Book Title

DOLOR SET AMET

LOREM IPSUM

CHAPTER 5∏

U.S. IMPERIALISM AND

EXPANSIONISM

Two things changed during the Progressive Era: the federal government becomes stronger, and we developed an isolationist approach that influences our foreign policy. Read how these things happen in this chapter.

IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Comprehend the four causes of how U.S. foreign policy changed in the early 20th century

• Learn about early U.S. expansion (imperialism)

• Read about the Cuban Revolution, and see how it relates to U.S. history

CHAPTER 5, SECTION 1∏

Traditionally, the United States was an isolationist country. That means we liked to keep to ourselves, and stay away from foreign affairs involving other countries. As we’ve seen in the Gilded Age, the country changed. And in the late 1890s our foreign policy changed with it. Four causes for the U.S. becoming internationalist included:

• Economics--We became industrialized and looked to foreign markets to produce and purchase our goods.

• Intellectual motives/ideas--Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) now applied to foreign lands, which was the new frontier for American democracy.

• Politics--Great political powers in this period were needed to be an international power.

•Strategic Military Considerations--It increasingly became the case that American leaders in the long run would need us to be more engaged in the world. Alfred Thayer Mahan (left)wrote a piece called Influence f Sea Power on History, with his thesis essentially saying that all great civilizations would establish control over the oceans with great navies. In this era, having a great navy would allow countries like the U.S. to establish bases around

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Origins of U.S. Expansion

the world. Constructing a canal through Central America to allow us to move quickly from ocean to ocean would be essential to becoming an international power.

Historians argue as to which of these reasons drove our imperialistic expansion. Some say economics, and some argue it was national security. Most, though, differ on which reason is the most important. Nonetheless, all of these factors played a role in why the U.S. became imperialistic.

One early event that caused U.S. imperialism was the Venezuelan Boundary Dispute in 1895. There was a piece of land where there was a natural resource and both Venezuela and British Guiana wanted it. The tension over this disputed land became so great that the British threatened to send their military to the area of conflict to settle the issue. President Cleveland decided he would involve himself in this conflict. He told the British that the Americans did not like the idea of the British invading Venezuela. In addition, Cleveland offered to mediate the differences between the two countries and resolve them through diplomacy rather than a militaristic solution.

Once the British realized how serious we were about this, they backed down. Cleveland served as a referee through this mediation, and the British got most of the territory they wanted through arbitration. This was an interesting event in that it wouldn’t have happened 25-30 years before. The fact

that America could “flex its muscles” showed that we were making baby steps onto the international scene.

One of the really big steps we took to getting onto the international scene was the Cuban Revolution in 1898. Cuba was one of the few remaining Spanish colonies left in the late 1890s. Spain lost nearly all of their empire between 1800-1820, but did possess a few more colonies including Cuba. At the time the people of Cuba wanted their independence, but failed to get it because of Spain’s chokehold on them. In the early 1890s, the situation in Cuba became volatile, and the people in Cuba became very nationalistic and rose up against Spain.

However, the difference this time was that they had the United States to help them with this revolutionary attempt. As things heated up in 1893-1894, they appealed to the U.S. for help. But this time, the American attitude was different and there was a great public debate as to what the U.S. should do. To a lot of Americans, it seemed like it was a good decision to help Cuba. It looked like what we were trying to do in 1776, and Cuba’s desire to break free from Spain looked awfully similar to our desire to gain independence from England. We also had a strong economic incentive to help them (had an investment in their sugar crop). Cuba was also close to Florida (only 90 miles away), and if we could take stronger control over our waters and have Cuba as an ally, we could improve our national security. In 1896 Cleveland offered to negotiate a settlement between

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Cuba and Spain. The Spanish ignored us, and said they did not want our help.

Two years later in 1898, the crisis became violent, especially in Havana. As a show of U.S. force, President McKinley

ordered the U.S.S. Maine (pictured left) to go to the port in Havana, and dock off the shores making itself

present. He hoped that this show of military force would serve as a way to quiet things down for a bit, and send a signal to both sides that we would protect ourselves and U.S. interests in Cuba. The Maine sat there for weeks, untouched. Unfortunately, that changed in mid-February of 1898 when it was destroyed and sank in Havana Harbor. Two-hundred and sixty Americans were killed in what was believed to have been an attack on the ship by Spain. American intelligence thought that the Maine hit a mine

planted by the Spanish in Havana. (*Note: today most historians believe that the Maine had an internal boiler problems, and that the issues with the engine caused the ship to sink.)

