The Age of Imperialism

1
The Age of Imperialism
2
Isolationism to Imperialism

• Causes for expansionist attitudes
• Overproduction resulted from periodic economic
  depressions that demonstrated need for new
  markets, especially overseas.
• As industry expanded, new sources for raw
  materials were needed by business.
• America increasingly looked to Latin America and
  East Asia for new markets and sources of
  materials.

3
Military Interests or Strategies

• Alfred Thayer Mahan writes Influence of Sea
  Power upon History. Traced and linked Britains
  growth to sea power. He suggested
• America would only be a world power if it grew as
  a sea power.
• Isthmus of Panama was needed to connect the
  oceans.
• America needed more ports, harbors, and trade
  ships for commercial interests around the globe.

4
Civilized Interests

• Missionary impulse was based on what Rudyard
  Kipling entitled the white mans burden.
• Developed nations must bring civilization to more
  underdeveloped nations.
• In the eyes of the west, civilization meant
  White Anglo-Saxon Protestantism.

5
Social Darwinism

• Darwins theory of the survival of the fittest
  was extended to society in general.
• A belief that those who excelled in the world
  were destined to excel, and somehow the poor were
  at fault for being poor.

6
Closing of the American Frontier

• The census of 1890 observed that the American
  frontier had come to a close.
• America found a new frontierOverseas.
• American imperialism was informal in contrast to
  the British, America did not build a formal
  empire with large military presence and vast
  territorial holdings.

7
Acts of American Imperialism

• The drive for overseas expansion
• Secretary of State John Seward favors an empire
  in North America consisting of Canada, the
  Caribbean, Hawaii, and other Pacific Islands.
• Purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for 7.2
  million dollars.
• Known as Sewards Folly or Sewards Icebox.
• Secured rights to Midway Islands in 1867.

8
Hawaii

• New England Missionaries go to Hawaii in 1820s.
• Commercial treaty was signed in 1849 with the
  U.S. recognizing Hawaiian independence.
• In 1887, the U.S. secured the rights to Pearl
  Harbor for a naval base.
• White minority revolt in 1893 removes native
  monarch, Queen Liliuokalani, from power.
• Hawaii was annexed to the United States in 1898
  although delayed due to native resistance.

9
Critics of Imperialism Speak Out

• National debate over annexation of Hawaii raised
  three arguments
• Imperialistic policy was for special interest
  groups.
• Dangerous departure from American tradition.
• Non-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant peoples will endanger
  the nation and this will imperil the American
  value system.

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Height of Imperialism in America

• Spanish-American War
• American press sympathizes with Cuban freedom
  fighters
• Yellow journalism
• Death of many civilians due to martial law
  imposed by new governor increases crisis
• In February 1898, the Maine exploded in Havana
  Harbor

12
The War in Cuba

• April 1898 war declared
• Teller Amendment states U.S. will not acquire
  Cuba as new territory
• Theodore Roosevelt leads the Rough Riders in Cuba
  Remember the Maine is the war slogan

13
The War in Cuba

• April 1898 war declared
• Teller Amendment states U.S. will not acquire
  Cuba as new territory
• Theodore Roosevelt leads the Rough Riders in Cuba
  Remember the Maine is the war slogan
• War lasted 113 days
• U.S. casualties more from disease than fighting

14
Results of the War

• Armistice signed on August 12, 1898
• Spain received 20 million for the Philippines,
  and the Philippines were declared an American
  protectorate.
• Cuba was independent with some qualifications
  through the Platt Amendment
• The U.S. had veto over Cubas foreign policy
• The U.S. retained the right to intervene in
  Cubas internal affairs
• Naval base at Guantanamo Bay

15
Post War Policy

• Military governor Leonard Wood modernized sugar,
  improved sanitation, and established schools.
• Guam and Puerto Rico were transferred as American
  territories
• The Cost of War was 250 million dollars with
  5,462 casualties (362 died in battle), and 1604
  wounded

16
The Open Door Policy

• To maintain access to China, secretary of state
  John Hay in 1899 issued the first Open Door
  note, asking colonial powers to keep trade open
  for all. Unsuccessful.
• 1900 Boxer Rebellion, secret society sought to
  drive out foreigners. The US joined the colonial
  powers in sending troops to quell the rebellion.
  A second Open Door note was received more
  favorably by the colonial powers.
• The Open Door, meaning free access for US
  trade, became an important principle of US
  foreign policy towards China and other countries.

A Chinese Boxer 1900
17
The Panama Canal

• Americans and others realized that a canal across
  the isthmus of Panama could revolutionize
  international trade.
• The U.S. negotiated a treaty with Colombia (which
  owned Panama), but the Colombian Senate rejected
  the agreement.
• President Roosevelt in 1903 encouraged Panamanian
  separatists to secede from Colombia, which they
  did with support from the U.S. navy.
• The U.S. negotiated a treaty that gave the U.S. a
  ten-mile strip through Panama.
• Construction on the canal began in 1906 it was
  completed in 1914.

18
The Roosevelt Corollary

• The Monroe Doctrine stated that the US would not
  tolerate European intervention in the Western
  hemisphere.
• TR in 1904 issued a corollary to the Monroe
  Doctrine the U.S. would serve as a police
  power in the Western hemisphere. In other words
  the U.S., not Europeans, would intervene in Latin
  America if bankruptcy or civil unrest threatened
  U.S. or European interests.

19
The Big Stick and the Great White Fleet

• His foreign policy is best summed up in his
  saying talk softly and carry a big stick.
• Under TR, the US navy modernized and increased in
  size. 1907-09, a Great White Fleet of modern
  warships sailed around the world on a goodwill
  tour. They put the US on the map as a naval power
  without firing a shot.

The USS Connecticut, part of the Great White Fleet