Ch.10, Sec.1- The Pressure to Expand

Why Imperialism Grew

• Imperialism is when a stronger nation attempts to create an empire by dominating weaker nations.

• The things that led to imperialism were: 1. Europe needed natural resources that came from weaker nations, 2. Nationalism, or devotion to one’s nation. These people believe they are superior to everyone else. 3. Growing military technology led to more powerful militaries in European nations. 4. The spread of law, medicine, and Christian religion.

Expanding U.S. Interest

• In 1867, Secretary of State William H. Seward bought Alaska from Russia hoping that the U.S. being on both sides of Canada would drive the British out. Most Americans did not agree with this, saying he bought land that was icebergs and worthless. He then tried and succeeded to educate the nation about Alaska’s rich resources. The purchase then was called Seward’s Folly.

Protecting American Security• Overproduction of food and goods led to financial panics and

economic depressions, leading to people saying the U.S. must start expanding its markets to other countries.

• Captain Alfred T. Mahan wrote a book in 1890 titled The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783. He believed the U.S. had to expand its markets and therefore, create a powerful navy. The U.S. created the Naval Advisory Board in 1881 and 2 years later built 3 cruisers and 2 battleships. Then, the Naval Act of 1890 called for the construction of more battleships, gunboats, torpedo boats, and cruisers. By 1900, the U.S. had one of the most powerful navies in the world.

Sec.2- The Spanish-American War

The Cuban Rebellion• The Cubans were fighting for their independence from Spain

for the second time, and many Cubans already in the U.S. called on the U.S. to help Cuba. Presidents Cleveland and McKinley refused, so Cuban guerrillas, trying to get the U.S. involved, began destroying sugar plantations and mills in Cuba. As a result, business owners were now pressuring the government to act. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst began publishing stories about Spanish concentration camps surrounded by barbed wire. This tactic, known as yellow journalism, made the American republic favor Cuba and the rebels.

Steps to War• In 1898, riots erupted in Havana, so McKinley moved

the battleship U.S.S. Maine into the city’s harbor to protect the American citizens and their property. The U.S. then published a letter called the de Lome letter, in which the Spanish called McKinley weak and someone who always wants the admiration of the crowd.

• Then, on February 15, the Maine exploded, killing 250 American sailors. Even though this may have been caused by an accidental fire which set off explosions, the American public blamed Spain.

Steps to War cont.

• McKinley sent a list of demands to Spain, telling them to compensate for the Maine, and end to the reconcentration camps, a truce in Cuba, and Cuban independence. Cuba met all the demands but the last one, so the U.S., which also saw the opportunity to take the Philippines, recognized Cuban independence and was authorized by Congress to use force against Spain.

A Splendid Little War

• The war’s first action was not in Cuba but in the Philippines. On May 1, 1898, Admiral Dewey launched a surprise attack on Spanish ships, destroying Spain’s entire Pacific fleet in 7 hours. The First Volunteer Cavalry, known as the Rough Riders, were led by Theodore Roosevelt. They charged up San Juan Hill, which became the most famous incident in the war. The Spanish fleet, already captured, tried to escape, but the U.S. Navy sank every single ship. Altogether, 2,500 Americans died in this war.

The Treaty of Paris

• The U.S. signed the Treaty of Paris with Spain in December 1898. In the treaty, the Spanish government recognized Cuba’s independence, and gave the U.S. the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam, in return for 20 million dollars.

Dilemma in the Philippines

• The Philippines believed they had just won their independence, but instead found out the U.S. wanted to annex them, or join them with the U.S. This led to a war in the Philippines that 4,000 Americans and 216,000 Filipino’s died in. Fighting continued for years, and the Philippines did not get their independence until 1946.

The Fate of Cuba

• The Teller Amendment was an amendment which promised the U.S. would not annex Cuba. However, after the war, President McKinley installed a military government that would remain in place for 3 years. This government organized a school system, restored economic stability, and established a commission led by Major Walter Reed that discovered a cure for yellow fever.

