Download Imperialism and WWI

US Imperialism
China, Japan, and the
Spanish – American War
Isolationism
Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
set precedent for the United States to
pursue a policy of isolationism.
Isolationism was the policy of avoiding
involvement in world affairs.
Although in the Monroe Doctrine
(1824) the United States had declared
itself the protector of the entire
western hemisphere, isolationism
continued to form the basis of
American foreign policy throughout
most of the nineteenth century.
George Washington at the end of
his presidency. Disturbed by the
war between England and France
and the attempts of both nations to
draw the U.S. into it as an ally,
Washington issued a "Farewell
Address" in which he warned
against permanent alliances with
foreign nations.
Imperialism
 However, as the United States industrialized during the second
half of the 1800s, businessmen and politicians increasingly looked
longingly towards foreign markets as a potential source of
American corporate profits. The desire to gain this untapped
wealth led the United States to expand its influence in the world
during the late nineteenth century.
 Some historians have called this period the age of American
imperialism, because during this period the United States gained
control over Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands.
 Imperialism is the act of one nation gaining political or
economic control over other countries.
The White Man’s Burden
United States Foreign Policy
 Many twentieth century American foreign
policy issues have their origins in America’s
emergence as a world power at the end of the
nineteenth century.
 America’s eventual intervention (involvement)
in World War I ensured its role as a world power
for the remainder of the twentieth century.
 The growing role of the United States in
international trade displayed the American urge
to build, innovate, and explore new markets.
 In short, American businessmen believed they
could make huge profits and bring the nation
economic prosperity through international trade.
United States Foreign Policy
 American businessmen with the help of
American politicians tried to gain access
(entrance) to foreign markets in several
ways.
 During the presidency of William
McKinley, Secretary of State John Hay
proposed the Open Door Policy. This
policy wanted to give all nations equal
trading rights in China. Its goal was to open
to American businessmen the Chinese
market from which they had previously
been excluded
United States Foreign Policy
 President William Howard Taft expanded upon the Open Door Policy
by advocating (calling for) Dollar Diplomacy. Through Dollar
Diplomacy President Taft aimed to encourage American investment in
Latin America (South and Central America).
 Not only did Taft urge American banks and businesses to invest in Latin
America, but also promised that the United States military would
intervene (step in), if local unrest threatened their investments.
 Partially as a result of these two policies, growth in international trade
occurred from the late 1800s to World War I. This period was the first
era of a true “global economy.”
The Open Door Policy
Secretary John Hay.
Give all nations equal
access to trade in
China.
 It also urged all foreigners in
China to obey Chinese law and
observe practices of fair
competition.
 Guaranteed that China
would NOT be taken
over by any one foreign
power.
Aloha Hawaii
While both the Open Door Policy
and Dollar Diplomacy were
American attempts to engage in
economic imperialism, the United
States also embarked upon a limited
policy of political imperialism.
In the early 1890s the United States
marines helped American sugar
planters depose (overthrow) the
Hawaiian monarch Queen
Liliuokalani. In 1898 Congress
agreed to annex Hawaii or add it to
United States territory.
Queen Lilioukalani (1891-93). American
planters, who had established sugar plantations
in Hawaii beginning around 1820, became
increasingly influential in the economy and
government of Hawaii; Queen Lilioukalani's
desire for a new constitution, restoring her royal
powers, caused a revolt by the planters, and
she was deposed in 1893. In 1894 a republic
was established, headed by lawyer and
missionary son Sanford B. Dole, and
annexation by the U.S. followed in 1898.
Bayonet Constitution
 In June 1887 local businessmen, sugar planters and politicians
backed by the Honolulu Rifles forced the dismissal of the cabinet
and adoption of the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
 It stripped voting rights from all Asians outright, and
disenfranchised poor Native Hawaiians and other citizens by
raising income and wealth requirements for voting, thus effectively
consolidating power with the elite residents.
 In addition, it minimized the power of the monarch in favor of
more influential governance by the cabinet. Dole and other
lawyers of American descent drafted this document, which
became known as the "Bayonet Constitution".
Japan
 By the mid 1800’s, the largely
agrarian Japan came under
pressure by the US to open its
markets to US goods.
 President Fillmore sent
Commodore Matthew Perry to
Japan to convince the Japanese
to open their ports.
 In 1854, the Japanese agree to a
treaty that would allow trade
between the US and Japan.
Commodore Matthew Perry
Opens Up Japan: 1853
The Japanese View of
Commodore Perry
The Japanese View of
Commodore Perry
Our “Sphere of Influence”
Panama Canal
The United States continued its policy of imperialism
under President Theodore Roosevelt. First, the United
States encouraged Panama’s independence from
Columbia. Then it negotiated a treaty with Panama to
build the Panama Canal. Since this canal provided a
short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it
benefited American trade and thereby also furthered
economic imperialism.
