Chapter 18 America Claims an Empire

Section I: Imperialism and America

I. American Expansion
A. Imperialism- the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political,
or military control over weaker territories
B. Global Competition
1. Manifest Destiny
a) Belief of the God given right to expand west
C. Desire for Military Strength
1. American leaders advised the US to build up its military strength
2. Alfred T. Manhan of the US navy
a) Urged government officials to build up American naval power in
order to compete with other powerful nations
b) US builds 9 steel-hulled cruisers between 1883 and 1890
c) Construction of modern battleships such as he Maine and the
Oregon transformed the country into the world's 3rd largest naval
power
D. Thirst for New Makers
1. US needs raw materials for factories and new markers for its agricultural
and manufactured goods
2. Imperialists viewed foregin trade as the solution to American
overproduction and the related problems of unemployment and economic
depression
E. Belief in Cultural Superiority
1. Some Americans combined the philosophy of Social Darwinism with a
belief that free-market competition would lead to the survival of the fittest-
belief in the racial superiority of Anglo-Saxons
II. The United States Acquired Alaska
A. William Seward
1. Secretary of State under presidents Lincoln and Johnson
2. Arranges the purchase of Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million in
1867
a) People call this purchase the “Seward Folly” or the “Seward
Icebox”
3. When Alaska is purchased in 1859 it becomes a state where an
abundance of natural resources are found
a) Rich in timber,, minerals, and oil
III. United States Takes Hawaii
A. The same year in which Alaska was purchased, the US took over the Midway
Islands
1. Located in the Pacific Ocean about 1300 miles north of Hawaii
a) No one lived on these islands
2. Hawaiian Islands had been economically important to the US for nearly a
century
 3. Merchants stopped there on their way to China and East India
4. Missionaries founded Christan schools and churches on this islands
B. The Cry for Annexation
1. In the mid 19th century American-owned sugar plantations accounted for
about ¾ of the islands’ wealth
2. Plantations owners important thousands of laborers from Japan, Portugal
and China
a) By 1900s foreigners and immigrant laborers outnumbered native
Hawaiians 1:3
3. In 1875, US agreed to import Hawaiian sugar duty-free
a) Hawaiian sugar production increased 9 times
b) McKinley Tariff of 1890 provided a crisis by eliminating the
duty-free status of Hawaiian sugar
(1) Hawaiian sugar growers faced competition in the American
market
(2) American planters in Hawaii called for the US to annex the
islands so they wouldn't have to pay the duty
4. US pressures Hawaii to allow them to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor
a) A huge port
b) Become a refueling stations for American ships
C. The End of a Monarchy
1. King Kalakaua had been strong-armed by white business leaders
a) Forced him to amended Hawaii’s constitution, effectively limiting
voting rights to only wealthy landowners
(1) Kalakua died in 1891 and his sister Queen Liluokalani
came to power
(2) “Hawaii for Hawaiians” proposed a removing the
property-owning qualifications for voting
(3) To prevent this from happening business groups organized
a revolutions
b) Stanford B. Dole, with the help of marines, overthrew the queen
and set up a new government headed by Dole
2. President Cleveland directed that the queen be restored to her throne
a) Dole refused to surrender power, and Cleveland formally
recognized the Republic of Hawaii
b) Refused to consider the annexation unless a majority of the
Hawaiians avored it
3. In 1897, William McKinley, who favored annexation, succeeded Cleveland
as president
4. On August 12, 1898, Congress proclaimed Hawaii an American territory,
although Hawaiians never had the chance to vote
a) In 1959, haiti become the 50th state of the US

Section II: The Spanish American War

I. Cubans Rebel Against Spain
A. American Interest in Cuba
1. US had long held an interest in Cuba, which lies only 90 miles south of
Florida
a) Sugar is grown in Cuba
2. In 1854 President Franklin Pierce is asked by the US to buy Cuba from
Spain
a) The Spanish responded by saying that they would rather see
Cuba sunk in the Ocean
3. Cubans rebelled against Spain between 1868 and 1878
a) American sympathies went out to the Cuban people
