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Becoming a World Power 1890-1916 Reference & Map
Alaska: US Secretary of State William Seward urged the US to purchase Alaskan territory from Russia for
$7,200,000. The purchase of Alaska in 1867 was to position the US with territory that would block the growing
territorial acquisitions of Britain and Canada.
Aleutian Islands: After the American purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, further development took
place. The US acquired the archipelago for buildings and factories supporting the fishing and sealing industries.
1. Hawaiian Islands: After a series of battles that ended in 1795 and peaceful cession of the island of Kauai in
1810, the Hawaiian Islands were united for the first time under a single ruler who would become known as King
Kamehameha the Great. He established a dynasty that ruled over the kingdom of islands until 1872. At his
death, he did not name an heir- which resulted in a popular election of King Kalakaua, and later riots over the
election results. The US sent troops to the islands to keep the peace. In 1887, a group of primarily American
and European businessmen, including kingdom subjects and members of the Hawaiian government, forced
King Kalakaua to sign a treaty that stripped the king of administrative authority, eliminated voting rights for
Asians, and set minimum income and property requirements for American, European and native Hawaiian
voters- essentially limiting the electorate to wealthy elite Americans, Europeans and native Hawaiians. Kin
Kalakaua reigned until his death in 1891, and his sister, Lili’uokalani succeeded him to the throne and ruled
until her overthrow in 1893. In 1893, Queen Lili’uokalani threatened to throw out the US treaty and draft a
new constitution that would restore power to the monarchy. American troops were landed Honolulu under strict
orders of neutrality, to protect the "lives and property of American citizens, and to assist in preserving public
order", while a small group of armed businessmen (interested in seizing control of the sugar fields) organized to
depose the Queen. The monarchy ended in January 1893, and there was much controversy in the following
years as the queen tried to regain her throne. After an unsuccessful attempt at armed rebellion in 1895, a
weapons cache was found on the palace grounds and Queen Liliʻuokalani was placed under arrest, tried by a
military tribunal, and convicted of treason, and then imprisoned in her own home. The Queen stepped down in
1896, and the US took control of the island territory. In 1993, a joint Apology Resolution regarding the
overthrow was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton.
Palmyra Island: US captains first sited Palmyra in 1798, and inhabited it in 1802. In accordance with the
Guano Islands Act of 1856, the US intended to mine for guano on Palmyra- but there is too much rain. The
Kingdom of Hawaii took possession of Palmyra in 1862. In 1898, Palmyra was annexed to the US in
conjunction with the overall annexation of Hawaii. In 1912, if was formally claimed by the US government.
Palmyra still exists as a part of Hawaii Territory.
Wake Island: Wake Island was annexed by the US in 1899 with a Treaty of Berlin. Germany and the US
divided the islands regions in the Pacific. In 1935, it served as a US trans-Pacific airline stop.
American Samoa: International rivalries in the latter half of the 19th century were settled by an 1899 Treaty of
Berlin, where Germany and the US divided up the Samoan archipelago. The US occupied and claimed the
western islands- Samoa. After the US took possession, it built a Navy station. Revolutionary uprisings by The
American Samoa Mau movement have occurred since US occupation- but the US Navy has suppressed them.
The uprisings in Samoa provided evidence for US control over the Kingdom of Hawaii.
2. Cuba: Prior to US involvement, Cuba had been wrestling with its own revolutions and uprisings to remove
itself from Spanish rule. In 1897, the US Battleship Maine was mysteriously blown up in Havana harbor,
killing 266 men. Forces in the U.S. favoring intervention in Cuba seized on this incident to accuse Spain of
blowing up the ship (although Spain had no motive for doing so and there was no evidence of Spanish
culpability). Swept along on a wave of nationalist sentiment and “yellow journalism”, the U.S. Congress passed
a resolution calling for intervention and President William McKinley was quick to comply. The result was the
Cuba, Cont. Spanish-American War in which US forces landed in Cuba in 1898 and quickly overcame
Spanish resistance. In August a peace treaty was signed under which Spain agreed to withdraw from Cuba.
Some advocates in the U.S. supported Cuban independence, while others argued for outright annexation. As a
compromise, the McKinley administration placed Cuba under a 20-year U.S. trusteeship. The Cuban
independence movement bitterly opposed this arrangement, but there was no outbreak of armed resistance.
President Roosevelt created the independent Republic of Cuba in 1902; however, the U.S. retained the right to
intervene in Cuban affairs, to supervise its finances and foreign relations, and to lease to the U.S. the naval base
at Guantanamo Bay. Despite frequent outbreaks of disorder, constitutional government was maintained until
1925, when the constitution was suspended and the country moved towards independent rule.
3. Puerto Rico: In 1898 at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was invaded by the US.
Following the War, Spain was forced to cede Puerto Rico, along with Cuba, the Philippines, and Guam to the
US. By 1917, citizenship was extended to Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rico remains a US commonwealth.
4. Philippines: The Spanish-American War began in Cuba in 1898 and soon reached the Philippines when the
US defeated the Spanish Fleet at Manila Bay. The US declared the Philippines independent on June 12, 1898.
As a result of its defeat in the War, Spain ceded (gave) the Philippines together with Cuba, Guam and Puerto
Rico to the United States in 1898. By 1899, the Philippine-American War ensued between the US and the
Philippine revolutionaries, which continued the violence from the previous years. The US proclaimed the war
ended in 1901, but the struggle continued until 1913. The United States gave the Philippines independence in
1946, after WWII.
5. Guam: The US took control of the island in 1898 in The Spanish-American War. Guam came to serve as a
way station for American ships traveling to and from the Philippines, while the Northern Mariana Islands
passed to German control, then Japanese. After the Japanese occupation in WWII, the US gained control of
Guam in 1944 and established it as unincorporated organized territory of the US.