A map showing the location of the Canal Zone.
To secure the U.S. control of the Caribbean, and
to give readier access to trade with China and
Japan for eastern manufacturers, Roosevelt was
an ardent supporter of the building of a canal
across the Isthmus of Panama. After using
"gunboat diplomacy" to help Panamanian rebel
leaders achieve independence from Colombia,
Roosevelt signed a treaty with their new nation
in 1903 awarding the U.S. control of a canal
zone. Construction was from 1904 to 1914.
Roosevelt Corollary
 In 1904, Roosevelt issued a statement that came to be known as
the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Corollary
means “what naturally follows from”.
 South and Central American Countries were poor and often
borrowed money from European countries then were unable to
repay the loans.
 To prevent European countries from attacking these countries in
the Western Hemisphere and thereby violating the Monroe
doctrine, Roosevelt announced that “chronic wrongdoing” by any
Latin American nation entitled the United States to intervene in its
affairs.
 This changed the Monroe doctrine by allowing one Western
Hemisphere nation the intervene in the affairs of another.
The Roosevelt Corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine: 1905
 Chronic wrongdoing… may
in America, as elsewhere,
ultimately require
intervention by some
civilized nation, and in the
Western Hemisphere the
adherence of the United
States to the Monroe
Doctrine may force the
United States, however
reluctantly, in flagrant
cases of such wrongdoing
or impotence, to the
exercise of an
international police power .
Constable of the World
Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
The U. S. should
be the conscience
of the world.
Spread democracy.
Promote peace.
Condemn
colonialism.
Spanish-American War
The Spanish-American War was the 1898 war between Spain and the United
States, which the United States won. As a result of the Spanish-American
War, the United States annexed both the Philippines and Puerto Rico and
declared its right to intervene (become militarily involved) in Cuban
affairs.
Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough
Riders on San Juan Hill in Cuba,
1898. When war was declared,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Roosevelt resigned his post and
recruited a volunteer cavalry
regiment that nicknamed itself the
"Rough Riders." After the invasion of
Cuba in June, Roosevelt's unit
marched overland to Santiago and,
on July 1, mounted a heroic charge
that allowed the Americans to capture
the ridges above the city and force
the Spanish fleet to evacuate and
surrender the city. The Rough Riders
suffered heavy casualties, but
Roosevelt became a national hero.
Yellow Journalist
The wreck of the U.S.S. Maine, February 15,
1898. The war for Cuban independence
coincided with a press war between William
Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer for the
largest newspaper circulation in New York City.
Both papers emphasized similarities between
Cuba's independence war and the American
Revolution. Then Hearst sent the famous artist,
Frederic Remington (1861-1909), to Cuba.
Remington cabled Hearst that there was
nothing to paint, to which the publisher
supposedly replied, "You supply the pictures
and I'll supply the war." On February 15, 1898,
the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana harbor.
An original investigation concluded that the ship was destroyed by an external
explosion, probably a Spanish mine. This was refuted in a carefully documented
1976 study by Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, which demonstrated that an internal
explosion caused the loss of the ship.
Yellow
Journalism
Yellow Journalism
Cuban Independence?
Platt Amendment (1903)
1. Cuba was not to enter into any agreements with
foreign powers that would endanger its
independence.
2. The U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs if
necessary to maintain an efficient, independent
govt.
3. Cuba must lease Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for
naval and coaling station.
4. Cuba must not build up an excessive public debt.
Puerto Rico: 1898
1900 - Foraker Act.
 PR became an “unincorporated territory.”
 Citizens of PR, not of the US.
 Import duties on PR goods
1901-1903  the Insular Cases.
 Constitutional rights were not automatically
extended to territorial possessions.
 Congress had the power to decide these rights.
 Import duties laid down by the Foraker Act were
legal!
Puerto Rico: 1898
1917 – Jones Act.
 Gave full territorial status to PR.
 Removed tariff duties on PR goods coming into the
US.
 PRs elected their
own legislators &
governor to enforce
local laws.
 PRs could NOT vote
in US presidential
elections.
 A resident commissioner was sent to Washington to
vote for PR in the House.
Philippines
 By June, U.S. and Filipino forces had taken control of




most of the islands
On 12 June, the Philippines
proclaimed the independence from Spain.
Later the Philippines declare war on the US to gain full
independence.
Opposition to the war inspired Mark Twain to found the
Anti-Imperialist League on June 15, 1898.
In 1946, following World War II, the United States gave
the territory independence through the Treaty of
Manila.
The American Anti-Imperialist
League
Founded in 1899.
Mark Twain, Andrew
Carnegie, William
James, and William
Jennings Bryan among
the leaders.
Campaigned against
the annexation of the
Philippines and other
acts of imperialism.