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APUSH Imperialism Part I
By Neil Hammond
Millbrook High School
Roots of Imperialism
• In the 1800s countries like Great Britain
and France had vast empires
• In the late 1800s the USA set out to build
its own empire. By the 1890s, overseas
expansion and imperialism appealed to
many Americans
• Imperialism = the governing of weaker
nations or colonies by more powerful
nations
Why Imperialism?
Why Imperialism? Economics
• US industrial expansion
after 1865
• In the late 1890s
foreign markets became
seen as critical for US
businesses to keep
growing
Figure 21.1 Balance of U.S. Imports, 1870–1914 By 1876 the United
States had become a net exporting nation (we sold more than we bought).
The brief reversal after 1888 aroused fears that the United States was
losing its foreign markets and helped fuel the expansionist drive of the
1890s.
Why Imperialism? Economics
• Markets in Asia and Latin America became seen as
increasingly important
• Many American politicians felt the US needed to be
more aggressive to get and keep access to those
markets
Why Imperialism? Economics
John Hay and the “Open Door Policy”
• In 1895 John Hay proposed the “Open
Door” policy, which would grant all nations
equal trading rights in China
Why Imperialism? The Military
• American military leaders also wanted the
US to expand
– Impact of Alfred T. Mahan
• Military bases, refueling bases
in the Pacific and Caribbean
• Spend money on building
up the military (esp. navy)
-- 1860, US navy 12th in world
-- 1900, US navy 3rd (17 BS, 3 Cruisers)
Why Imperialism? The Military
• Fear that the US
would be left
behind…European
countries had taken
over much of Africa
in the 1880s
Why Imperialism? The Military
• After the Civil War, the US gained several
islands in the Pacific, useful for both
military and economic purposes:
Why Imperialism? Ideology…
• Social Darwinism
– “survival of the fittest”
– US has an obligation to
help “backward
nations
• Nationalism
– “Anglo-Saxonism”
– US nation is
superior…should help
other nations have its
values
• Religion
– US religion is superior
(Christianity)
– Spread Christianity
The First Steps
• 1867 Secretary of State
William H. Seward dreamed
of a vast American Empire
• 1867 – Purchased Alaska
from Russia for $7.2
million…the purchase was
widely mocked as
“Seward’s Folly” or
“Seward’s Icebox”
• Alaska gave the United
States not only a windfall
of vast natural resources
but also an unlooked-for
presence stretching across
the northern Pacific.
Roots of Imperialism: Hawaii
• The economy is the key thing here and in
Cuba!!! By the 1870s, settlers from the US were
growing sugarcane on plantations on Hawaii
• 1875 Treaty with the USA
– This allowed the planters to sell their sugar in the US
without paying a tariff
– All other foreign sugar was taxed
• Hawaiian (American) sugar planters became
wealthy and powerful
– In 1887, they forced the Hawaiian king to grant them
control of the legislature. When he died in 1891, his
sister Liliuokalani became queen
The Annexation of Hawaii
• Queen Liliuokalani wanted more
power for native Hawaiians
– 1) Wealthy planters (American)
– 2) economic success led to
Japanese and Chinese immigrants
coming to Hawaii
• In 1893, the planters overthrew
the queen and asked the USA to
annex the island
– President Benjamin Harrison (R)
wanted to annex Hawaii, but he
lost the 1892 presidential election.
Grover Cleveland refused to annex
the island because he felt most
Hawaiians didn’t want it
By 1890s
• By the 1890s, many Americans wanted to
see the US become an imperial power
• Open Door Map
The Spanish-American War 1898
• In the 1800s, Americans had (like Hawaii)
established sugar plantations on Cuba
• By the 1890s all that remained of Spain’s
New World Empire was Puerto Rico and
Cuba
• In 1895 Cubans rebelled against Spain, and
the rebellion turned nasty:
– 1) Cuban revolutionaries followed a “scorched
earth” policy to try to make the island worthless
to the Spanish
– 2) The Spanish set up camps (“reconcentration
camps”) to separate ordinary Cubans from the
rebels (Spanish general “Butcher” Wyler)
– 3) Cleveland (an anti-imperialist) refused to act
Going to War with Spain
• News of the rebellion
and the camps quickly
reached the US. Many
Americans supported
the uprising
– For many Americans, the
Cubans were fighting for
freedom and independence,
just as they had in the
Revolutionary War
• But some Americans
were concerned
– 1) Americans with business
interests in Cuba were scared
that they would lose money
– 2) McKinley sent a warship,
the USS Maine to Cuba to
monitor events
Yellow Journalism
• The press of the time period
(largely led by the New York
World and the New York
Journal) fed Americans’ concern
by telling sensational stories of
Spanish brutality toward the
Cubans
McKinley
• At first tried to avoid war.
• February 9, 1898, Enrique Dupuy De Lome’s leaked
letter in New York Journal
• February 15, 1898
– USS Maine exploded
Events Drift toward War
The Yellow Press demanded war. Headlines
screamed, “Remember the Maine!”
A naval board of inquiry blamed a mine
for the explosion.
In response, Spain
agreed to American
demands, including
an end to the
concentration camps.
Despite Spanish
concessions,
President McKinley
sought permission
to use force.
Not Everyone Wanted to go to War
In April 1898, following a heated debate,
Congress agreed to McKinley’s request.
Critics charged
that the real goal
was an American
take-over of Cuba.
As a result, the Teller
Amendment was
added, stipulating
that the U.S. would
not annex Cuba.
The U.S. Navy was sent to blockade Cuban ports.
President McKinley called for 100,000 volunteers.
The War Begins
In response to the American actions, Spain
declared war on the U.S. The war began
with U.S. victories in the Philippines.
Commodore George Dewey
surprised and easily defeated
a Spanish fleet at Manila
Bay.
Rather than surrender to the
Filipino independence
fighters led by Emilio
Aguinaldo, Spanish troops
surrendered to U.S. forces.
The War Ends!
• Guantanamo Bay was
captured.
U.S. troops
easily defeated
the Spanish in
Cuba.
• Theodore Roosevelt’s
Rough Riders, and two
regiments of African
American soldiers, stormed
San Juan Hill.
• A Spanish fleet was
destroyed at Santiago.
• Spanish troops surrendered
in Cuba and on the island of
Puerto Rico.
Why is Every Treaty that ends a War
the Treaty of Paris?????
• Philippines ceded for
$20 million
In the Treaty
of Paris, Spain
gave up control
of Cuba, Puerto
Rico, and Guam.
• Guam and Puerto
Rico became
American territories.
• Under the Teller
Amendment, Cuba
could not be
annexed by the
United States.
Oh…by the way…
• The US annexed Hawaii during the SPAM
WAR
• Foraker Act of 1900 made Puerto Rico and
Guam US territories
• Congress then passed the Platt Amendment
– Cuba independent
– But a US “protectorate”…so the US could
intervene in Cuba if its interests were threatened
Oh…by the way…
• US became an imperial
power
• The navy performed well.
The army performed less
well. Equipment and
supplies were poor.
• Americans debated their
role as an imperial power
after the Philippines rebelled