American Imperialism & Expansionism

1890-1915

World Powers

The most economically and militarily strong countries in the world

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Expansionism

A nation’s desire to expand beyond its borders and acquire more territory

2

Imperialism

Stronger nations create empires by dominating

nations that are economically, politically,

culturally or militarily weaker.

3

Four Factors Fostering Imperialism

•Economic•Nationalistic•Military•Humanitarian

4

Economic Factors•Industrialized nations

needed new sources of natural resources, such as rubber and petroleum.

•They also wanted new markets in which to sell their manufactured goods.

5

Nationalism• Devotion to one’s own nation.• A belief that one’s own people

and culture is superior to others.• Causes nations to compete with

others for new territory as a matter of pride and power.

6

Military Factors•European and American

military technology was much more advanced than Asia and Africa.

•We needed naval bases around the world for fuel and supplies.

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Humanitarian Factors•Western doctors and missionaries believed they had a duty to bring medicine and Christianity to “heathen” Africans and Asians.

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People Who Promoted

Imperialism

Rudyard Kipling

British author of the poem, “The White

Man’s Burden”

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“The White Man’s Burden”

•Belief in the racial superiority of Germanic and Anglo Saxon peoples.

•The “white man” has the responsibility of improving the lives of less advanced cultures.

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Excerpt from “The White Man’s Burden”

Take up the White Man’s burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go send your sons to exile To serve your captives' need To wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child

Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan

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Alfred T. Mahan• Navy Captain (eventually Admiral).• 1890 - Wrote The Influence of Sea

Power Upon History. • Argued that the greatest nation was

the one with strongest navy.• Pushed for expansion of the U.S.

Navy and the need for new territories.

12continued

Mahan’s book influenced

Congress to appropriate money to

build up the U.S. Navy

12

William McKinley• President from 1896 – 1901• Supported the annexation

of Hawaii.

• Demanded that Spain grant Cuba independence.

• Ordered the attack of the Spanish fleet in the Philippines.

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Henry Cabot Lodge

• Powerful U.S. Senator from Massachusetts.

• Major supporter of imperialism.

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William Randolph

Hearst

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William Randolph Hearst

•Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.

•Newspaper publisher.•Changed American

journalism by reporting sensational stories (crimes, murders, scandals, etc.)15

The Spanish-American War

1898A “splendid little war” fought

between Spain and America for territorial control in the Caribbean and Pacific.

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Cuban Rebellion 1895• Small island 90 miles from Florida –

colony of Spain.• Cubans rebelled against Spain.• General Valeriano Weyler and 150,000

troops were sent to stop revolt.• Weyler forced 100’s of thousands of

Cubans into “re-concentration” camps.• Over 200,000 died of disease and

starvation.16

Cuba – 90 Miles from Florida Keys

Havana, Cuba Florida Keys

The “Butcher Weyler”

“Reconcentration” Victims in Cuba

Caption: The duty of the hour . . . To save her not only from Spain but from a worse fate.

The de Lôme Letter, Feb.

1898• Written by the Spanish ambassador, Written by the Spanish ambassador,

de Lômede Lôme• De Lôme insulted President McKinleyDe Lôme insulted President McKinley• Intercepted by Cuban rebelsIntercepted by Cuban rebels• Published by W. R. HearstPublished by W. R. Hearst• Intensified anti-Spanish feelings in Intensified anti-Spanish feelings in

U.S.U.S.

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Dupuy de Lôme

Spanish Ambassad

or to Washingto

n

The Ambassador had said that McKinley was . . .

““weak and a bidder for the admiration weak and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd, besides being a would-of the crowd, besides being a would-be politician who tries to leave a door be politician who tries to leave a door open behind himself while keeping open behind himself while keeping on good terms with the jingoes of his on good terms with the jingoes of his party”party”

Jingoism

An intense burst of national pride and the desire for an aggressive expansionist foreign policy in the 1890’s.

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U.S.S. Maine• U.S. battleship• Jan. 1898 - President McKinley sends

it to Havana, the capital of Cuba, to protect American citizens and property during rioting.

• Mysteriously explodes on Feb. 15.• 260 American sailors killed.