After this sinking, there was an immediate outcry that we needed to get militarily involved to fight Spain and help liberate Cuba. President McKinley’s biographers say that

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Diving on the Maine’s wreckage

U.S.S. Maine Explosion

he did not emphasize military action; he just went along with it (in other words, he was kind of “peer-pressured” into going to war). So in late April 1898, Congress declared war on Spain.

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IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Learn about the Spanish-American War.

• Understand the outcomes of the war, and their impact on America.

CHAPTER 5, SECTION 2∏

Secretary of State John Hay described the conflict with Spain as a “splendid little war.” The Spanish-American War only lasted for a few months, and was a rather simple, efficient war for the Americans. This would be an historical event for the U.S. and established the Americans as world power that broke us out of isolationism.

As soon as Congress declared war on Spain, they passed the Teller Amendment, saying that we would not fight Spain to pick up Cuba and keep it for ourselves as a territory. The main priority of the Spanish-American War was to liberate Cuba, but

after awhile it became broader than that. Eventually, we also wanted to fight the Spanish because of their presence near the Philippines as well. So when war broke out, McKinley ordered American troops to fight in the Pacific. George Dewey (right) commanded the troops in the Battle of the Philippines. American forces took control of the water around the islands, and Dewey began a land invasion in an effort to defeat the Spanish. With the help of

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The Spanish-American War

Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo

Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo, the campaign to defeat the Spanish in the Pacific ended in the August 1898.

While all of the Pacific action is going on, there was still more fighting taking place on the Atlantic in Cuba. The U.S. organized an expeditionary force in the spring of 1898 in Tampa that would leave Florida and invade Cuba. Commanded by General William Shafter (left), 17,000 American troops invaded Cuba in June to try and liberate the island. The campaign to take Cuba lasted several weeks, with the

primary target being the city of Santiago. On July 17, 1898 Santiago surrendered and the Spanish were defeated.

After losses in Cuba and the Philippines (as well as Puerto Rico), the Spanish looked for a way to end the war. The U.S. was not very strong militarily during this time; the Spanish were just weaker than us. We basically just overpowered them with numbers and our presence. By the middle of August in 1898, an agreement was reached to end the war.

The Treaty of Paris was signed in October 1898. The terms were extremely beneficial for America and included:

• Cuba becoming an independent nation.

• The U.S. gaining the islands Puerto Rico and Guam from Spain (still our territories today).

• America purchasing the Philippines from Spain for $20 million.

Becoming an international superpower was not an easy task. Dealing with war was easy, but the aftermath of interacting with other countries was harder than we expected. After the war with the Spanish was over, there were two countries we had to deal with: the Philippines and Cuba.

Since we purchased the Philippines, they were no longer controlled by Spain. One solution was to let them become a free state. In the months leading up to the Paris peace conference, there was a public debate in America as to what we should do. Many people wanted the Americans to take over the Philippines, and temporarily taking control of them would help them gain their independence. The American public developed two sides. Expansionists wanted to acquire the Philippines for reasons that would benefit the country. The people there would not be ready for independence, and we could help them for a while to control things. Anti-imperialists thought that expansionist ideals were all wrong. Their argument was that acquiring other nations was un-American because it looked like our early history involving British colonization. If we were not going to make them a state, how would we have been any different from Spain?

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In 1898, there was a lot of public pressure on President McKinley and Congress to follow up on the expansionist idea. Unfortunately for America, Emilio Aguinaldo did not like the idea of U.S. control in his country. Once we decided to take this country away from Spain, there was a revolution against U.S. forces in the Philippines. It lasted for three years from 1899-1902. Some 70,000 American troops were required to squelch the revolution, and by 1902, they were suppressed.

Cuba was the other country we had to deal with after the Spanish-American War. The feeling of the U.S. and the public was that we were not going to acquire Cuba, but that we did have a huge role in their future. Our military wouldn’t leave until 1902, and after that point, Cuba became a protectorate. In other words, Cuba did not become a colony that we owned, but would be supervised and protected by the U.S.

