strength

•Admiral Alfred T. Mahan – Influence of Sea Power on History -urges U.S. to build up navy to compete▫Modern fleet (steel navy)▫Bases in the Caribbean▫A canal across Central America▫Islands for refueling in the

Pacific•U.S. builds modern battleships,

becomes third largest naval power

Rear Admiral Alfred T Mahan

Thirst for New Markets

•Overproduction - U.S. farms, factories produce more than Americans can consume

•U.S. needs raw materials, new markets for goods

•Foreign trade is solution to overproduction, unemployment, depression

Belief in Cultural Superiority

•Some combine Social Darwinism with belief in superiority of Anglo-Saxons – survival of the fittest race or nation

•Argue U.S. has duty to Christianize, civilize “inferior peoples” and spread democracy

Artist’s Depiction of his view of Social Darwinism

The United States Acquires Alaska

•William Seward - Secretary of State - arranges purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

•has trouble convincing House to fund purchase

•Alaska called “Seward’s Icebox,” “Seward’s Folly”

•Alaska rich in timber, minerals, oil

William Seward

Thomas Nast Cartoon

lampooning Seward’s Folly -

Alaska

The United States Takes Hawaii

•American-owned sugar plantations = 75% of islands’ wealth

•U.S. pressures Hawaii to allow naval base at Pearl Harbor 

•McKinley Tariff eliminates duty-free status of Hawaiian sugar

•Planters call for U.S. to annex islands so will not have to pay duty

A woman (Hawai'i) and

Uncle Sam are getting married, kneeling before

the minister (McKinley) who is

reading from a book entitled "Annexation

Policy". The bride seems ready to

bolt.

The End of a Monarchy•Queen Liliuokalani tries to

remove landowning requirement to vote

•With help of marines, business groups overthrow queen

•Under President McKinley, Congress proclaims Hawaii U.S. territory

Queen Liliuokalani, last Queen of Hawaii

The Spanish-American War

•In 1898, the United States goes to war to help Cuba win its independence from Spain.

Drawing depicting the sinking of the USS Maine

Cubans Rebel Against Spain

•U.S. long interested in Cuba; wants to buy Cuba from Spain

•During war for independence, American sympathies with Cuba

•U.S. heavily invested in sugar cane•Guerrilla campaign destroys American-

owned sugar mills, plantations

Road to War

•U. S. public opinion split: business for Sp. and public for Cubans

•Sp. Gen. Weyler puts about 300,000 Cubans in concentration camps

•Newspapers exploit Weyler’s actions in circulation war

•Yellow journalism - sensational writing used to lure, enrage readers (Joseph Pulitzer & William Randolph Hearst)

William R Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer use yellow journalism to push fo rwar

Spanish-American War

•The U.S.S. Maine Explodes•Was sent to pick up U.S. citizens, protect U.S.

property•Ship blows up in Havana harbor;

newspapers blame Spain although there’s no proof.

•U.S. declares war April 1898

The War Begins

•First battle with Spain occurs in Spanish colony of the Philippines

•Commodore George Dewey destroys Spanish fleet in Manila harbor

•Filipinos, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, support Dewey

•August 1898, Spanish troops in Manila surrender to U.S.

Emilio AguinaldoGeorge Dewey

War with Spain Erupts

•U.S. blockades Cuba; destroys Spanish fleet•U.S. army has small professional force, many

volunteers - ill-prepared, ill-supplied•Rough Riders—Theodore Roosevelt led

volunteer cavalry and declared hero of San Juan Hill

•U.S. troops invade Puerto Rico soon after

War Ends•Treaty of Paris 1898•Spain frees Cuba; hands Guam, Puerto Rico to

U.S.; sells Philippines to U.S.•Treaty of Paris touches off great debate over

imperialism•McKinley tries to justify annexation of

Philippines on moral grounds•Opponents give political, moral, economic

arguments against imperialism

Signers of the Treaty of Paris, 1898 ending the Spanish American War

Acquiring New Lands

•In the early 1900s, the United States engages in conflicts in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines

1898 political cartoon showing U.S. President

McKinley with a child "savage". Here, returning

the Philippines to Spain is compared

to throwing the child off a cliff.

Ruling Puerto Rico

•Puerto Rico under military control•PR strategic as post in Caribbean, for

protection of future canal•Foraker Act sets up civil government

▫president appoints governor, upper house▫Puerto Ricans denied citizenship

Cuba and the United States

•U.S. recognizes Cuban independence from Spain

•Teller Amendment says U.S. has no intention of taking over Cuba

•After war U.S. occupies Cuba; •U.S. makes Cuba add Platt Amendment to its

constitution

Platt Amendment

•Platt Amendment does not allow Cuba to go into debt; also stipulates▫no treaties that let foreign power control

land▫U.S. has right to intervene▫U.S. can buy, lease land for navy

•Cuba becomes a Protectorate - country whose affairs are partly controlled by stronger one

Cuban view of Platt Amendment

Philippine-American War

•Filipinos outraged at Treaty of Paris call for annexation

• Emilio Aguinaldo leads fight for independence against U.S.