6. China: Imperialists hoped to use the Philippines as a way of gaining a foothold in Asia. The main goal was
to build business ties with China. European nations and Japan had forced the Chines to give them valuable
trade benefits. In 1899, Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door policy that opened China to the
trade of any nation. This policy increased American presence in Asia. Although China kept its freedom,
Europeans dominated most of China’s large cities. Resentment simmered beneath the surface, and some
Chinese formed secret societies to ride the country of “foreign devils.” A brief, bloody Chinese uprising against
western influence- the Boxer Rebellion- was put down by western forces. The name comes from the martial
arts skills of the Chinese rebels. The Boxers killed hundreds of missionaries and other foreigners and Christian
Chinese. In 1900, 2,500 American soldiers marched into the Peking (later Beijing) and suppressed the uprising.
The United States then issued stronger safeguards of equal trade with China. In 1901, 11 nations signed the
Boxer Protocol, requiring the Qing government to pay $332 million in damages to the U.S. The U.S. gave $4M
to citizens with losses in China, and the rest back to China for education purposes.
7. Panama: Much of Panama's domestic politics and international diplomacy in the twentieth century was tied
to the Panama Canal and the foreign policy of the US. At the turn of the twentieth century, Theodore Roosevelt
pursued US diplomatic efforts to work out a deal with Columbia that would allow the US to take over French
canal operations in the region. In 1903, a group of US businessmen and wealthy Panamanians pursed for
Panama to secede from Columbia. In 1903, Panama declared its independence from Colombia. The United
States, as the first country to recognize the new Republic of Panama, sent troops to protect its economic
interests. In December 1903, representatives of the republic signed the treaty which granted rights to the United
States to build and administer indefinitely the Panama Canal, which was opened in 1914. This treaty became a
contentious diplomatic issue between the two countries, reaching a boiling point in 1964. A 1977 treaty
outlined terms of US ceding Panamanian control of the canal by the new century.
8. Nicaragua: Nicaragua was considered by the Spanish Kingdom as a very important colony, considering it
had a natural route in which it would permit transportation of goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean. However, in the early 1900s, it was not considered of much value for the mining of minerals. Although
there were high concentrations of gold, they were smaller compared to the amounts in the other Spanish
colonies. During the early years of the colony, Nicaragua produced many goods which gave it some prosperity,
and there was an ever increasing desire to build a canal along the San Juan River, through Lake Nicaragua and
across the isthmus of Rivas. Nicaragua has also experienced lengthy periods of military dictatorship, the
longest one being the rule of the Somoza family for much of the 20th century. The Somoza family came to
power as part of a US-engineered pact in 1927 that stipulated the formation of the National Guard to replace the
small individual armies that had long reigned in the country.
9. Mexico: Prior to the Mexican Revolution in 1916, the US decided that it would intervene in Mexican affairs
only if the Mexican military endangered the lives or property of North Americans. During the political
upheaval of Mexico in the early 1900s, US policies towards Mexico were unsympathetic, and at times, hostile.
A border skirmish attack influenced the US to make a short expedition into Mexican territory to pursue
Mexican revolutionaries like Poncho Villa.
Honduras: Honduras declared independence from Spain in 1821 with the rest of the Central American
provinces. In 1822, Honduras was annexed to the newly declared Mexican Empire. After independence in
1838, the US became involved in the country for major gold and silver mining operations.
Guatemala: Guatemala declared its country independent from Spain and incorporated itself into the Mexican
Empire. A politically unstable period followed, aggravated by the collapse of the world market for añil
(indigo), the country's main export to Europe, due to the invention of synthetic dyes. The US asserted its
influence and control in the country in the 1912 to better govern the growing fruit industry. Guatemala used to
be connected with Belize, but their territorial dispute has not been resolved.
Dominican Republic: In 1821, the Dominican portions of the island of Haiti sought independence. However,
the Dominican portion of the island was conquered by Haiti, which proceeded to rule the Dominican portions of
the island for another 22 years. In 1844, the Dominican Republic (then known as Santo Domingo) attained
independence. In 1861, the Dominicans voluntarily returned to the Spanish Empire, but two years later a war of
independence was launched, ending with victory in 1865. The United States ruled Dominican territory with a
military government from 1916 to 1924.
Haiti: Throughout the nineteenth century, the country was ruled by a series of presidents, most of who
remained in office only briefly. Meanwhile, the country's economy was gradually dominated by foreigners,
particularly from Germany. Concerned about the German influence, the US invaded and occupied Haiti in
1915. The US imposed a constitution on Haiti and applied a system of labor on the country. The US forces
built many schools, roads, hospitals, and helped eradicate yellow fever- but the effects of US occupation have
been long-lasting.
U.S. Virgin Islands: The Virgin Islands, named by Columbus, were held by many different European powers.
The islands were a source for sugarcane and slave labor. In 1917, the Danish government sold the islands to the
US for $25 million. In 1917, the territory was renamed the Virgin Islands of the United States. US citizenship
is granted to its inhabitants.
Midway Atoll: The atoll was discovered in 1859 by US sea captains, and claimed for the US by a treaty called
“Guano Islands Act of 1856” which authorized Americans to temporarily occupy uninhabited islands to obtain
guano for explosives. In 1867, the US formally took possession of the atoll for the United States; the name
changed to "Midway" sometime after this. In 1903, cable workers used the island as part of the effort to lay a
trans-Pacific telegraph cable. Later that year, President Theodore Roosevelt placed the atoll under the control of
the U.S. Navy.