The Fate of Cuba cont.• Many Cubans felt the U.S. had just replaced Spain

and had betrayed them. Cuba drafted a Constitution in 1900. The U.S. then said they would remove the troops only if the Cubans included provisions in their Constitution outlined in a document called the Platt Amendment. This document stated the Cuban government could not enter any foreign agreements, must allow the U.S. to establish naval bases as needed on the island, and must give the U.S. the right to intervene whenever necessary. This remained in force until 1934.

The United States and Puerto Rico

• The U.S. did maintain a military government in Puerto Rico until 1900, and slowly gave more freedom and control to the people of Puerto Rico. The U.S. granted Puerto Ricans American citizenship with the passage of the Jones Act in 1917.

Annexation of Hawaii

• When King Kalakaua died in 1891, his sister Liliuokalani became Queen, and she opposed U.S. control of the island. In 1893, pineapple planter Sanford B. Dole, with the help of the U.S. marines, removed her from power. He proclaimed Hawaii a republic and requested it be annexed by the U.S. In 1898, the U.S. annexed Hawaii.

Sec.3- A New Foreign Policy

The Panama Canal• The French tried to build a canal in Panama in 1879, but were

defeated by yellow fever and severe mismanagement, so they abandoned the project in 1889. They offered the remaining rights to the canal for 100 million dollars. When the price fell to 40 million, Congress passed the Spooner Act of 1902 that authorized the purchase. The act required the U.S. to work out a treaty with Colombia for a lease on the land.

• Colombia tried to wait until 1904 for the French lease to run out so they could offer the area at a higher price. In return, the U.S. said they would not interfere if Panama tried to get their independence from Colombia. This took place in November 1903, and the U.S. immediately recognized Panama as independent and became its protector.

The Panama Canal cont.

• In return, Panama signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty in November 1903, which gave the U.S. a permanent grant of a 10-mile-wide strip of land for a canal zone over which the U.S. had complete control. In return, the U.S. gave Panama 10 million dollars. They started on the canal in 1904 and completed it in 1914. Since the U.S. knew they took the canal illegally, they paid Colombia 25 million dollars in 1921.

The Roosevelt Corollary• In 1904-1905, Roosevelt issued messages to Congress that

came to be known as the Roosevelt Corollary. In this he stated the U.S. did not want any more territory, but if someone tried to take them over or their governments collapsed, then the U.S. to exercise an international police power. The U.S. intervening to prevent intervention from other powers was the central point of the Roosevelt Corollary.

• In August 1905, Roosevelt mediated a peace agreement to the Russo-Japanese War between Russia and Japan and kept trade open in China to all nations. This won him a Nobel peace prize.

Wilson and the Mexican Revolution

• In 1911, Francisco Madero was the leader of Mexico. However, in 1913, General Victoriano Huerta overthrew him and had him killed. Even though Europe recognized him as the new ruler, Wilson refused to because he took control without the consent of the people. A guy named Venustiano Carranza began to try to take back the government, and the U.S. supported him and helped him to be successful. Even when Pancho Villa tried to take Mexico from Carranza, the U.S. still supported him. Many Mexicans hated the Americans for intervening for several years.

Sec.4- Debating America’s New Role

• Many Americans in the late 1800s to early 1900s believed whites were superior to other races.

• Samuel Gompers tried to prevent all the people from the annexed territories from coming to the U.S., because they would compete with American workers for jobs. They also would work for lower wages, which would drive wages down. Despite these arguments, they came anyway.

• Baden-Powell started the Boy Scouts in 1910, and Juliette Low started the Girl Scouts.

• In December 1907, Roosevelt sent part of the navy around the world to show how powerful the U.S. navy was. The ships were called the Great White Fleet.

Chapter 11, Sec.1

The Origins of Progressivism

Early Reformers• Henry George- wrote Progress and Poverty in

1879 in an effort to explain why poverty continued to plague an advanced civilization.

• George concluded that poverty arose because some people bought and held on to land until its price went up. This practice, known as speculation, prevented others from using the land productively. To solve this problem, he proposed that the government charge landowners a single tax on the value of the land itself, making speculation less attractive.