•Atrocities committed on both sides•U.S. helps to rebuild and modernize

Philippines•Philippines finally gain independence on July

4, 1946

American political cartoon criticizing US war policy in the Philippines

Foreign Influence in China

•U.S. sees China as vast potential market, investment opportunity

•France, Britain, Japan, Russia have settlements, spheres of influence

•U.S. Secretary of State John Hay issues Open Door notes

•Notes ask imperialist nations to share trading rights with U.S.

John Hay

In this cartoon called “the Boxers”,

Uncle Sam tells the Boxer

that “I occasionally

do a little boxing

myself!”

The Boxer Rebellion in China

•Europeans dominate most large Chinese cities

•Chinese form secret societies, including Boxers, to expel foreigners

•Boxers kill hundreds of foreigners, Chinese converts to Christianity

•U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Japan put down Boxer Rebellion

A "Boxer" in 1900

Allies attack the Forbidden City in Peking

Protecting American Rights

•Hay issues new Open Door notes saying U. S. will keep trade open

•Open Door policy reflects beliefs about U.S. economy:▫growth depends on exports▫U.S. has right to keep markets open▫closing of area threatens U.S. survival

The Impact of U.S. Territorial Gains

•The Anti-Imperialist League•McKinley’s reelection confirms most

Americans favor imperialism•Anti-Imperialist League has prominent

people from different fields•For various reasons, agree wrong to rule

others without their consent

Cartoon depiction of the Anti Imperialist

League

America as a World Power

•The Russo-Japanese War, the Panama Canal, and the Mexican Revolution add to America’s military and economic power.

Teddy Roosevelt and the World

•Roosevelt the Peacemaker•Roosevelt does not want Europeans to

control world economy, politics•1904, Japan & Russia dispute control of

Korea (Russo-Japanese War)•Roosevelt negotiates Treaty of Portsmouth: •Roosevelt wins Nobel Peace Prize

Teddy Roosevelt wins

Nobel Peace prize for

negotiating the Treaty of

Portsmouth, ending the

Sino-Russian War

Panama Canal•U.S. wants canal to cut travel time of

commercial, military ships•Negotiates with Colombia to build Panama

Canal; talks break down•U.S. gives military aid to Panamanian

Revolution•U.S., Panama sign treaty; U.S. pays $10

million for Canal Zone

Harpers Weekly Cartoon depicting the challenges of the Panama Canal

Constructing the Canal

•Construction of canal is one of world’s greatest engineering feats

•It is 10 miles wide, 50 miles long, and took 10 years to build.

•It was finished just in time for WWI

Contemporary Drawing of the building of the Panama Canal

Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy

•Roosevelt’s foreign policy was referred to as Big Stick Diplomacy after an African proverb.

•It meant the U.S. would try diplomacy first but would be prepared to use force if necessary to get what we want.

•The Roosevelt Corollary is part of this.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy – Walk Softly but Carry a Big Stick

The Roosevelt Corollary

•The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

•Roosevelt fears European intervention if Latin America defaults on debts

•Reminds Europeans of Monroe Doctrine, demands they stay out

•·Roosevelt Corollary—U. S. to use force to protect economic interests – act as world’s policeman

Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy

•Dollar diplomacy—U.S. guarantees foreign loans by U.S. business to Latin American countries

•Sometimes called “Dollars for Bullets” – it is about using money not force.

Theodore Roosevelt

Wilson’s Missionary Diplomacy•Missionary Diplomacy, also called Moral

Diplomacy:•U.S. has moral responsibility:

▫will not recognize regimes that are oppressive, undemocratic

•U.S. fears for investments during the Mexican Revolution

•A series of Mex. Presidents are overthrown and murdered.

•Wilson refuses to recognize these governments

Rebellion in Mexico

•Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Emiliano Zapata oppose Carranza as president

•Wilson recognizes Carranza’s government; Villa threatens reprisals▫Villa’s men kill

Americans in Mexico and New Mexico Francisco “Pancho” Villa

Chasing Villa•General John J. (Blackjack)

Pershing leads force to capture Villa

•Carranza demands withdrawal of U.S. troops; Wilson at first refuses

• ·U.S. faces war in Europe, wants peace on southern border

•Wilson orders Pershing home to lead troops in WWI.

General John J “Blackjack” Pershing