Download Roots of Imperialism In the United States

In the United
States
Essential Question
 How and why did the United States take a more active
role in world affairs during the Age of Imperialism?
COMPARING THREE TYPES OF IMPERIALISM
• State-Run Colonies
British, West Africa, Belgian Congo
• Settler Colonies
British, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand &
Algeria
• Economic Power
British in China, French in China & United States in
Latin America
Imperialism
 By the late 1800s the U.S.
began to abandon
isolationism and become a
global power.
 With the Western Frontier
now closed, Americans
began to acquire influence
and territory outside its
continental borders.
Causes of Imperialism
 Mid 1800s – Early 1900s powerful
nations raced to extend their
influence and territory across the
globe.
 Europeans added to colonies acquired
during the Age of Exploration,
claiming new lands in Africa and Asia.
 Japan and U.S. saw the success of
Europe and began to explore the
benefits of imperialism for
themselves.
Economic Causes
 Desire for raw materials and natural resources
 Tea, rubber, iron, petroleum
 Extractive Economies
 Imperial country extracted raw materials and shipped
them to the home country
 U.S.
 Resource rich & surplus of goods
 American Industrialists wanted to expand trade into
foreign markets
Military Causes
 Imperialist Nations began to stress military strength as
a means to protect their interests around the globe.
Alfred T. Mahan
 U.S. Navy Officer and
Military Historian
 Called for strong U.S.
Navy to protect overseas
interests
 Called for foreign bases
for U.S. ships to resupply
and refuel
U.S. Navy
 U.S. Navy began to
modernize its fleet
 Built new steel-plated,
steam powered
battleships like the U.S.S.
Maine
 By 1900 the U.S. had the
3rd largest navy in the
world
Cause: National Superiority
 Imperialists justified their
actions by claiming their
racial, national, and
cultural superiority.
 Social Darwinism
“survival of the fittest”
 Social Darwinists
believed they were
destined to ruled over
inferior
nations/peoples.
American Causes
 Americans believed they would not
survive if European nations took over
the rest of the world.
 “Manifest Destiny”
 God-given right and responsiblity
 Spread Christianity and Western
Values
 Western Frontier was closed
 Americans needed a new place to
seek fortune and have a fresh start
U.S. Power Grows in the Pacific
 1853 Commodore
Matthew Perry sailed a
fleet of American
warships into Japan
 He impressed the
emperor and established
trade between the U.S.
and Japan
U.S. Power Grows in the Pacific
 1867 U.S. took Midway Islands
 Treaties in 1875 & 1887 increased U.S. trade with Hawaii and
gave U.S. right to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor
Seward Purchases Alaska
 1867 Sec. of State, William
Seward, bought Alaska for
$7.2 million from Russia
 Journalists referred to
purchase as “Seward’s
Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”,
 1,000 miles north of border
 Doubled country’s size,
resource rich, & expanded
reach across the Pacific
U.S. influence in Latin America
 1889, Sec. of State James
Blaine held the first Pan
American Conference
 U.S. and 17 Latin
American Countries
 Economic Cooperation
 Pan American Highway
system to connect U.S.,
central, and south
America
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
The Spanish-American War of
1898 ended Spain’s colonial
empire in the Western
Hemisphere and secured the
position of the United States as a
Pacific power. U.S. victory in the
war produced a peace treaty that
compelled the Spanish to
relinquish claims on Cuba, and to
cede sovereignty over Guam,
Puerto Rico, and the Philippines
to the United States.
TERRITORIES GAINED BY THE U.S.
Hawaii
 Economic ties to U.S.
since 1790s
 Constitution put in place
by King Kalakaua limited
voting rights to wealthy
land owners (mostly
whites!)
 Many white sugar
plantation owners in
Hawaii
U.S. Acquires Hawaii
 Hawaiian Nationalist,
Queen Liliuokalani takes
thrown and does away
with constitution
 White planters revolt
with the help of the U.S.
 New government led by
white planter Sanford B.
Dole asked to be
annexed by U.S.
U.S. Annexes Hawaii…FINALLY!
 President Harrison couldn’t get
senate approval before leaving
office
 President Cleveland refused to
sign because majority of
Hawaiians didn’t want to be
annexed
 President McKinley’s
administration finally passed in
1898