Early Reformers cont.• The time period from 1890 to 1920 was known as the

Progressive Era.• In 1888, Edward Bellamy published the novel, Looking

Backward, in which a man undergoes hypnosis in 1887 and wakes up in the year 2000. When he awakes, he finds the U.S. is a utopian country where the government has taken over large companies and the goal is to meet human needs rather than making a profit.

• Theodore Roosevelt called writers who alerted the public to wrongdoing in politics and business muckrakers. A muckrake is a rake or pitchfork used to clean manure and hay out of stables.

Sec.2- Progressive Legislation

An Expanded Role for Government

• Progressives believed the government ought to have more social welfare programs, which help to ensure a minimum standard of living. Examples of these programs were unemployment benefits, accident and health insurance, and a social security system for the disabled and the elderly.

More Power to Voters

• Instead of party leaders picking candidates for public office, Wisconsin governor Robert M. La Follette instituted a direct primary, which is an election in which citizens vote to select nominees for upcoming elections.

• In 1904, Oregon began allowing voters, rather than state legislatures, to choose their U.S. senators. In 1913, the 17th amendment passed, requiring the direct election of senators.

Reformers in the Workplace

• By 1907, nearly two-thirds of the states had abolished child labor for children under 14. With Florence Kelley leading a national campaign, 9 states adopted a minimum wage for women and children in 1912.

Protecting Public Health

• Muckrakers exposed things that were going on in the food and drug industries that resulted in the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. The 1906 laws required accurate labeling of ingredients, strict sanitary conditions, and a rating system for meats.

A New Labor Department

• In response to pressure from labor and women’s groups, in 1912 the government established a Children’s Bureau. A Cabinet-level Department of Labor was added in 1913, and a Women’s Bureau in 1920. The two new bureaus, both part of the Department of Labor, supported laws to benefit women and children. Julia Lathrop and Mary Anderson, the heads of these bureaus, became the first women in such federal posts.

New Constitutional Amendments

• Congress established Yellowstone in Wyoming as the nation’s first national park in 1872.

• The 16th Amendment in 1913 authorized Congress to collect federal income taxes, instead of relying on tariffs.

• The 18th Amendment in 1919 banned the production, sale, or import of alcoholic beverages as part of Prohibtion.

Progressivism Under Taft and Wilson

The Election of 1912

• Theodore Roosevelt wanted to take back the presidency after seeing Taft become very unpopular. He ran as a part of a new Progressive party called the Bull Moose Party. At a campaign speech on October 14 in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot by a would be assassin. He spoke for another hour and a half with a bullet in his lungs. However, Roosevelt lost the election to Woodrow Wilson.

Wilson’s Policies as President• Wilson reduced tariffs with the Underwood Tariff Act of

1913 reducing tariff rates from 40 to 25 percent. To make up for that loss, he signed into law a federal income tax as part of the 16th Amendment.

• Wilson also passed the Clayton Antitrust Act to strengthen the Sherman Antitrust Act. He created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, which created the Federal Reserve System.

• Wilson drew a lot of protests by nominating Louis D. Brandeis to the Supreme Court. Opponents accused him of being too radical and he was the first Jewish Supreme Court nominee.

Sec. 4:

Suffrage at Last

Victory for Suffrage

• The two leaders for women’s suffrage were Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony.

• In 1890, Anthony, Stanton, and Lucy Stone formed the National American Woman Suffrage Association, with Anthony serving as president from 1892 to 1900. Unfortunately, neither would live to see suffrage come about with Stanton dying in 1902 and Anthony in 1906.

Victory for Suffrage Cont.

• A new leader came about in the suffrage movement named Carrie Chapman Catt. She headed NAWSA from 1900 to 1904 and again after 1915.

• When the United States entered WW1 in April 1917, women across the country volunteered for ambulance corps and for medical work and took on jobs left by men. This led to Congress proposing the suffrage amendment in 1919. In August 1920, the 19th Amendment officially passed, marking the last major reform of the Progressive Era.