Started with dueling newspapers led by William Randolph Hearst (New York Journal) and Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) in a circulation battle – they both used sensationalized front page headlines/pictures to sell more papers & would publish (largely untrue) stories to excite public opinion.

Think Tabloid Headlines

The Yellow Kid, a popular comic strip character printed by both papers in the 1890’s, when this Circulation battle was in full swing…thus the term “yellow journalism”

Nasty little printer's devils spewing forth from the Hoe press in this Puck Magazine cartoon of 1888

Invented by American Richard Hoe in 1860, the Hoe press was a high speed printing press in the late 19th century that made possible large circulation newspapers and magazines at low cost.

Can you think of any sensationalist headlines that you have seen recently?

In 1898, this sense of aggressive nationalism was fueled by America’s hurt pride over an insulting letter written by the Spanish Ambassador (Dupuy de Lome), which called President McKinley “weak and stupid”, and which was leaked to the press by Cuban rebels (and published by Hearst in the Journal).

• Extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests

1895 Rebellion in Cuba for Independence was met with atrocities by the Spanish general, Valeriano Weyler (and 150,000 Spanish soldiers) – Many Americans sympathized with revolutionaries of Cuba (and many were very worried about US economic interests in Cuba)

Yellow Press sensationalist reporting of Spanish atrocities in Cuba and Jingoism (ie. Spain’s ambassador’s letter) fueled the fire…

The Destruction of the USS Maine: Americans thought the Spanish had blown it up….

USS Maine explodes in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898

Spanish mine (thus Spain) is officially blamed in March, 1898

Later investigations will show the cause as an accident on board the ship.

Hearst's treatment in the Journal focused on the enemy who set the bomb — and offered a huge reward to readers

Pulitzer's treatment in the World emphasized a horrible explosion

President McKinley delivers a “War Message to” Congress, urging The Senate to okay US intervention in Cuban rebellion…

Congress responds with the Teller Amendment

What began as a war over Cuba, however, turns into an American campaign to strip Spain of its overseas colonies…America takes the Philippines from Spain in a huge and swift victory.

Americans beat the Spanish in Cuba, concluding, the “Splendid Little War”

Theodore Roosevelt organizes a company of cavalry, the Rough Riders, who volunteer for the war.

TR wins fame at a couple of famous battles and becomes a war hero.

Main reason that he becomes the Vice President in 1900

Ended the conflict with Spain. Gave the US the Philippines as a territory

for 20 million – but this led to a Filipino insurrection vs. US to get independence- took US 3 yrs and thousands of lives to put the insurrection down.

Spain gave up control of Cuba (The US did not claim Cuba, as per the Teller Amendment, but did make Cuba a Sphere of Influence with the Platt Amendment)

US got Puerto Rico and island of Guam as territories.

Teller Amendment: US will not take over Cuba in the event of victory (actually signed by Congress before the Spanish-American War, as part of the US declaration of war)

Platt Amendment: in the post-war Cuban Constitution: ◦ Cuba may not independently sign treaties - only

with US consent. ◦ The United States may interfere in Cuba’s

politics whenever they choose “to preserve Cuba’s law and order.”

◦ Cuba may not build up excessive debt◦ US may maintain naval bases in Cuba, including

Guantanamo Bay

Why did the United States fight a war with Spain in the 1890s?

Foreign Policy Under T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

Spanish-American war ended in 1898; US purchased Philippines from Spain; Filipino revolt against American rule began in 1899

Led by Emilio Aguinaldo, a Filipino leader who had fought with the American’s against the Spanish during the S-A War

American refusal to give up the Philippines costs 5,000 American and 200,000 Filipino lives (yep…we used Concentration Camps)

US gives the Filipinos (very) limited self rule in 1901.

The Philippines are given their independence in 1946.

Big and once wealthy, by 1899, China had fallen into political, economic and military disarray, with a weak imperial family…a perfect target for Imperialism.

Rather than fighting over the area, European colonial powers carved China up into special trading zones- “Spheres of Influence” In each zone, a particular country had special trade and investment privileges.

America had no zone. So what did we do?

Queen Victoria (UK), William II (Germany), Nicholas II (Russia), Marianne (France), and a samurai (Japan) cutting up a Chine ("China" in French) cake

Riding high on our recent win in the S-A War, we had gained some confidence.