b) Cuban rebel against Spain was not successful, but in 1886 the
Cuabn people did force Spain to abolish salvery
(1) American capitalists began investing in large sugar cane
plantations on the islands
B. The Second War for Independence
1. José Martí
a) Cuban poet and journalist
b) Exile in New York
c) Launched a revolution in 1895
d) Organized cyban resistance against spain by using guerrilla
warfare campaign
e) Destroys property, especially American-ownedsugar mills and
plantations
f) Provoking the US intervention to help the revels achieve freedom
for Cuba
II. War Fever Escalates
A. In 1896, Spain response to the Cuban revolt by sending General Valeriano
Weyler to Cuba to restore order
1. Wyler tired to crush the rebellion by herding the entire rural population of
western and central Cuba into barbed wire concentrations camps
a) Civilian could not give aid to rebels
b) About 300,000 Cubans filled these camps and thousands died
from disease and hunger
B. Headline Wars
1. Weyler’s actions fueled a war over newspaper circulation that had
developed between american newspaper tycoons
a) Printed exaggerated accounts of “Butcher” Weyler’s brutality
b) Stories deepen American sympathy for Cuban rebels
2. Yellow Journalism
a) Style of writing which exaggerates the news to lure and enrage
readers
C. The De Lôme Letter
1. President William McKinley took office in 1897
 a) Demands for American intervention in Cuba were on the rise
b) Tired diplomatic means to resolve the crisis
2. Spain recalled General Weyler and modified the policy regarding
concentration camps and offered Cuba a limited self-government
3. In 1898 the New York Journal published a private letter written by Enrique
Dupuy de Lôme
a) Spanish minister to the US
b) A Cuban rebel had stoel the letter from a Havana post office and
leaked it to the newspaper
c) Criticized President Mckinley called him “weak’ and “a bidder for
the admiration of the crowd”
d) Spanish government apologized, but Americans are angry over
the insult to their president
D. The U.S.S. Maine Explodes
1. A few days after the Lôme letter was published, American resentment
toward Sain turned to outrage
2. In 1898, McKinlkey had ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring home
American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect American
property
3. On February 15, 1898, the ship blew up in the harbor of Havana
a) More than 260 men were killed
4. No one knew why the ship exploded
a) American newspapers claimed the Spanish had blown up the ship
b) The Journals headline read “The Warship Maine was split in 2 by
an enemy’s secret infernal machine”
(1) Hearts paper offered a reward of $50,00 for the capture of
the spaniards who committed this outrage
III. War with Spain Erupts
A. “Remember the Maine” became the rallying cry for the U.S. intervention in Cuba
B. On April 11th McKinley asked Congress for the authority against Spain
1. Congress agreed and on April 20th the US declared war on Spain
C. The war in the Philippines
1. On April 30th the American fleet steamed to the Philippines
2. The next morning Commodore George Dewey gave the command to
open fire on the Spanish fleet at Manila, the capital
3. Dewey's men destroy every Spanish ship there within hours
a) Victory allowed US troops to land in the Philippines
b) Dewy had support of the Filipinos like wanted freedom from spain
4. Within 2 months 11,000 Ameicans joined forces with Filipino rebels led by
Emilio Aguninnalso
5. In August Spanish troops in Manila surrender to the US
D. War in the Caribbean
1. Victory in Manila had demonstrated the superiority of the US naval forces
2. 125,000 Americans had volunteered to fight
 a) New soldiers were sent to training camps that lacked adequate
supplies and effective leaders
b) Not enough modern guns for everyone andhra troops were
outfitted with heavy woolen uniforms unsuitable for Cuba tropical
climate
c) Officers had a tendency to spend their time recalling their war
experiences rather than training the volunteers
E. Rough Riders
1. American forces landed in Cuba in June 1898 and began to converge on
the port of city of Santiago
a) Army of 17,000 including 4 African American regiments of the
regular amy and the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry under the
command of Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt
2. Battle of Santiago on July 1st
a) First part of battle took place nearby Kettle Hill
(1) Victory cleaned the way for an infantry attack on San Juan
Hill
