Download The Great White Fleet

America Flexes its Muscles
Results of the Spanish-American War
Read Pages 350-355
1. Which of Spain’s colonies did America get in the
Treaty of Paris?
2. How did McKinley justify taking the Philippines? What was wrong with his logic?
3. What were three arguments against the U.S. taking the Philippines?
4. Why was Puerto Rico strategically important to the United States?
5. What provisions were added to Cuba’s constitution in the Platt Amendment?
6. Why did the U.S. continue to have a political presence in Cuba?
7. Why did Emilio Aguinaldo lead a revolt against the U.S?
8. In what way were America’s actions in the Philippines similar to those of the Spanish whom
they’d just overthrown?
9. In complete sentences, answer the questions next to the political cartoon on page 354
The Great White Fleet
1. What was the Great White Fleet?
2. What are three reasons that America launched the Great
White fleet?
A.
B.
C.
3. Why was the U.S. concerned about Japan?
China
1. Why was America interested in China?
2. European nations got Spheres of Influence in China. What are these?
3. How did the Spheres of Influence affect the United States?
4. Describe America’s “Open Door Policy” in your own words.
5. The Boxer Rebellion
A. Who were the Boxers?
B. What did they do?
C. How were the Boxers defeated?
6. What benefits did the United States get from China?
7. In your own words, What does Sun Yat-sen’s quote mean?
Mexico
1. What two groups did Porfirio Diaz’ government help? How?
A. Group 1:
B. Ways they benefited
C. Group 2:
D. Ways they benefitted
2.
Who did it harm?
3. Who did American investors support?
4. Why did President Wilson not support this person?
5. What event did Wilson use to justify American Invasion of
Mexico?
6. Who was Pancho Villa?
7. Why did Wilson send troops to capture Pancho Villa?
8. Why did America eventually withdraw from Mexico?
Why?
Please copy the sentences into your notebook-Do not write on this page
Information About U.S. Foreign Policy
The Great White Fleet
4. The Great White Fleet was _____________________.
5. Three Reasons that America launched the Great White fleet were _______, ______ and ______.
6. The United States was concerned about Japan because______________________.
China
8. The United States was interested in China because __________________.
9. European nations got Spheres of Influence in China which were _____________.
10. The Spheres of influence affected the U.S. because ______________________.
11. In my own words, the Open Door Policy said that __________________________.
12. The Boxers were ______________. They _____________________. They were defeated by ___________.
13. After the Boxer Rebellion, The United States said that China should _________.
Mexico
9. Porfirio Diaz’s government benefitted __________ and ______________ while impoverishing
__________.
10. The American ________________ supported Huerta’s government. President __________ did not
because____________________.
11. The event Wilson used to justify to an American invasion of Mexico was _________________.
12. Pancho Villa was _________________.
13. Wilson sent troops to capture Pancho Villa because ____________________.
14. America finally withdrew from Mexico when ________________.
The Great White Fleet
Early in his first term as President of United States,
Theodore Roosevelt dispatched sixteen U.S. Navy
battleships of the Atlantic Fleet on a worldwide voyage
circumnavigation (traveling around the world) from
16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909. The hulls were
painted a glossy white instead of the customary steel
gray. These ships would later come to be known as the
Great White Fleet.
of
There were several reasons for dispatching the ships. The one publically announced was that it
served as a showpiece of American goodwill as the fleet visited numerous countries and harbors.
Additionally, the voyage of the Great White Fleet
demonstrated both at home and on the world stage that the
US had become a major sea power in the years after
winning the Spanish-American War, with possessions that
included Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico. The Great
White Fleet showed that, without having to fire a shot, the
US Navy could take control of the seas with an
overwhelming display of naval might, and it demonstrated
the use of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan's theories on the
importance of sea power to become a global power.
The Fleet was also intended to intimidate Japan. Following their destruction of the Russian
navy in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan had become a major naval power and the U.S. was
concerned about their expansion. The deployment of the Great White Fleet was therefore
intended, at least in part, to send a message to Tokyo that the American fleet could be deployed
anywhere, even from its Atlantic ports, and would be able to defend American territory in the
Philippines and the Pacific
The voyage also provided an opportunity to test the sea- and battle-worthiness of the new fleet.
Unlike previous ships, designed to protect the coastline, the Great White fleet was designed to
travel and fight over long distances.