IMPERIALISM

Tradition of American Isolationism

Or was it?

International Expansion

Age of Empire

Overseas Expansion Expand or explode – labor violence,

agrarian unrest Missionary zeal – Josiah Strong

Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis

We must spread our values to “backward peoples”

Darwinism – Earth belongs to the strong and fit (America)

Imperialism

“The extension of power by one people or country over another country or region.”

Territory may be acquired by Purchase Annexation Conquest

Europeans divided up Africa Japan, Germany, Russia, England – trying

to tap into China (United States too)

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Naval War College Influence of Sea Power… Set off a race for naval dominance

Critics of Imperialism say:

“It is ruthless conquest and brutal exploitation of people and nations for the enrichment of the imperialist nation.”

Benefits of Imperialism

Better medical treatment Development of natural resources Improvements in education Presentation of the Gospel to people who

haven’t heard

Alaska

Expansion by purchase Purchased from Russia in 1867 Paid $7.2 million (<two cents/acre)

Gold and oil were discovered in Alaska making it a source of enormous wealth.

Pacific Expansion

Midway annexed in 1867 Samoan islands seized in 1889.

(American Samoa) Hawaii taken in 1890s

Hawaii

Hawaii was an important supply point for whaling, merchant, and war ships since the 1700s (previously called the Sandwich Islands).

Christian missionaries went to the islands in the early 1800s, first with the purpose of sharing Christ, then with a profit motive. They built a thriving sugar industry.

Hawaii

Sometimes rivalries developed between missionaries and “agents of imperialism.”

Hiram Bingham, a Congregationalist missionary, went to Hawaii in 1820.

He helped end prostitution among the Hawaii women and angered white sailors who assaulted him.

Hawaii

Princess Ka’iulani was the daughter of a Hawaiian princess and a Scottish businessman.

She went to school in London and was presented to Queen Victoria at court.

Young Princess Ka’iulani

Hawaii

Back home in Hawaii, Americans who had become powerful and wealthy were beginning to control the government of Hawaii and indicated that they would like to annex Hawaii to the United States.

Hawaii

The new queen, who had been a Christian most of her life, stood firm against the businessmen trying to run her government and tried to oust the planter/businessmen from power.

They used a company of U.S. Marines to overthrow her on Jan. 16, 1893.

Lilialuokalani surrendered the throne because she was surrounded by Marines.

Queen Liliuokalani

Hawaii

Princess Ka’iulani was asked to go to Washington to appeal to President Grover Cleveland to block the annexation of Hawaii. (She was only 17 years old.)

President Cleveland agreed to investigate to find out what was going on.

Hawaii

Ka’iulani returned to school in England. President Cleveland’s investigation found

that “a wrong had been done to the Hawaiians, who were overwhelmingly opposed to annexation.”

Princess Ka’iulani

Hawaii

President Cleveland ordered Congress to restore the queen to her throne.

Ka’iulani was very happy, but it was not to last.

The haoles (American businessmen) refused to relinquish control, and the president was unwilling to send troops to force them to comply with his orders.

Hawaii

Hawaiian kings and queens never ruled Hawaii again.

As soon as President Grover Cleveland left office in 1897, Congress voted to annex Hawaii as a U.S. territory.

As the Americans celebrated, the Hawaiians mourned.

The Declaration of Independence says, “…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Spanish-American War

In this war, ostensibly to help Cuba become independent from Spanish rule, the United States came into possession of Cuba (Caribbean) Puerto Rico (Caribbean) The Philippines (Pacific) Guam (Pacific)

Cuba

Caribbean Map

Spanish-American War

Other reasons for the U.S. to go to war with Spain: 1. Yellow Journalism 2. The deLome letter 3. The Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized news reporting aimed at gaining readers rather than reporting the truth.

Competition between two New York papers caused them to inflame American sentiments against Spain (in Cuba) in order to get more readers.

De Lome Letter

A letter written by the Spanish ambassador in Washington, de Lome, insulting President McKinley as “weak and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd” was published in the New York Journal.

Americans were offended even though Americans criticized the president in worse terms.

Tensions mounted between the U.S. & Spain.

The Sinking of the Maine

The battleship Maine was anchored in Havana Harbor. On 2/15/1898, the ship exploded and sank, killing 260 American sailors.

The U.S. claimed that the Spanish had mined the ship.

A 1975 investigation showed that the explosion was caused by an accident in the ship’s coal bunkers.

The newspapers continued to inflame Americans against Spain and McKinley finally relented and asked Congress to declare war on Spain if it did not withdraw from Cuba.

Spain refused, and the Spanish-American War resulted.

Teddy Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, without authorization, sent a cable to Admiral Dewey was in the Pacific with his fleet to “Steam to Manila and take the Philippines!”

The Americans won the Battle of Manila.

Philippines

In the Philippines, we helped them achieve their freedom from Spain, then we paid Spain to purchase the Philippines from the country we had just declared had no right to “own” the country.

Then we proceeded to send our own governors and military to govern the Philippines.

Battle of Manila

Back in Cuba

The American Army was slow to prepare for the war, but finally sent a volunteer cavalry unit of “Rough Riders” to Cuba (without their horses) under command of Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt.

They won the Battle of San Juan Hill on July 17, 1898.

Puerto Rico

The Puerto Ricans, glad to be rid of the Spanish, surrendered to the Americans at Bahia de Guanica.

Back in the Philippines

The Filipinos were not so happy to be under U.S. control.

They fought to gain their independence from the U.S. under Emilio Aguinaldo, who had aided the U.S. against the Spanish.

It took the U.S. two years and cost many American and Filipino lives to suppress the “insurrection.”

Philippines

The Filipinos weren’t happy about this because they wanted their own INDEPENDENCE, so they mounted an independence movement, called by U.S. historians “an insurrection.”

It took the U.S. two years to subdue the Philippines, then we possessed the island nation for almost 50 years, finally granting them independence after WWII in 1946.

Philippines

Why did we want the Philippines?

Panama Canal

A canal built through the isthmus of Panama in Central America, this Panama Canal provided a much shorter route for merchant and military vessels between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Panama Canal

Land originally owned by Columbia. France first tried to build a canal, but

failed, mostly due to malaria and disease. France wanted out and offer to sell the

project to the U.S., but the U.S. had to get permission from the Columbian government and pay for the rights.

Columbia refused the price ($10 million up front & $250,000 yearly thereafter.)

Panama Canal

The U.S. helped create a little revolution in Panama, and Panama became independent from Columbia, then sold us the rights to the Canal Zone for the price Roosevelt wanted to pay.

This kind of action caused Latin American countries to become quite suspicious and resentful of U.S. intervention in Central & South America.

Panama Canal

It took 10 years to build the canal. It cost about $400,000 million to build. It provided great economic benefit to

shipping industry because of shortening travel distance and time, cutting transportation costs.

The Panama Canal opened in 1914, just days after WWI broke out in Europe.

Roosevelt Corollary

President Theodore Roosevelt viewed the U.S. as the leader of the Western Hemisphere.

He expanded the Monroe Doctrine to allow the U.S. to act as a “policeman” to keep European powers out of Latin America and to keep Latin America in line.

This led to numerous military interventions in Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic over the next decade.

Roosevelt Corollary

As you can imagine, Latin American resentment grew as a result.

Japan

President Roosevelt intervened in a war between Japan and Russia over a territorial dispute.

He won a Nobel Peace Price for helping to negotiate a solution (Treaty of Portsmouth 1905).