You might be wondering...how did Cuba become a protectorate? I’m so glad you asked! Well, after the war, Americans passed the Platt Amendment. This was a provision that was written into the Cuban constitution that gave the United States political power within the country. Under this provision, the U.S. had the right to intervene in Cuba whenever we thought their independence was being threatened. This was not as good as it sounded because we interpreted their independence differently than the. In

essence, the Platt Amendment became a blank check to intervene in Cuba whenever we wanted to.

In addition to the Platt Amendment, Americans also established Guantanamo Bay (map below) in Cuba. This piece of land would be used as a military base to further our national security and sphere of influence in the Atlantic. Also, in 1903, the U.S. and Cuban governments established the 1903 Commercial Treaty. In it, both countries gained a “most favored” trading status. Now, Cuba and the U.S. were connected economically, and set the stage for the U.S. to use Cuba as a headquarters for operations in the Caribbean.

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IN THIS SECTION, YOU WILL...

• Learn about how the U.S. used its new-found power around the world.

• Read about the construction of the Panama Canal

CHAPTER 5, SECTION 3∏

Beginning in the late 1800s, the United States begins to use its power around the world, and later in the 20th century, we become the greatest power in the world. One of the main places where America extended its sphere of influence was in Latin America.

In 1900, William McKinley was reelected. However, his second term was short-lived after his assassination in 1901. After his death, Teddy Roosevelt replaced McKinley and had an immediate impact on the country. One of the events that took place early in the 1900s related to Latin America was the implementation of the Roosevelt Corollary. This addendum to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904 was in response to a crisis that happened in the Dominican Republic in 1902-1903. The Dominican had borrowed a lot of money from Germany and Great Britain. Unable to repay their debts, it appeared as though they were going to be invaded by both of these countries. The U.S. decided to step in, and Roosevelt told the British and Germans to stay out so the U.S. could handle this problem.

With this event, and others like it, the United States became the “policeman” of Latin America. As soon as the president issued the Roosevelt Corollary, we ordered our military to invade the Dominican Republic (D.R.) to take control of their financial situation (specifically their customs houses). The D.R. ended up having enough money to pay off their loans to the British and Germans. We saw to it that they paid back their debt, thus avoiding a war with Europe.

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U.S. Sphere of Influence

Another event that expanded American influence in the western hemisphere was the construction of the Panama Canal. Considering the technology at the time, the construction of the canal was an phenomenal engineering achievement. By 1901-1902, the U.S. and Roosevelt were determined were determined to make a canal over Latin America. There was a broad

consensus among Americans and the government to get this going.

Geographically speaking, there was no natural way to get through the middle of Latin America. There were two spots considered to construct this canal: southern Nicaragua and a spot in Panama. Panama was a better location because it was shorter and would require less construction. In 1901-1902, Panama was not an independent country; they were a province of Colombia. With that being said, America needed to work out some sort of compensation with Colombia for this territory in Panama. Secretary of State John Hay worked out the Hay-Herran Treaty in 1903 to resolve this issue.

It called for the U.S. to pay the Colombian government a lump sum of $10 million as well as $250,000 for every year after when we occupied the canal zone (basically a rent payment). Congress quickly ratified the treaty, and when it went to the Colombian congress, it was not passed right away. Colombia said they wanted more money up front ($25 million). Roosevelt became impatient with the Colombians stalling, and quickly decided that America would do something else. His course of action was to support an

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Watch this tidbit from the Travel Channel to discover more about one of the greatest marvels the world’s ever seen.

Panama Canal

John Hay

independence movement (a revolution) in Panama. The Panamanian people were itching for freedom, and independence leaders in Panama were told that if they wanted to stage a revolution, the U.S. would support and protect them.

In November of 1903, there was a revolution in Panama where their leaders established a new government, and the U.S. sent nine warships to control the coast of Panama. This sent the message to the Colombians that we did not want them involved. By the end of the year, Panama was a free nation and they decided to deal with the U.S. immediately to make a deal for a canal (essentially the same thing as before). In return, we would agree to protect Panama’s independence.

Many people were critical of Roosevelt because they thought we were using Panama only to build the canal. Some also argued that we followed protocol to begin construction. Nonetheless, the canal was finished in 1914 after 10 years of construction. The Panama Canal was a commercial success and was a dominant trade/travel route for the next 60-70 years. (Side note--In 1921, we negotiated an agreement with Colombia to try and smooth over what we had done to them by instigating a revolution in Panama. We paid them $25 million for losing Panama, and in return, Colombia recognized their independence.)

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