Ch. 10, Sec.1 Imperialism and America

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Chapter 10
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Ch. 10, Sec.1Imperialism and America

• Imperialism- the policy in which stronger nations
  extend their economic, political, or military
  control over weaker territories.
• Europeans had practiced Imperialism for years.
• - In fact by the 20th century only 2 countries
  in Africa remained independent of European rule.
• This was also going on in Asia, especially in
  China.
• There were three factors that fueled American
  Imperialism
• 1. Desire for military strength
• 2. Thirst for new markets
• 3. The belief in cultural superiority
• 1) Do you believe that Iraq is an attempt at a
  modern American empire? Defend your answer

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Military Strength

• Admiral Alfred T. Mahan of the U.S. Navy led the
  push for more military strength.
• He believed that the U.S. needed to increase
  military strength to compete with other nations.
• As a result of this push the U.S. built 9
  steel-hulled cruisers between 1883-1890 such as
  the Maine and the Oregon that transformed the
  U.S. into the worlds 3rd largest naval power.
• 2) Why was the navy was essential for imperialism?

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New Markets

• U.S. farmers were producing more products than
  ever before which led to a surplus in the U.S.
• As the farmers were producing more the U.S. was
  also in need of raw materials for their factories
  to prosper.
• The logical solution was foreign trade.
• This was the case because the American farmers
  would find more buyers for their surplus crops.
• As a result of this new trade relationship the
  Americans would also be able to find the
  necessary raw goods for their factories.
• 3) Why would finding raw goods be essential to US
  Imperialism?

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Cultural Superiority

• Many imperialists believed in the notion of
  Social Darwinism
• -These individuals believed that the
  free-market
• system would lead to the survival of the
  fittest and
• the most powerful countries would end up on
  top.
• Another aspect to the cultural aspect was the
  responsibility to spread Christianity and
  civilization to inferior peoples.
• -This was similar to the White Mans Burden of
  the
• past.
• 4)Why would this be an important aspect of
  imperialism?

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Acquiring Alaska

• William Seward- Secretary of State under
  Presidents Abe Lincoln and Andrew Johnson
• Seward arranged for the U.S. to buy Alaska from
  the Russians for 7.2 Million dollars.
• There were many who did not support the idea of
  acquiring Alaska calling it, Sewards Icebox or
  Sewards Folly.
• In 1959 Alaska became the 49th state of America.
• 5)Why would people not support the acquisition of
  Alaska?
• 5) b. Why would some support the idea?

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Acquiring Hawaii

• 1867- U.S. takes over the Midway Islands in
  Pacific
• Missionaries had established churches and their
  children and grandchildren had become sugar
  planters.
• By 1900 foreigners and immigrant laborers
  outnumbered native Hawaiians 3 to 1.
• McKinley Tariff of 1890 eliminated the duty-free
  sate of Hawaii.
• 1887- Pearl Harbors military base was built.
• Originally business groups overthrew Queen Lil
  and set up a government headed by Sanford B.
  Dole.
• On August 12, 1898 congress proclaimed Hawaii an
  American territory although Hawaiians had never
  had the chance to vote on this.
• 1959- Hawaii is officially made the 50th state
  of America
• 6)If this situation arose today, how do you think
  our government would declare a new territory
  without their peoples consent? Explain

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Ch. 10, Sec. 2The Spanish American War

• 1854- Diplomats recommended to Franklin Pierce
  that the U.S. buy Cuba from Spain but the Spanish
  refuse and say that they would rather see Cuba
  sunk in the ocean.
• Jose Marti was a Cuban poet who organized a
  Cuban resistance against the Spanish in 1895.
• This resistance encouraged guerilla tactics and
  U.S. intervention for a Cuba Libre or Free Cuba
• Spain responded by sending General Valeriano
  Weyler to Cuba to restore order.
• - he put many of the population into
  concentration camps.
• - almost 300,000 people were put into these
  camps
• - 1,000s of people died in these camps from
  hunger and disease.
• This was just the beginning.