b) Rough riders and two African American regiments had victory at
San Juan Hill
(1) Second victory of the US
c) American troops invade Puerto Rico on july 25
F. Treaty of Paris
1. US and Spain signed an armistice, a cease-fire agreement on August 12,
ending what Secretary of State John Hay called “ a splendid little war”
2. On December 10, 1898, the US and spain met in Paris to agree on a
treaty where Spain freed Cuba and turned over the islands of Guam and
and Puerto Rico to the US as well as selling the Philippines to the US for
$20 million
G. Debate over the Treaty of
1. Treaty of Paris touched off a great debate in the US
a) Arguments centered on whether the Us had the right to annex the
Philippines
(1) Imperialism was the real issue
b) Political, moral, and economic arguments against annexation
(1) Some felt treat violated the Declaration of Independence
by denying self government for the new land
(a) Brooke T. Wshnton argued that the US would
settle race-related issues at home before taking
social problems somewhere else
(2) On February 6 1899, the annexation question was settled
with the Senate appeal to the Treaty of Paris
Section III: Acquiring New Lands
I. Ruling Puerto Rico
A. Military Rule
 1. General Nelson A. Miles occupied the Island of Puerto Rico
2. Promised the Puerto Ricans that he would protect them and their property
3. For the first time, Puerto Rico could be controlled by the military until
Congress decided otherwise
B. Return to Civil Government
1. Puerto rico was important to the US for maintaining a US presence in the
Caribbean and for protecting a future canal that American leaders wanted
to build across the Isthmus of Panama
2. In 1900, Congress passed the Foraker Act
a) Ended military rule and set up a civil government
3. Gave the president of the US power to appoint Pueto Rico's government
and members of the upper house of its legislative
a) Puerto Ricans could elect only the members of the legislature
lower house
4. In 1901, in the Insular Cases, the US Supreme Court ruled that the
Constitution did not automatically apply to people in acquired territories
5. Congress retained the right to extend US Citizenship and it granted the
right to Pueto Rcans in 1918
a) Gave Puerto Ricans the right to elect both houses of legislature
II. Cuba and the United States
A. When US declared war against Spain in 1898, it recognizes Cuba's
independence from Spain
1. Passed the Teller Amendment, which stated that the US had no intention
of taking over any part of Cuba
B. American Soilers
1. José Martí, a Cuban patriot led the movement for independence from
Spain
a) Feared that the US would merely replace Spain and dominate
Cuban politics
2. Under American occupation, the same officials who had served Spain
remained in office
a) Cubans who protested this were imprisoned or exiled
3. American Military government provided food and clothing for families
a) helped farmers put land put into cultivation
b) Organized elementary schools
c) Improvement of sanitation and medical research
(1) Military government helped eliminate yellow fever
C. Platt Amendment
1. In 1900 the Cuban government wrote a constitution for an independent
Cuba
a) Did not specify the relationship between Cuba and the US
b) US insisted that Cuba add to its constitution several provisions
known as the Platt Amendment
 (1) Cuba could not make treaties that might limit its
independence or permit a foregin power to control any part
of its territory
(2) The US reserved the right to intervene Cuba
(3) Cuba was not to go into debt that government could not
repay
(4) The US could buy or lease land on the island for naval
stations and refueling stations
c) US states that unless these amendments were adopted into
Cuba’s constitution, they will not remove military forces from Cuba
(1) In 1903 the Platt Amendment became part of treaty
between the two nations and remained in effect for 31
years
(2) Cuba became a protectorate, a country whose affairs
were partially controlled by a stronger power
D. Protecting American Business Interests
1. US wants to protect American business that had invested in the islands
sugar, tobacco, and mining industries, as well as railroads and public
utilities
2. Many business people were convinced that annexing and posing colonial
rule on new territories was necessary to protect American business
interest
a) Some were concerned about colonial entanglements
b) US state department continued to push for control of its Latin
American neighbors
III. Filipinos Rebel