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U.S.S. Maine

Painting of the Sinking of the U.S.S Maine

The U.S.S. Maine Sinks

The U.S.S. Maine Sinks

Fire Crew and Coal Passers on the U.S.S. Maine, 1896

Funeral for the Victims of the Maine

U.S.S. Maine Mast Monument at Arlington

National Cemetery in Virginia

U.S.S. Maine Mast

Monument,

surrounded by graves of

the dead

Graves of Unknown Sailors Who Died on the U.S.S. Maine

McKinley’s War Message• March 1898 – McKinley sends Spain a list

of 4 demands (including Cuban independence).

• Spain refuses to grant Cubans freedom.• April 11 – McKinley asks Congress to

declare war against Spain.• Americans demand war –

• “Remember the Maine!” • “To hell with Spain!” 20

Teddy Roosevelt

as Assistant Secretary

of the Navy

Battle of Manila Bay• In February, 1898 TR, Asst. Sec. of the

Navy, had ordered the navy to attack Manila Bay if war were declared.

• May 1, 1898• Admiral Dewey launches a surprise attack

on Spanish ships anchored in Manila Bay.• Destroys Spain’s entire Pacific fleet.• Battle takes 7 hours. • Philippines were a prime location for a

naval base and for trading with Asia.

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The Philippines

Dewey’s Route to the Philippines

Dewey’s Route to Manila

Admiral Dewey’s Ship, The Olympia

Manila Bay, The Philippines

Admiral George Dewey,

Liberator of the

Philippines

Admiral Dewey

William McKinley

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The Rough Riders

• TR resigns as Asst. Sec. of the Navy.• Begins a volunteer regiment - the

First Volunteer Cavalry. • A diverse group of firemen,

policemen, miners, cowboys and athletes recruited by TR.

TR and the Rough Riders

Battle of San Juan Hill

• July 1, 1898• The Rough Riders led an

invasion of Cuba by charging up San Juan Hill and capturing it within minutes.

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Fredric Remington’s Rough Riders’ Charge up

San Juan Hill

Hey Bro, did you bring the Powerade?

No, Dude. I thought you did.TR Takes a

Break

Treaty of Paris• Signed in December 1898. • U.S. paid Spain $20 million.• Spain recognized Cuban independence.• Spain gave the U.S. the Philippines,

Puerto Rico, and Guam.• These islands became “unincorporated”

territories of U.S. – not to become states.• Acquisition of new territory hotly debated

by anti-imperialists in the Senate.

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Territorial Acquisitions

from the Spanish- American War

The Pacific Ocean

The Caribbean Sea

Cuba

Cuba• Cuba became independent nation.• McKinley installed a military

government for 3 years.• Set up school system and restored

economic stability.• 1900 – Cubans allowed to draft

their own constitution – modeled on U.S.

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continued

Cuba• U.S. required Cuba to include

provisions of the Platt Amendment– Cuban govt could not enter any

foreign agreements. – U.S. was allowed to establish

naval bases in Cuba as needed.– U.S. had right to intervene

when necessary.24

Puerto Rico• Did not become independent.• U.S. Military government until 1900.• 1917 – Puerto Ricans granted U.S.

citizenship.• Could elect their local legislators, but

send no reps to U.S. Congress.• U.S. kept power to appoint key

officials, such as the governor. 25

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Philippines

Guam

Pacific Islands Acquired

The Philippines• January 1899 –

Rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo declared the Philippines to be a republic.

• America ignores this.• February 1899 – War

erupts between rebel forces and American soldiers.

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President McKinley justifies his policy toward the Philippines:

“We could not leave them to themselves – they were unfit for self-government, and they would soon have anarchy and misrule worse than Spain’s was . . . There was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them. . .”

Filipino Soldiers

Why do you shed all this blood; why do you spend all this energy, all these millions of dollars? Is it for our good or for your own? Sixto Lopez, Filipino leader, in letter to U.S. General Wheeler

A Filipino viewpoint of the war:

Filipino-American War

• Lasted 3 years• 4,000 Americans killed• 3,000 Americans wounded• Cost U.S. $160 million• 16,000 Filipino soldiers killed• 200,000 Filipino civilians killed

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Filipino Casualties

Filipino casualties

Surrender of Filipino Insurgents - 1902

Filipino Flag

Filipino Coat of Arms

How some saw the new U.S. role in

the Philippines

Guam – Island in

the South Pacific –

east of the Philippines

Philippines

Guam

Pacific Islands Acquired

Other Territories Acquired

Hawaii• 1887

– Trade treaty allowed Hawaii to export sugar to U.S. duty (tariff) free

– Pearl Harbor leased to the U.S. as a fueling station

• 1891 – King Kalakaua dies– Queen Liliuokalani takes throne

28 continued

Hawaii• 1893

– U.S. Marines help pineapple planter Sanford B. Dole to remove Queen Liliuokalani from power.