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Headline Wars

• Fueled a war over newspaper circulation between
  William Randolph Hearsts New York Journal and
  Joseph Pulitzers New York World who both printed
  outrageous, exaggerated accounts of what was
  happening in Cuba.
• This style of sensational writing became known as
  Yellow Journalism
• They fanned the fear of the Spanish taking over
  Cuba.
• Eventually Hearst would send and artist to Cuba
  to draw sketches of everything that was going on
  in Cuba.
• The artist reported back to Hearst that a war in
  Cuba was very unlikely and Hearst replied by
  saying you furnish the pictures and Ill furnish
  the war.
• 7) What do you think Hearst meant by this? (Look
  at this slide and the slide above before
  answering)

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The De Lome Letter

• As American sympathy for Cuba grew with the
  newspaper headlines McKinley was trying to avoid
  war by solving the problem by using diplomatic
  means.
• The approach looked like it was working as Spain
  recalled Weyler, modified their camps, and
  offered Cuba limited self-government.
• But on Feb. 1898 the NY Journal published a
  private letter by Enrique Dupay de Lome (Spanish
  minister to the U.S.).
• The letter called McKinley weak and a Bidder for
  the admiration of the crowd
• The Spanish government sent out a public apology.
• 8) How might the publishing of this letter cause
  an outbreak of War Fever among Americans?

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U.S.S. Maine

• Feb. 15th, 1898 U.S. naval cruiser was blown up
  in the Havana harbor.
• More than 260 men were killed.
• The NY Journal immediately said that the Spanish
  had blown up the ship.
• Hearsts paper offers a 50,000 reward for the
  capture of the Spaniards who had supposedly
  committed this crime.

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War with Spain erupts

• The battle cry for the U.S. was Remember the
  Maine
• Although the Spanish agreed to a cease fire on
  April 9th, public opinion still favors war.
• On April 20th, the U.S. declared war on Spain.
• 9) Do you see similarities in war fever leading
  up to Spanish American war and the events
  following 9/11? Explain.

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War in Philippines

• 1st battle of the war took place in the
  Philippines.
• George Dewey- gave command to open fire on the
  Spanish in Manila.
• Within hours the American forces defeated the
  Spanish.
• Over the next 2 months 11,000 Americans joined
  with Filipino rebels and in August Spanish troops
  in Manila surrendered to the U.S. forces.
• 10) How might these quick successes fuel the
  publics imperialist desires?

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War in the Caribbean

• The war in the Caribbean began with a naval
  blockade of Cuba.
• 125,000 Americans had volunteered to fight.
• -these soldiers didnt have enough modern
  weapons or correct uniforms suitable for Cubas
  tropical climate.

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Rough Riders

• Voluntary Cavalry under Leonard Wood and would-be
  president Teddy Roosevelt.
• The most famous battle by the Rough Riders was
  fought in a land battle near Santiago on July
  1st.
• The first encounter was on Kettle Hill.
• This victory by the Americans cleared the way for
  an infantry attack on the strategically important
  San Juan Hill.
• The rough riders were made out to be heroes by
  the media back home.

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Treaty of Paris

• U.S. and Spain signed an agreement
• - the agreement included a cease fire on August
  12th
• This agreement ended what the secretary of state
  (John Hay) called a Splendid Little War
• Dec. 10th, 1898 they met in Paris to sign the
  treaty.
• Spain freed Cuba and turned over islands of Guam
  in the Pacific and Puerto Rico in the West Indies
  to the U.S.
• They also sold the Philippines to the U.S. for
  20 million.
• On Feb. 6th 1899 the annexation question was
  answered when the senate approved the Treaty of
  Paris.

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Panama Canal

• A shorter route to cut through Central America to
  cut travel time.
• The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901 gave U.S. all
  rights to build and control such a canal.
• The U.S. Government decided to go through Panama
  and bought the route from a French company for
  40 Million.
• The U.S. paid Panama 10 Million and an annual
  rent for the land of 250,000.
• Work began in 1904 with the clearing of brush and
  the draining of swamps.

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Panama Canal Cont.

• By 1913 43,400 workers were employed
• -3/4 of these workers were African American.
• -5,600 died from accidents or disease.
• -Total cost was around 380 Million
• August 15th, 1914 the canal opened for business.
• Congress paid Columbia 25 Million in 1925 to
  compensate for the lost territory of theirs from
  the building of the canal.
• Why was the building of the Panama Canal
  important for the Imperialist movement.

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