US Secretary of State John Hay wrote a series of Open Door Notes to the major Imperial powers. In his Open Door Policy, Hay asked the imperial powers to accept all nations having equal trading privileges in China…most of the nations evaded a response, so Hay took this as a general acceptance of his Open Door Policy, and declared it so, and the US began trading freely in China.

In 1900 a secret society of Chinese nationalists, tired of European influence in China, started a rebellion.

They targeted Western settlements and Christian missionaries.

(Called themselves “The Righteous and Harmonious Fists”…thus “Boxer Rebellion”)

US troops joined an international force that quickly succeeded in putting down the Rebellion

US Foreign Policy Under

T. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

The Japanese begin to create their own empire around the same time as the US, so naturally competitive.

Tensions begin to rise between the Japanese and the US, first after T. Roosevelt brokered the treaty between Russia and Japan ending the Russ-Japanese War...

Then tensions rose further when the San Francisco School Board segregated their schools, making the Japanese very angry…a national insult

Gentleman’s Agreement: Japanese agreed to limit Japanese emigration to the US, while the San Francisco school board ended its discriminatory policy.

Term comes from the saying “speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far.”

Roosevelt relied on having a strong military and aggressive foreign policy to build America’s reputation and achieve American goals.

Aggressive Foreign Policy – we can intervene wherever we want, because we can

Now that the US had and empire from Puerto Rico to the Philippines, we wanted a canal through Central America to connect our far-flung Empire. (cut the trip in ½)

The narrowest path was through modern-day Panama, but Colombia controlled the Isthmus and would not allow US access to dig the canal.

A Panamanian rebellion was engineered and militarily supported by the US…and in 1903, the newly independent Panama gave the use of the land to the US in return for 10 million dollars and 250,000 dollars a year.

First started (in 1881) by a French company and abandoned in 1889, The French Panama Canal construction equipment and excavations were purchased for $40 million, and the 48-mile Canal construction was completed from 1904 to 1914. When finished, the canal would cut the trip between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in half.

Added to the Monroe Doctrine Instead of allowing a

European nation to intervene in a Latin American nation to enforce debt repayment, the US would send military force to any Latin American country that was delinquent in paying their European debts…US would then monitor customs tax collections until European debts were satisfied.

Corollary used as a justification for sending US troops to Haiti, Honduras, DR, Nicaragua

The popular nickname for the US Navy battle fleet that completed a “goodwill” circumnavigation of the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt.

16 Brand-Spankin’ new all-steel American Battleships (painted bright white) went on a (naval muscle-flexing) tour around the world…Now that is a Big Stick!

Flagship Connecticut: one of a set of commemorative postcards of the ships of the Great White Fleet

Substitute “Dollars for bullets”

Instead of having a big stick (strong military/aggressive foreign policy), concentrate on increasing private American trade and financial investments in foreign nations and tie the economies of the smaller/weaker countries to the economy of the United States.

Sometimes Taft still had to use the Big American Stick to enforce issues and protect American interests (ex. Nicaragua civil war, 1912)

Example of $ Diplomacy:◦ Private American

Investment in Railroads in China (1911)

Wilson (Democrat) proclaimed he would “never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest” (as had his Republican predecessors)

Instead he would promote “human rights, national integrity and opportunity” and work on righting past wrongs:◦ US citizenship to Puerto Ricans and

limited self-rule◦ Full territorial status, bill of rights,

universal male suffrage, and promise of independence for Filipinos

But sometimes Moral Diplomacy translated into him using the US military to guide countries in the direction the US (Wilson) wanted them to go…

US determined to only deal with Democratic states.

1914- US (Wilson)Interfered in the Mexican Revolution against new dictatorial regime, calling it a “government of butchers”.

US sent ships and occupied the port of Veracruz in order to enforce an arms embargo against the Mexican dictatorial government, which soon collapsed.

But new, US-backed government was slow to reform, so yet another Mexican rebellion, led by Pancho Villa

Considering Pancho Villa an outlaw, Wilson sent General John Pershing (and 10,000 US troops) chasing after Mexican Revolutionary Hero Pancho Villa around the Southwest and Northern Mexico…We gave up the hunt in 1917, as WWI became a much bigger issue.

Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1917, but not by the US.

Discuss with the people next to you and write the answer into your writing notebook.

ENTRY # 29 Which of the three diplomacy policies (Big

Stick, Moral, Dollar) was of the largest benefit to the United States during the period of Imperialism? How about over the long term? What do we practice now? Explain.