Chapter 17: Becoming a World Power

American History

ImperialismMany European nations were

expanding overseas due to imperialism, or the economic and political domination of weaker countries by stronger countriesexpanded to countries with resources

and to invest capital elsewhereTo protect interests, countries began

dominating the territoriesTerritories became either colonies or

protectorates, or colonies where the local leader would stay in charge, and the dominant country would protect them from rebellion and invasion

Thoughts from United StatesThe U.S. noticed the trend of

imperialism from Europedesired to expand overseas and

continue Manifest Destiny, since it had already expanded as far West as it could

Social Darwinism stated that those countries that expanded overseas, thus economically, politically, and militaristically, would survive and be the strongest

Anglo-Saxonism: English speaking countries were far superior that countries who did not speak English had more character, ideas, and systems

of government

Expanding to the PacificJapan:

In 1852, President Franklin Pierce sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan to negotiate a trade treaty and open its doors to the world

Pago Pago:The U.S opened up its first Pacific naval

base in Pago Pago in 1878 to further speed up trade between them and China and Japan

Hawaii:To help the people of Hawaii out, the

U.S. signed a trade treaty that gave exclusive rights to trade with Hawaii and build a port in Pearl Harbor

But wait, there’s more….

Hawaiian Paradise?Due to the trade treaty, sugar planters pressured the

king to sign a constitution limiting the king’s power and giving more power to the planters

Because of the McKinley tariff, Hawaiian sugar was more expensive than American sugar, which caused it to be sold less, which caused an economic downturn in Hawaii

Queen Liliuokalani desired to gained original power back to the monarchywas met with opposition by planters and U.S. troopswas forced to abdicate her throne and have the U.S. set up

a provisional governmentPresident Cleveland was against imperialism and desired

to restore Liliuokalani to powerCongress waited until another president came into office,

and five years later, annexed Hawaii as a territory

Influence in Latin AmericaThe U.S. also desired to expand into

Latin America in order to show Europe it was a dominant power

Secretary of State James Blaine set up a conference with Latin American countries in a desire to work together, to support peace, and increase tradePan-Americanism

The conference set up a customs union that would reduce tariffs between both regions and treat each other equally in tradePan-American Union, or Organization

of American States (OAS)

Answer the following questions with a partner:

Why was expanding its territory so important to the U.S.?

Was attempting to expand into other inhabited countries just?If not, why not?

Anticipation GuideAnswer the following with a true or false, and if

it’s false, re-correct the statement:Many European nations spread across the world

due to imperalismThe U.S. desired to expand as well due to Manifest

Destiny, Social Darwinism, and Anglo-SaxonismOne of the islands the U.S. expanded to was the

PhilippinesThe queen in charge of the Hawaiians was Queen

Elizabeth IThe desire for the U.S. to establish peace with Latin

American was called Pan-Americanism

Building a modern NavyThree international incident that

almost led to war with the U.S. led many to call for the building of a modern navywould allow U.S. to set up ports

overseas in order to become more involved in foreign markets

would allow ships to become re-supplied en route

Many politicians, including President Harrison and secretaries of the navy McKinley and Roosevelt, backed up the building of the navy

The Cuban RebellionCuba was a Spanish colony which

produced 1/3 of the world’s sugar, which made Spain very wealthy

1/3 of the Cubans were enslaved by the Spanish and forced to produce sugar

Cuban rebels revolted in 1868, but failed in 1878fled to U.S., a close economic ally, to

prepare another revolutionCuba suffered an economic crisis due

to increased tariffs from the U.S., which sparked another revolutionRebels took eastern Cuba and

established the Republic of Cuba in 1895

Americans support the CubansEven though Cleveland

called for the U.S. to be neutral, many American supported the CubansBegan smuggling weapons

to CubaTwo major newspapers, The

New York Journal and The New York World began publishing pieces supporting Cuba and denouncing Spain Yellow journalism: writers

exaggerated and made up stories to attract attention

Yellow Journalism Project

You are assigned to create a newsletter, like the one you just saw, discussing a particular event in U.S. HistoryEx. World War II, The War in Iraq, the Civil

Rights Movement, etc.Write an article, describing the event, what

happened, and your opinions of what happenedUse persuasive language in order to gain

support for your opinionsInclude a letterhead and a picture of the eventYou have one week to complete the assignment

Calling out for warCuban rebels destroyed American invested

railroads and plantations, thinking the Americans would intervene to prevent further destructionrebels and families were placed in re-concentration

camps, where many died of starvation and diseaseTo avoid war, President McKinley asked the

Spanish government to negotiate peaceSpanish gave the Cubans autonomy, or control over

their governmentSpanish loyalists rioted against the decisions,

placing American lives in jeopardy

Remember the Maine!To control riots, the U.S. sent the U.S.S.

Maine to Havana Harbor for precautionexploded in Havana Bay, possibly from

misfire of munitionsBecause of this and an intercepted

letter called McKinley weak, Congress authorized the president to prepare for warused the slogan “Remember the Maine!”Republican Party showed jingoism, or

extreme nationalismMcKinley, forced by Congress, asked

Congress to declare Cuba independent and use force to end the conflict

In response for the preparations, Spain declared war on the United States on April 24th, 1898

Answer the following questions with a partner:

Was yellow journalism an easy tactic in getting the American public to support the Cuban rebellion?If so, why?

Do you think the Cubans purposely committed acts against the Americans in order to blame the Spanish and gain support?