A. Filipinos reacted with outrage to the Treaty of Paris which called for American
annexation of the Philippines
B. Emilio Aguinalso believed that the US had promised independence
C. Philippine-American War
1. In February of 1899 the Filipinos, led by Agunialo, rose to revolt against
the US
a) US assumed almost the same role that Spain had played
(1) Imposing its authority on a colony that was fighting for
freedom
2. Aguinaldo used guerrilla tactics
a) US forced FIlipios to live in designated zones, where poor
sanitation, starvation, and disease killed thousands
3. White American soldiers looked at Filipinos as inferiors
a) Many of the 70,000 US troops sent t the Philippines were African
Americans
4. Took americans 3 years to put down the rebellion
a) About 20,000 Filipino rebels died fighting for their independence
and 4,000 americans died
 D. Aftermath of the War
1. US set up a government similar to the one it had established in Puerto
Rico
2. US president would appoint a governor, who would then appoint the
upper house of the legislature
a) FIliponis would elect the lower house
3. Philippines became an independent Republic on July 4, 1946
IV. Foregin Influence in China
A. John Jay’s open door notes
1. US secretary of state John Jay issued, in 1899, a series of policy
statements called the Open Door notes
a) Addressed to the leaders of the imperialist nations proposing that
the nations share their trading rights with the US
b) No single nation would have a monopoly on trade with any part of
China
(1) Imperialism nations reluctantly accepted this policy
B. The Boxer Rebellion in China
1. Chinese try to drive out foregin people
2. Chinese formed secret societies pledged to rid the country of “foregin
devils”
a) Known as Boxers
b) Killed hundreds of missionaries and other foreigner, as well as
chinese converts to Christianity
(1) In August 1900, troops from Britain, France, Germany and
Japan joined about 2,500 Americans soldiers and marched
to the Chinese caption
(a) Within to moths the international forces put down
the Boxer Rebellion
C. Protecting American Rights
1. US feared that European nations would use their viceroy to take greater
control of China
2. John Hay issued a second series of Open Door notes
a) American believed that the growth of the US economy depended
on exports
b) Felt the US had a right to interview abroad to keep foreign markets
open
c) Feared that the closing of an area to American products, citizens
or ideas threatens US survival
V. The Impact of U.S. Territorial Gains
A. In 1900 Willaim McKinley, a reluctant but confirmed imperialist, was elected to a
second term against Democrat Willaim Jennings Bryam, who opposed
imperialism
1. Before McKinley was reelected, an Anti-Imperialist League had sprung
into being
 a) Included some of he most prominent people in American
b) Had different and sometimes conflicting reasons for their options,
but agreed that is was wrong from the U to rule other people
without consent

Section IV: America as a World Power

I. Teddy Roosevelt and the world
A. Roosevelt the peacemaker
1. In 1904, Russia and Japan were both imperialism powers, and they were
competing for control of Korea
2. The Japanese took the first action in what would become the
RussiaoJapnaese War with a sudden attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet
a) Japanese destroyed the fleet and proceeded to destroy a second
fleet sent as reinforcement
b) As a result of battles, Japan began to run out of men and money
3. Japanese officials approached President Roosevelt in seret and asked
him to mediate peace negotiation
a) Roosevelt agreed and in 1905 Russian and Japanese delegates
convened in New Hampshire
4. Japanese wanted Sakhalin Island and a large sum of money from Russia
a) Russia refused
b) Roosevelt persuaded Jaan to accept half the island and forgo the
cash payment
c) In return Russia agreed to let Japan take over Russian interests in
Manchuria and Korea
B. Panama Canal
1. US felt that they needed a canal cutting across Central America
a) Reduce travel time for commercial and military ships by providing
a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
2. US had to get permission from Colombia, which then ruled Panama to
work on the canal
3. On November 17, 1903 Panama signs a treaty in which the US agreed to
pay Panama $10 million dollars plus an annual rent of $250,000 for an
area of land across Panama called the Canal Zone
C. Constructing the Canal
1. One of the worlds greatest engineering feats
