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CHAPTER 12
IMPERIALISM
1867-1908
FOCUS
- Foreign policy before the late 19th century had been dominated by
2 ideas. The first was President Washington’s isolationist warning
against entering into “entangling alliances.” The second was
President Monroe’s warning to Europe against interference in the
Americas. War with Spain however resulted in a more aggressive
foreign policy and the acquisition of overseas colonies. Suddenly,
the US had become a major world power.
CHAPTER 12-1
AMERICA LOOKS ABROAD
- European colonialism
o Motivated by trade
o Adventure
o Power
o Profit
o Idealism
o National patriotism
- Nations believed they had a “colonial mission” toward nonwhites
- Industrial Revolution
o New need for markets
o New sources of raw materials
Imperialism
- The policy of establishing colonies and building empires
Isolationism
- Separation from the political affairs of other countries
o Established by Washington’s Farewell Address
 Monroe Doctrine
SECURING AN AMERICAN CONTINENT
- European control of parts of North America
o France and Russia until end of 1860s
o US challenged French expansion – 1861
o Bought Russian territory – 1867
End of French Expansionism
- Mexico stops payments of foreign debts (Benito Juarez)
o France, Spain and British troops enter Mexico
o Mexico pays debts
 GB and Spain remove troops
 France ignores Monroe Doctrine
 Takes advantage of US Civil War
 Napoleon III overthrows Mexico
 Installs Prince Maximilian as emperor of
Mexico
 US protests
 Sends 50,000 troops to Mexican border
 Napoleon withdraws
 Maximilian defeated by Mexicans
 Maximilian executed
Acquisition of Alaska
- Sec of State Seward believed in Manifest Destiny
- Alaska becomes known as “Seward’s Folly” - 1897
- Envisioned a great empire
- Wanted to annex Canada, Hawaii and Caribbean Islands
- Purchased Alaska in 1867
o Undeveloped territory
o Twice the size of Texas
o Held by Russia
 Czar sees little value in this remote territory
 Czar wants to sell Alaska
 Seward arranges treaty quickly
 Buys Alaska for less than 2 cents/acre
 $7.2 million
 Took Congress 4 months to conclude the deal
EMPIRE BUILDING
- US had little need to look beyond borders for growth
- Abundant raw materials
- Immense home market
- End of 1890s
o Great industrial nation
o Ready to compete world wide
Reciprocity
- James Blaine
o Sec of State under Garfield and Harrison
o Wants to open up new markets
o Does not want to take colonies
o Wants to use reciprocity
 Mutual lowering of tariff barriers
- Not successful
- Tried to add them to the McKinley Tariff of 1890
- Chaired the Pan-American Congress (Union) 1889
- Wanted to promote economic cooperation and trade
- Limited success only with US forcible intervention in Latin
American affairs
Should Hawaii Be Annexed
- Early 1800s
- American Missionaries and traders go to Hawaii
- American sugar growers follow
- 1890
o Hawaii connected through commerce and Americans living
there
- Many nationalities live in Hawaii
- Rulers were controlled by American businessmen
- Queen Liliuokalani comes to power
o Wants to return control to her people
o American business leaders get help from Marines off cruiser
Boston and take over the government.
o ” US minister to Hawaii ready to annex
o President Cleveland says “no
 Felt overthrow was a violation of “national honesty”
 Withdraws US troops from Hawaii amongst protest
 Tried but failed to reinstate Liluokalani
CHALLENGING GREAT BRITIAN
- Post Civil War
- US appears ready to become a world power
o Twice forces Great Britain to submit to arbitration
 Settlement of a dispute by a third party
Civil War Damages
- 1868
- Charles Sumner
o Head of Senate Foreign Relations Committee
o Claims GB owes US $2 billion in damages
 GB allowed Confederate ships to use British ports
during Civil War
 Sumner threatens that US will take control of Canada
if GB does not pay
- 1871
- Sec of State Fisk arranges for arbitration
- GB does not want war
- Fears US may supply enemies with warships
- US backs down from “indirect damages” claims
- GB pays US $15.5 million – Treaty of Washington
Venezuela Border Dispute
- Cleveland requests that GB put a longstanding border dispute
between Venezuela and British Guiana to arbitration
- Sec of State Olney, 1895, tells GB – “the US is practically
sovereign on this continent” and that their refusal would be a
violation of the Monroe Doctrine
- British reply with statement
o US and Monroe Doctrine had no standing in international
law
o It did not apply in this situation
- Cleveland appoints a commission to settle the boundary dispute
without consulting GB
o GB calls it “monstrous and insulting”
o War seemed a possibility
o GB backs down
o GB having problems at home with Germany (1896)
o Wants to improve relations with US
o Agrees to arbitration
o Boundary dispute settled in favor of GB and a new AngloAmerican understanding emerged.
STRENGTHENING THE NAVY
- Venezuelan crisis called attention to the fact that the US had only 3
modern warships.
- Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote a book about this situation
o He believed US should develop its industries and look
outward
o Argued that US needed sea power in order to become great
o German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm read his book and used it
to have his naval officers read it
o GB showered Mahan with praises
o He influenced important Americans
 Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
 Theodore Roosevelt
 Helped build US naval power
- Congress establishes a Naval Advisory Board in 1881
o Pressed for larger naval appropriations
o 1883
 Congress authorizes construction of 1 cruiser and 3
battleships
- 1890
o Added 3 more ships
- 1895
o Voted to build 13 new ships
o Congress makes it clear that the US have a navy capable of
matching any in the world.
VISUALIZING HISTORY PAGE 371
DID YOU KNOW PAGE 371
LINKING ACROSS TIME PAGE 372
VISUALIZING HISTORY PAGE 372
SIDELIGHT: us ECONOMIC EXPANSION
SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT PAGE 373
HISTORY AND SCIENCE PAGE 374
Chapter 12-1
America Looks Abroad
12-1
Supporting Statements
1. United States emerges from isolationism.
a. Intervention in Mexico
b. Purchase of Alaska
2. Unites States seeks to open new markets.
a. Attempts to lower tariffs – reciprocity
b. Formation of the Pan-American Union
c. Attempts to annex Hawaii
3. United States meets the challenges of the Monroe Doctrine
a. US demands damages from GB for the Civil War
b. US forces GB into arbitration over Venezuelan boundary dispute
4. United States changes its naval policy.
a. Mahan argues for greater US sea power
b. A stronger navy is built
Did You Know
Until 1897 Americans referred to Alaska as Seward’s Folly. In 1897 gold was
discovered in Alaska and it was no longer called that.
Linking Across Time
Hawaii’s strategic position made the islands highly attractive to the US.
The US eventually turned its coaling stop into a naval base that proved invaluable in
WWII. Attacked by Japan on Dec 7 1941, the base sustained crippling casualties but
later became the center of the victory for the Pacific campaign.