Anna Gassett

History 1320

The American Yawp

Chapter 19 – American Imperialism

1. When did the United States begin trading with China?

a. 1784
b. 1831
c. 1854
d. 1911
A. 1784. Pg. 83. American ships began heading to China in 1784 for trading purposes.

2. What was the Open Door Policy?

a. A commitment to free trade throughout the Pacific Rim
b. A demand for the abolition of all tariffs
c. The use of gunboat diplomacy in establishing trade with Japan
d. A call for all western powers to have equal access to Chinese markets
D. A call for all western powers to have equal access to Chinese markets. Pg. 83. John Hay
was concerned about all Western powers having equal opportunity to trade with China, so he
created the Open Door Policy.

3. How did the United States respond to the Boxer Rebellion in China?
a. President McKinley sent the U.S. Army into China without consulting congress
b. American troops fought alongside British troops in a western coalition designed to
bring peace
c. The Americans sent diplomats to protect missionaries and businesses
d. The United States did not respond formally to the rebellion due to isolationist
commitments
A. President McKinley sent the U.S. Army into China without consulting congress. Pg. 83.
President McKinley set the precedent for other presidents to follow that the position can
order American troops to action, which is what he did in response to the Boxer Rebellion in
China.

4. All of the following statements regarding the Guano Islands Act of 1856 are true EXCEPT
a. Guano was a popular fertilizer that was integral to industrial farming
b. This legislation put Guano Islands on a path to statehood that later was rejected
c. This legislation authorized and encouraged Americans to venture into the seas and
claim islands with guano deposits for the United States
d. These acquisitions were the first insular, unincorporated territories of the United
States
B. This legislation put Guano Islands on a path to statehood that later was rejected. Pg. 84.
The Guano Islands were never on a track to statehood. They were U.S. unincorporated
territories.

5. What economic activity most united Brazil and the United States in the early nineteenth
century?
a. Sugar trade
b. America textile manufacturing
c. Slave trade
d. Mahogany trade
A. Sugar trade. Pg. 84. Sugar trade was essential for the bonding and reliance of Brazil and
U.S.

6. Why did President Wilson authorize the invasion of Veracruz, Mexico?

a. Victoriano Huerta executed democratically elected president, Francisco Madero
b. Americans with financial investments in Mexico asked for intervention
c. Mexican forces mistakenly arrested American sailors
d. All of the above
D. All of the above. Pg. 84-85. President Wilson authorized the invasion of Veracruz because
of the anger of American businessmen who had investments in Mexico, the execution of
Madero, and the American’s that were arrested by the Mexican forces by mistake.

7. During the nineteenth century, American interests in the Middle East revolved around all of
the following EXCEPT
a. Religion
b. Oil
c. Education
d. Access to trading routes
B. Oil. Pg. 86. The relationship between the Middle East was limited to trading, educations,
and religious missionary expeditions.

8. All of the following statements regarding the Philippine-American War are true EXCEPT
a. The United States received the territory of the Philippines after the Spanish-
American War
b. The Filipinos were fighting in attempt to earn independence
c. The war began with the assassination of Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First
Philippine Republic
d. The beginning of the Philippine-American War was marked with confusion
C. The war began with the assassination of Emilio Aguinaldo, president of the First
Philippine Republic. Pg. 89-90. The start of the war in which the Filipinos fought to gain
independence was unfamiliar and confusing that resulted in the U.S. gaining the territory of
the Philippines.
9. As President Theodore Roosevelt transformed the American navy by emphasizing which of
the following strategies?
a. Targeted commercial raiding
b. Revamped coastal defense
c. The construction of small, fast “brown water” ships
d. Creating battleships and a “blue water” navy that would win battles against rival
fleets
D. Creating battleships and a “blue water” navy that would win battles against rival
fleets. Pg. 93. In contrast to strategies used in the past, Roosevelt created a decisive,
undefeatable Navy that controlled the sea.

10. How did the Roosevelt Corollary modify the Monroe Doctrine?
a. By creating the Great White Fleet to project American Power in the Pacific Ocean
and around the world
b. Declaring that the U.S. had the right to preemptive action through intervention in
any Latin American nation to correct administrative and fiscal deficiencies
c. By encouraging the independence movement in the Philippines
d. Through an aggressive avoidance of dollar diplomacy and gunboat diplomacy
B. Declaring that the U.S. had the right to preemptive action through intervention in
any Latin American nation to correct administrative and fiscal deficiencies. Pg. 94. Roosevelt
viewed any military aid or intervention from a European power in Latin American as a threat
to America, so he expanded the Monroe Doctrine by giving the U.S. the right to take action in
Latin America if there is an issue.

11. Women participated in the global influence of the United States in many ways, including as
all of the following EXCEPT
a. Missionaries
b. Teachers
c. Diplomats
d. Medical professionals
C. Diplomats. Pg. 97-98. White, middle-class, Christian women were offered opportunities
through American imperialism as missionaries, teachers, and medical professionals.

12. Which ethnic group faces the most rigid immigration restrictions?
a. Chinese
b. Italians
c. Irish
d. Jews
A. Chinese. Pg. 101. Many Americans were resistant to Chinese immigrants. They felt as
though the Chinese were inferior and unfit to be American citizens.

13. At the turn of the century, the percentage of immigrants from which region decreased in
relation to other regions?
a. Southern Europe
b. Eastern Europe
c. East Asia
d. Western Europe
D. Western Europe. Pg. 102. Immigration-sending areas at the turn of the century was shifting
to largely southern and eastern Europe and Asia.

14. Which ethnic group was most numerous among the Catholic bishops in the United States?
a. Polish
b. Italians
c. Irish
d. Germans
C. Irish. Pg. Pg. 103. The Irish held a dominance in the Catholic hierarchy, including bishops.

15. Catholic clergymen who took up the name “Americanists” believed in all of the following
EXCEPT
a. Catholic immigrants should try to assimilate into the English-speaking mainstream
b. Public schools were a danger to the Catholic faith
c. The Church should close “ethic parishes”
d. The separation of church and state would benefit Catholicism
B. Public schools were a danger to the Catholic faith. Pg. 104. Americanists believed that
assimilation would be beneficial to the Catholic church, ethnic churches should be
discouraged, and the church and state should be separated.

Was the acquisition of Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam an act of imperial conquest for
the United States?
The United States military became so powerful that it was frankly impossible for these
small nations to defeat it. President McKinley was influential in regards to the imperial
conquest of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. He wanted the United States to become
the ultimate power, incapable of being overtaken or destroyed. In my opinion, the acquisition
of the territories listed above were absolutely an act of U.S. imperial conquest.

When the United States declared independence from an empire, it based its founding in
democratic ideals. Is the era of American Empire in support and agreement with the founding
principles? Why or why not?
I believe that the era of American Empire does not support or agree with its founding
principles rooted in demographic ideals. McKinley attempted to excuse what the U.S. was
doing to other territories by claiming it will educate and enlighten the people, but I think that
is merely a way to justify the terror and horror that the people of Puerto Rico, the
Philippines, and Guam had to go through. The U.S. despised being ruled over, yet in turn they
did the same thing to other territories seeking independence. It does not align with what the
U.S. was founded upon.