2. Builders fight diseases, such as yellow fever and malaria
3. Work began in 1904 with the clearing of brush and draining of swaps
4. By 1913, the height of the construction, more than 43,400 workers were
employees
a) Many come from italy and spain
b) ¾ were black from the British West Indies
c) More than 5,600 works died from accidents or disease
d) Total cost to the US was about $380 million to build the canal
 5. On August 15, 1914 the canal opened for business
a) More than 1,000 merchant ships passed through during its first
year
b) US- Latin American relation had been damaged by American
support of the rebellion in Panama
c) US gives Columbia $25 million in 1921 to compensate the country
for its lost territory
D. The Roosevelt Corollary
1. Financial Factors drew the US further into Latin American affairs
a) In the late 19th century, many Latin American nations had
borrowed huge sums from European banks to build railroad and
develop industries
b) Roosevelt feared that if these nations defaulted on their loans,
Europeans might intervene
c) Roosevelt reminded European powers of the Monroe Doctrine
(1) Demanded that European countries stay out of the affairs
of Latin American nations
2. Roosevelt Corollary
a) Added to the Monroe Doctrine
b) Roosivelt informs Latin America that disorder in the country, can
being about American interference
c) The corollary said that the US would now use force to protect its
economic interests in Latin America
E. Dollar Diplomacy
1. The Taft administration followed the policy of using the US government to
guarantee loans made to foreign countries by American businesspeople
II. Windows Wilson's Missionary Diplomacy
A. The US had a moral responsibility to deny regonigation to any Latin American
government it view as oppressive, undemocratic, or hostel to US interests
B. The Mexican Revolution
1. Porfirio Díaz has ruler over Mexico for over 3 decades
a) Military dictator
2. Díaz was a friend of the US who encouraged foreign investments in his
country
a) As a result foreigners, mostly Americans, owned a large share of
Mexican oil wells mines, railroads, and raches
3. In 1911, Mexican peasants and workers led by Francisco Madero
overthrew Díaz
a) Unable to satisfy workers
b) General Vicoriano huerta took over government
c) Within days Madero was murdered
d) Willson refused to recognize the government that Huerta
C. Intervention in Mexico
 1. Wilson adopted a plan of “watchful waiting” looking for an opportunity to
act against Huerta
a) In April 1814, one of Huerta offerers arrested a small group of
American sailors in Tampico
b) Mexicans quickly released them and apologized
(1) Wilson used the incident as an excuse to intervene in
Mexico and ordered US Marines to occupy Veracruz, an
important Mexican port
(2) 18 Americans and 200 Mexicans died during the invasion
2. Incident brought the US and Mexico close to war
a) Argentina, Brazil, and Chile stepped in to mediate the conflict
(1) Proposed that Guerta step down and thar US troops
withdraw without paying Mexico for damages
(2) Mexico rejected the plan
D. Rebellion in Mexico
1. Carranza was in charge, but did not have all Mexicans support
2. Rebels francisco “Pancho” Villa and Emiliano Zapata opposed
Carranza’s provisional government
a) When President Wilson recognized Caravans evenement, Villa
threaten reprisals against the US
b) In January 1916, Carranza invited American engineers to operate
mines in northern Mexico
(1) Villas men took the Americans off a train and shot them
(2) Villas followed raided New Mexico 2 months later and
killed 17 Americans
(3) Americans held Villa responsible
E. Chasing Villa
1. Willson ordered Brigadier general John J. Pershing and force of 15,000
soldiers are sent into Mexico to capture Villa dead or alive
a) For almost a year Villa eluded Pershing’s forced
b) Wilson called for 150,000 National Guard Man and stationed them
along the Mexican border
2. Mexicans grew angeir over the US invasion of heir land
a) In February of 1917, WIlson orders Pershing to return to the US
3. Later that year, Mexico develops a constitution
a) Gave government control of the nations oil and mineral resources
and placed strict regulations on foreign investors
4. US intervention in Mexico affair provided a clear model of American
imperialist attitudes in the early years of the 20th century
a) American Belief in the superiority of the free-enterprise democracy
b) American government attempted to extend economic and political
reform