American Imperialism

Early 20th Century

● Why did the Spanish American war start
● What happened
● Outcome
○
● How did this affect the world
●
Annexation of Hawaii
https://unitedstatesimperialism.wordpress.com/about/
1. Monarch of Hawaii (Queen Liliuokalani) was replaced by a government
2. The Americans in Hawaii wanted the US to annex the islands.
3. The treaty for annexation of Hawaii was rejected.
4. The Hawaiians did not want the US to annex Hawaii, and revolted.
5. Following the Spanish-American War, the US gained control over the Philippines, Puerto
Rico, and Guam.
6. The US then annexed the Hawaiian islands.

Spanish-American War/Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines

https://unitedstatesimperialism.wordpress.com/the-philippines/
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/sinking-maine
1. The Sinking of the USS Maine
a. February 15, 1898
b. In a harbor in Havana Cuba
c. 260 dead
d. American battleship
2. Both sides declared war on each other in April 1898
3. America destroyed a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay (The Philippines)
4. The Spanish were then driven out of Cuba, and the Americans hunted them down.
5. Spain sued for peace shortly after the Americans took Puerto Rico.
6. Cuba gained independence, and the Americans took control of Spanish colonies. The
Americans gained control of Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam.
7. Philippines did not like the idea of being annexed by the United States. They wanted
independence, and shortly after the United States defeated the Spanish in the war, the
Philippine Republic declared war on the United States
8. Philippine-American War
a. This “war” was pretty much a skirmish between the Philippines and the United
States
b. To defend their independence, the Philippines declared war, and as a result,
approximately 200,000 Filipinos died.
c. America ended up eventually annexing the Philippines, but the cost was a
skirmish that forced the United States to use 63,000 troops and approximately
three years.

Spanish-American War/Cuban Independence

http://www.history.com/topics/spanish-american-war
1. Cuba struggled to gain independence from Spain in 1895
2. USS Maine was sunk in a Cuban harbor in 1898
3. War declared
 4. Spain sued for peace
5. Treaty of Paris was signed in 1899. The treaty stated that Spain give Cuba their
independence, cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the US, and “transferred sovereignty over
the Philippines to the United States for $20,000,000.”
6.

Annexation of American Samoa

https://www.americansamoa.gov/history-of-american-samoa
1. British people went to Samoa
2. In 1878, America signed a treaty for establishing a naval port in Pago Pago
3. In 1899, Germany took the western islands of Samoa, and America took the eastern
islands.
4. The whole eastern half of Samoa, known as American Samoa, is governed by the
United States, and is used mainly as a naval port.

Annexation of Virgin Islands

https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwi/107293.htm
1. The Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) were controlled by Denmark in the late 1800’s.
2. They remained under Danish control until 1917
3. In 1917, the United States bought the Danish West Indies from Denmark, and renamed
them the Virgin Islands

https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/intro.html

Script for Presentation

In the 50 years between the Civil war and World War 1, american imperialism was becoming
more prominent, and the United States were showing the world that they were a strong nation.
In late 1800’s, Americans were already in Hawaii, and in 1892, they replaced the monarch of
Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani with a government. Native Hawaiians were not happy about this, and
when the Americans started to talk about annexing hawaii, they revolted. The treaty to annex
hawaii in 1897 was rejected, but there was still talk about annexing hawaii.The Hawaiians
stopped revolting after knowledge that the treaty to annex them was rejected. Approximately
two years later, following the Spanish-American War, the United States decided to annex
Hawaii.
Right before hawaii was annexed, The Spanish-American War broke out. This war started when
one of Spain’s colonies, Cuba, was struggling to gain independence from Spain in 1898. The
United States was deciding whether or not to intervene and help Cuba gain independence from
Spain. Approximately a month later, the United States decided to intervene, since the United
States was a growing country who wanted to expand more. They sent the USS Maine down to a
port in Havana, Cuba. On February 15, 1898, the USS Maine was sunk in Havana, supposedly
by a mine or bomb. The United States heard about this, and decided to declare war on Spain,
and as a result, Spain declared war on the United States. At the time, Spain had a well armed
navy, and possessed many colonies, the main ones being Guam, Puerto Rico, Philippines, and
Cuba. On May 1st, the United States sent a fleet to Manila Bay in the Philippines, where a
Spanish fleet was docked. The United States demolished the Spanish fleet, and came out
victorious and almost untouched. Two months later, the United States sent a fleet to Santiago
Cuba to scout out where a Spanish fleet was located. The Spanish fleet in Santiago soon fled to
Puerto Rico where the Americans hunted them all down and eventually took over Puerto Rico.
Shortly after, Spain sued for peace. In 1899, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which stated that
Spain give Cuba their independence, that they cede their colonies in Guam and Puerto Rico to
the United States, and that the sovereignty of the Philippines would be transferred over to the
United states for $20,000,000. This led to the annexation of Guam and Puerto Rico within the
next year. The United States were planning to annex the Philippines as well however, the
Philippines did not like this idea, and to protect their independence, the Philippine Republic
declared war on the United States. This war was more of a prolonged skirmish, which ended up
costing the Philippines 200,000 casualties. The United States finally annexed the Philippines in
1902, when the war ended. Annexing the Philippines took approximately three years.
Before any of this happened, the United States wanted to expand into the Pacific, and
agreed with Samoa to build an American port in Pago Pago in 1878. In 1899, Germans also
came to Samoa, and the United States took the eastern islands of Samoa, and the Germans
took the western half. In the year 1900, shortly after the annexation of Guam, Puerto Rico, and
the Philippines, the United States annexed the eastern islands of Samoa, now known as
American Samoa. The final act of American Imperialism before World War One was the
annexation of the Virgin Islands, which were at the time, known as the Danish West Indies.
Denmark controlled the Danish West Indies in the late 1800’s, all the way up to the year 1917,
where the United States purchased the Danish West Indies from Denmark. The United States
decided to rename the Danish West Indies to the Virgin Islands in 1917.