APUSH Imperialism Part I By Neil Hammond Millbrook High School

APUSH Imperialism APUSH Imperialism Part IPart I

By Neil HammondMillbrook High School

Roots of ImperialismRoots of Imperialism• In the 1800s countries like Great Britain

and France had vast empires

• In the late 1800s the USA set out to build its own empire. By the 1890s, overseas expansion and imperialism appealed to many Americans

• Imperialism = the governing of weaker nations or colonies by more powerful nations

Why Imperialism?Why Imperialism?

Why Imperialism? Why Imperialism? EconomicsEconomics

• US industrial expansion after 1865

• In the late 1890s foreign markets became seen as critical for US businesses to keep growing

Figure 21.1 Balance of U.S. Imports, 1870–1914 By 1876 the United States had become a net exporting nation (we sold more than we bought). The brief reversal after 1888 aroused fears that the United States was losing its foreign markets and helped fuel the expansionist drive of the 1890s.


• Markets in Asia and Latin America became seen as increasingly important

• Many American politicians felt the US needed to be more aggressive to get and keep access to those markets


John Hay and the “Open John Hay and the “Open Door Policy”Door Policy”

• In 1895 John Hay proposed the “Open Door” policy, which would grant all nations equal trading rights in China

Why Imperialism? The Why Imperialism? The MilitaryMilitary

• American military leaders also wanted the US to expand– Impact of Alfred T. Mahan

• Military bases, refueling bases in the Pacific and Caribbean

• Spend money on building up the military (esp. navy)

-- 1860, US navy 12th in world-- 1900, US navy 3rd (17 BS, 3 Cruisers)


• Fear that the US would be left behind…European countries had taken over much of Africa in the 1880s


• After the Civil War, the US gained several islands in the Pacific, useful for both military and economic purposes:

Why Imperialism? Why Imperialism? Ideology…Ideology…• Social Darwinism

– “survival of the fittest”– US has an obligation to

help “backward nations

• Nationalism– “Anglo-Saxonism”– US nation is superior…

should help other nations have its values

• Religion– US religion is superior

(Christianity)– Spread Christianity

The First StepsThe First Steps• 1867 Secretary of State

William H. Seward dreamed of a vast American Empire

• 1867 – Purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million…the purchase was widely mocked as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”

• Alaska gave the United States not only a windfall of vast natural resources but also an unlooked-for presence stretching across the northern Pacific.

Roots of Imperialism: Roots of Imperialism: HawaiiHawaii

• The economy is the key thing here and in Cuba!!! By the 1870s, settlers from the US were growing sugarcane on plantations on Hawaii

• 1875 Treaty with the USA

– This allowed the planters to sell their sugar in the US without paying a tariff

– All other foreign sugar was taxed

• Hawaiian (American) sugar planters became wealthy and powerful

– In 1887, they forced the Hawaiian king to grant them control of the legislature. When he died in 1891, his sister Liliuokalani became queen

The Annexation of The Annexation of HawaiiHawaii• Queen Liliuokalani wanted more

power for native Hawaiians

– 1) Wealthy planters (American)– 2) economic success led to

Japanese and Chinese immigrants coming to Hawaii

• In 1893, the planters overthrew the queen and asked the USA to annex the island

– President Benjamin Harrison (R) wanted to annex Hawaii, but he lost the 1892 presidential election. Grover Cleveland refused to annex the island because he felt most Hawaiians didn’t want it

By 1890sBy 1890s• By the 1890s, many Americans wanted to see the US become an imperial power

• Open Door Map

The Spanish-American The Spanish-American War 1898War 1898• In the 1800s, Americans had (like Hawaii)

established sugar plantations on Cuba

• By the 1890s all that remained of Spain’s New World Empire was Puerto Rico and Cuba

• In 1895 Cubans rebelled against Spain, and the rebellion turned nasty:– 1) Cuban revolutionaries followed a “scorched

earth” policy to try to make the island worthless to the Spanish

– 2) The Spanish set up camps (“reconcentration camps”) to separate ordinary Cubans from the rebels (Spanish general “Butcher” Wyler)

– 3) Cleveland (an anti-imperialist) refused to act

Going to War with SpainGoing to War with Spain• News of the rebellion

and the camps quickly reached the US. Many Americans supported the uprising– For many Americans, the

Cubans were fighting for freedom and independence, just as they had in the Revolutionary War

• But some Americans were concerned– 1) Americans with business

interests in Cuba were scared that they would lose money

– 2) McKinley sent a warship, the USS Maine to Cuba to monitor events

Yellow JournalismYellow Journalism• The press of the time period

(largely led by the New York World and the New York Journal) fed Americans’ concern by telling sensational stories of Spanish brutality toward the Cubans

McKinleyMcKinley

• February 15, 1898– USS Maine exploded

• At first tried to avoid war.

• February 9, 1898, Enrique Dupuy De Lome’s leaked letter in New York Journal

A naval board of inquiry blamed a mine for the explosion.

The Yellow Press demanded war. Headlines screamed, “Remember the Maine!”

In response, Spain agreed to American demands, including an end to the concentration camps.

Despite Spanish concessions, President McKinley sought permission to use force.

Events Drift toward WarEvents Drift toward War

In April 1898, following a heated debate, Congress agreed to McKinley’s request.

The U.S. Navy was sent to blockade Cuban ports.

President McKinley called for 100,000 volunteers.

Critics charged that the real goal was an American take-over of Cuba.

As a result, the Teller Amendment was added, stipulating that the U.S. would not annex Cuba.

Not Everyone Wanted to Not Everyone Wanted to go to Wargo to War

Commodore George Dewey surprised and easily defeated a Spanish fleet at Manila Bay.

Rather than surrender to the Filipino independence fighters led by Emilio Aguinaldo, Spanish troops surrendered to U.S. forces.

In response to the American actions, Spain declared war on the U.S. The war began

with U.S. victories in the Philippines.

The War BeginsThe War Begins

• Guantanamo Bay was captured.

• Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, and two regiments of African American soldiers, stormed San Juan Hill.

• A Spanish fleet was destroyed at Santiago.

• Spanish troops surrendered in Cuba and on the island of Puerto Rico.

U.S. troops easily defeated the Spanish in Cuba.

The War Ends!The War Ends!

• Philippines ceded for $20 million

• Guam and Puerto Rico became American territories.

• Under the Teller Amendment, Cuba could not be annexed by the United States.

In the Treaty of Paris, Spain gave up control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Why is Every Treaty that Why is Every Treaty that ends a War the Treaty of ends a War the Treaty of

Paris?????Paris?????

Oh…by the way…Oh…by the way…• The US annexed Hawaii during the SPAM

WAR

• Foraker Act of 1900 made Puerto Rico and Guam US territories

• Congress then passed the Platt Amendment– Cuba independent– But a US “protectorate”…so the US could

intervene in Cuba if its interests were threatened

• US became an imperial power

• The navy performed well. The army performed less well. Equipment and supplies were poor.

• Americans debated their role as an imperial power after the Philippines rebelled

Oh…by the way…Oh…by the way…

Documents

APUSH Imperialism Part I By Neil Hammond Millbrook High School