The Policemen of the World

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The Policemen of the World

• American Expansionism at the Turn of the 20th
  Century

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Questions to Remember

• What were the economic and political consequences
  of religious missionary work in the 19th Century
• In the late 19th century was the U.S. essentially
  isolationist, essentially expansionist, or a
  combination of both?
• FOCUS
• What leads to increased imperialistic policies
  for the United States?

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Foundations Our Premise

• War is the extension of a nations diplomacy by
  other than peaceful means.
• For whatever reasons a nation enters a war, that
  war itself changes the relationship of its
  citizens with each other and with the national
  government.
• The rhetoric that justifies or opposes a war
  reveals a great deal about the way a nation
  thinks of itself.

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Historians Interpretations

• Before 1898, America was isolationist
• After the Civil War, America was expansionist
• America was isolationist in theory, but
  expansionist in practice
• Belief
• These caused U.S. foreign isolationism

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Belief

• Three domestic concerns led the U.S. to expand
  global interests
• Industrial Expansion
• Western Settlement
• Growth of Federal Government
• How do these (and other factors) lead to U.S.
  Imperialism?

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Industrial Expansion

• Aspects affecting imperialist tendencies
• Business Cycles
• Alternating cycles of prosperity and recession
  caused overproduction
• International Investment Capital
• Foreign concerns invested 3 billion in U.S.
  Economy
• Desire to expand markets
• Favorable shift in balance of trade
• Standard Oil Example
• Few exports in 1880
• 1890 controlled 70 of world market

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Western Settlement

• West settled with promise of overseas markets for
  surplus crops
• Euro demand for U.S. crops drops after 1880
• Farmers forced to seek new markets for their
  products

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THE US BECOMES AN IMPERIAL POWER
What is happening in this cartoon?
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THE US BECOMES AN IMPERIAL POWER

• HAWAII 1898
• MIDWAY ISLAND 1867
• WAKE ISLAND 1898
• GUAM 1898
• JOHNSTON ISLAND 1898
• PALMYRA ISLAND 1898
• SAMOA ISLAND 1899
• PHILIPPINES 1898
• PUERTO RICO 1898

What is happening in this cartoon?
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Growth of Federal Government

• Industry and Agriculture sought government help
  in securing new markets
• William Everetts (Sec. of State 1877-1881)
• Argued that government should foster economic
  growth
• Pork Diplomacy (relationship betw. Business and
  government)
• Farmers were raising surplus of pigs
• Exported to Europe
• France and Germany enacted restrictive Ag tariffs
• U.S. economically hurt France and Germany

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The Missionary Factor

• Premises
• Soul saving and profit making go together
• Industry learned about foreign markets from
  missionaries
• Dole (Hawaii Pineapple Co.) and Hawaii
• Government protection/International Agreements
• More American missionariesneed to protect them
• Faith in destiny of Christianity to conquer the
  world

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Revitalized Navy

• By 1880s in shambles
• Recovery from depression of 1873
• More money to build modern navy
• Realization that U.S. Navy was worst in world
• Concern unprepared if conflict erupted
• Alfred Thayer Mahan
• Surplus production requires commercial colonies
• Oceans should be highways, not barriers
• A powerful navy is essential for commerce

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Imperialistic Ideas

• The nation needed more markets for its goods
• John Hays Open Door Policy
• open access to China for American investment and
  commercial interests
• bolstered American commercial interests in China
• Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
• Direct cause - American fear that financial
  instability in the Dominican Republic would lead
  to European intervention
• Expanded Americas role in Central America and
  the Caribbean
• Intervening in Latin America nations that could
  not pay their debts to European creditors

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OPEN DOOR POLICY
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Rhetorical Justification

• Frederick Jackson Turner
• Interaction with frontier promoted democracy
• Americans seized this idea as frontier closed
• Overseas expansion was the next great frontier
• Anglo-Saxon Myth
• U.S. was an obvious seat of A-S power
• Had a duty to expand influence globally
• Speeches of Albert J. Beveridge (Senator, IN)
• The March of the Flag Speech
• Shows prevalent themes of American DESTINY and
  DUTY

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Spanish American War-1898

• Yellow Journalism (William R. Hearst)
• Sensational news stories stirred the anger of the
  American public
• 1898-Battleship Maine explodes in Cuban harbor
  250 Amer. soldiers die
• Leads to Spanish-American War
• U.S. wins gains territory
• Territories gained
• Puerto Rico, Cuba, Philippines

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Yellow journalists were quick to blame the
Spanish
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Summarize!

• What were the economic and political consequences
  of religious missionary work in the 19th Century?
• In the late 19th century was the U.S. essentially
  isolationist, essentially expansionist, or a
  combination of both?
• FOCUS
• What leads to increased imperialistic policies
  for the United States?