– Dole proclaims Hawaii to be a republic, and himself President.

• 1898– Congress approves the annexation

of Hawaii against the protest of Liliuokalani.

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Hawaii“We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is Manifest Destiny.”

President William McKinley, 1898

The Importance of Hawaii in U.S. Trade

Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii

Sanford Balland Dole

Pineapple Planter & President of Republic

of Hawaii

Samoa• Pacific Island• Pago Pago Harbor• 1889 - Became a protectorate of

Germany, Britain, & U.S.• 1899 – annexed by the U.S. as a base

for trade with Asian countries

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Samoa

Pago Pago, Samoa

Pago Pago Harbor

One More Imperialistic Gain:

The Panama Canal

Isthmus

A narrow strip of land joining two larger areas of land.

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The Isthmus of Panama

Panama Canal• Panama – a province of Colombia• 1879 – a French company buys a 25

year land concession from Colombia to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama

• 1889 - Project fails

31continued

Panama Canal• French company offers to sell its

rights to U.S. $100 million• 1902 – price lowered to $40 million• U.S. tries to work out a treaty with

Colombia• Colombia stalls, hoping for a higher

offer on the land 114cont31

continued

Panama Canal

• 1902 – TR secretly promises American support of a Panamanian revolt against Colombia.

• 1903 – TR sends U.S. warships to wait offshore.

• U.S. immediately recognizes Panama’s independence.

31continued

Panama Canal• U.S. signed a treaty with Panama

giving us a 10-mile wide canal zone.

• U.S. would have complete sovereignty over area.

• U.S. paid Panama $10 million.

31continued

Panama Canal• Building was difficult due to

untrained workers.• Diseases - Malaria and yellow

fever spread by mosquitoes killed many workers.

• Canal was completed in 1914 ahead of schedule and under budget.

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TR Visits the Canal

Zone

Why Important?

The Panama Canal provides a faster route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean

Imperialistic Foreign Policy

1890 -1915

Spheres of

Influence

Spheres of Influence

• Areas of economic and political control in a region.

• The Pacific and Caribbean had become spheres of influence for the U.S.

• European and Asian countries had exclusive control and trading rights in different areas of China.

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America’s Spheres of Influence

Pacific and Caribbean

Spheres of Influence in

China

Open Door Policy

• McKinley wanted an “open door” to China.

• All countries, including the U.S., would be allowed to trade freely with China.

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How Europeans Saw the “Open Door”

Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” Diplomacy

• TR - “Speak softly, and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

• The big stick = U.S. Navy • The threat of American military force

and intervention in other nations’ problems would strengthen our position as a world power.

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The Great White Fleet

• December 1907• Roosevelt sends part of the

U.S. Navy fleet on a cruise around the world.

• Purpose was to demonstrate our impressive naval power.

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Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet Sails Around the Globe

Big Stick Diplomacy

Roosevelt Corollary• 1904 - An informal addition to the

Monroe Doctrine.• The U.S. would not intervene in

other countries’ affairs, unless they negatively affected U.S. interests.

• The U.S would not allow Europeans to intervene in the western hemisphere.

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When Santo Domingo goes bankrupt, Roosevelt Corollary is used to protect the island from European nations

Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy

• Taft wanted to “substitute dollars for bullets.”

• U.S. investment in foreign nations would help to maintain orderly societies.

• Creates enemies in the Caribbean who hated U.S. influence.

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U.S. Interventions in Latin America

Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy

• The U. S. shouldThe U. S. should– be the consciencebe the conscience

of the world.of the world.– spread democracy.spread democracy.– promote peace.promote peace.– condemn condemn

colonialism.colonialism.

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Wilson Teaches a Lesson in

Moral Diplomacy