Anticipation GuideAnswer the following with a true or false, and if it’s

false, re-correct the statement:The U.S. government focused on building a modern

armyThe Cubans led a rebellion against the Spanish

inhabitantsNational newspapers helped gain American support

for the Cuban rebellionPresident Cleveland negotiated with the Spanish to

avoid warThe sink of the battleship Maine was the immediate

cause for the Spanish-American War

Uneven matchThe Spanish had weakened

soldiers from fighting in the tropics, old warships, and were dependant on trade to mobilize

The Americans had a stronger navy, easy access to materials from Cuba, and strategized to take out the Spanish at seahad connections in Cuba and

Hong Kong, which would prove to be beneficial during its campaign in the Philippines and Cuba

Campaign in the PhilippinesThe Philippines was a Spanish colony

that desired to become its own countryStationed in Hong Kong, Commodore

George Dewey landed on Manila Bay and began a campaign to take the Philippines

American troops, en route to support Dewey, took Guam

Dewey contacted Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino rebel, to organize a guerilla war against the Spanish

Dewey and troops took the capital of Manila, but did not allow Aguinaldo and his men to enter the city, nor did he recognize them as an organizationwould spark conflict between Americans

and Filipinos after the war

Campaign in CubaTraining American troops for mobilization to Cuba was more

challengingunsanitary conditions killed more troops than battle

17,000 troops landed in Santiago, mainly to capture shore-based guns to drive the Spanish fleet out of the harbor and into American fleets nearbyRough Riders: volunteer cavalry unit, a mix of cowboys, miners,

and law officers, headed by Leonard Wood and Theodore RooseveltTroops and Rough Riders were successful in the Battle of San

Juan Hill and other preceding itSpanish commander in Santiago ordered his fleets to leave

Americans sunk every vesselThe Spanish surrendered Santiago and the nearby island of

Puerto Rico, and agreed to a cease-fire with the U.S. on August 12, 1898

The Birth of the American EmpireWith the war over, the U.S. had

acquired a lot of territoriesCuba: gained independence, as

promisedPuerto Rico and Guam: annexed by

U.S.The Philippines: ?

Many wanted to annex the Philippines because it provided a base on the way to China, large market for American goods, and a way to spread American ideals to the “uncivilized”

The U.S. and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10th, 1898Cuba was declared as an independent

country, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico and Guam, and paid $20 million for the Philippines from Spain

Rebellion in the PhilippinesEmilio Aguinaldo saw the U.S. occupation

as an aggressive seizure, so he organized to attack American troops

Rebels were placed in re-concentration camps, where the same issues from Cuba occurred in the Philippines

The island’s first governor, William Howard Taft, desired to make peace with the Filipinos reformed education, transportation, and

health care reduced Filipino hostility

After the capture of Aguinaldo, he agreed for the war to be over and for the Americans to take control of the Philippines By the 1930’s, they elected their own

congress and president, and by 1946, they were declared independent of the U.S.

Puerto Rico and CubaCongress passed the Foraker Act, declaring Puerto Rico an

unincorporated territory, which allowed the U.S. to do whatever they wanted to the islandeventually would be allowed to be citizens and to elect their

own governorstatus is still argued today

The U.S. established a military government for Cuba to keep ties strong

In 1901, Cuba added the Platt Amendment to its constitutionCuba could not sign a treaty that would weaken its

government or allow another country to gain territory in CubaCuba had to allow the U.S. to buy or lease naval stationsCuba’s debts had to be low in order to prevent other

countries from invading and enforce paymentU.S. could intervene to preserve Cuban independence

Roosevelt becomes presidentAfter McKinley was elected a 2nd

term in 1900, he was assassinated by an anarchist

Roosevelt brought charisma and energy to the presidencyPassionate on increasing the

power of the U.S.Born sickly, but overcame

obstacles by participating in unique activities, such as marksmanship, wrestling, and boxing

Thought that conflict and cooperation made one healthy

Diplomacy in ChinaChina and Japan went to war over Korea in

1894 Japan won, showing its Western strength,

and received the region of Manchuria, along with Korean independence

Russia was afraid of China occupying Manchuria backed by France and Germany, forced

Japan to lease Manchuria for European use Sphere of influence: foreign nation

controlled economic developmentMcKinley supported an Open Door

Policy, in which all countries should trade with China

Secret societies against foreign influence, began to revolt Boxer Rebellion: Boxer group revolted

To keep the peace with China, no powers would split China into colonies

The Great White FleetRoosevelt negotiated between

Russia and Japan to end the Ruso-Japanese War in 1905asked Russia to recognize

Japan’s territorial gains, and for Japan to stop fighting

earned a Noble Peace Prize for his efforts

After the negotiations, Japan and U.S. relations worsened

Roosevelt had 16 warships from the U.S. Navy, called the Great White Fleet, tour around the world to show the military might of the U.S.

The Panama CanalThe U.S. and Great Britain signed the

Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the U.S. the rights to build and control a canal through Central America

The French began operations to open a canal in the 1850’s, but abandoned it due to bankruptcygave U.S. rights to continue operations

in 1903 Since Panama was still part of

Columbia, the U.S. offered it $10 million and a yearly rent for Panamathey refused, which caused Panama to

revolt against Columbia, for fear it would lose the canal deal

U.S. recognized Panama as a country, and began building in 1903

The Roosevelt CorollaryGrowing American involvement in

foreign affairs led Roosevelt to address the issueRoosevelt Corollary: stated U.S.

would intervene in Latin America when necessary to maintain economic and political stability

First used it on the Dominican Republic, taking on its debts to foreign nations

Roosevelt’s successor, William Howard Taft, focused on helping Latin American industryDollar diplomacy: U.S. would

increase trade and profits, and Latin American and Asian countries would rise out of poverty through support from American businesses