Unit III:America in the Great War

American Imperialism

American Expansionism

• What is the policy of imperialism?

• What were the major factors that contributed to the growth of American imperialism?

American Expansionism

• Many wanted the United States to join Europe and establish colonies

• Imperialism: the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories

Political cartoon showing William Jennings Bryan opposing American Imperialism.

(Gillam, 1900)

Two Key Players

• Queen Lilluokalani: Last queen of Hawaii

• Admiral Alfred T. Mahan: Wrote “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783”

Portrait of Queen Lilluokalani(Cogswell, 1892)

Things to Think About:

Global Competition

• Most of Africa was targeted for European Expansionism

• Asia, especially China (Japan was also in competition for China)

• Manifest Destiny

Three Factors

• Desire for military strength

• Thirst for new markets

• Belief in cultural superiority

Alaska

Alaska boroughs and census areas 1997-2007.(U.S. Census Bureau, 2005)

• William Seward

• Bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million ($.2 per acre)

• Seward’s Icebox or Seward’s Folly

• 1959 statehood

Hawaii• 1867: Took over control

of the Midway Islands• 1820s Yankee

missionaries founded Christian schools and churches

• Sugar planters (American merchants)

• McKinley Tariff, 1890 (eliminated the duty-free status of Hawaiian sugar)

• Called for US to annex the islands

• Pearl Harbor refueling station for American ships

Map of the 50 states, including Hawaii.(U.S. Geological Survey, 2011)

Annexation

• President Cleveland refused to consider annexation unless a majority of Hawaiians favored it

• William McKinley, 1897, favored annexation

• August 12, 1898, became U.S. territory

• 1959 became the 50th state

Spanish-American War

Cartoon rendition of Uncle Sam reminding Spain to be alert.(Cartoon of belligerent Uncle Sam placing Spain on notice, ca. 1898, 2011)

War Fever

• How did the Spanish react to the uprising in Cuba?

• What factors helped to arouse American feelings of animosity toward Spain?

War in the Caribbean

• Naval blockade of Cuba

• Admiral William T. Sampson sealed the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba

• U.S. Naval forces were far superior to the U.S. Army which was small and supplemented by an inexperienced volunteer force

James Creelman in Cuba

• Reporter for New York World

• 2nd Cuban war for independence from Spain

• Observations of the war

Some Key Players

• Jose Marti: Cuban poet and journalist

• Valeriano Weyler: Spanish General sent to Cuba

• William Randolph Hearst: New York Journal

• Joseph Pulitzer: New York World

Yellow Journalism

War fever fanned through Hearst and Pulitzer’s exaggerations of the uprisingFrederic Remington: artist sent to sketch the “war”

“You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.”—Hearst(Barritt, 1898)

Enrique de Lome

• Spanish minister to US

• Letter criticized President McKinley

• Called him “weak” and “a bidder for the admiration of the crowd”

• Americans became angry over insult

USS Maine• February 15,1898, the ship

blew up in the harbor of Havana

• 260+ men killed• Newspapers claimed the

Spanish blew it up• Hearst’s paper offered a

reward $50,000 for the capture of those responsible

• “Remember the Maine!”• The USS Maine was sent to

Cuba to bring home American citizens in danger Painting showing the USS Maine exploding.

War with Spain Erupts 1898

• “Remember the Maine” became the rallying cry for U.S. intervention in Cuba

• The Spanish government had already agreed to a six month cease-fire

• April 11 McKinley went to congress for authority to use force

• Congress agreed: April 20th US declared War

War in the Philippines• The first battle of war took

place in the Philippine Islands• Commodore George Dewey

gave the command to open fire in Manila

• Within hours the US won and landed troops

• Dewey had the support of the Filipinos who also wanted freedom from Spain

• Emilio Aguinaldo: Leader of the Filipino rebels

• 11,000 U.S. troops joined forces

• By August, Spanish troops surrendered to the US in Manila

Cartoon depicting the “white elephant” the Philippine Islands became for the U.S.

(PhilippinesWhiteElephantCartoon, n.d.)

Rough Riders

• A volunteer cavalry unit under the command of Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt

• Roosevelt gave up is job as assistant secretary of the Navy to lead the group

• He would later become President of the United States

(Yucatan carrying Rough Riders to Cuba, 1898)

San Juan Hill• Most famous land battle

in Cuba• July 1, 1898• At Kettle Hill was the

dramatic uphill charge of the Rough Riders and two African-American regiments

• San Juan Hill was an infantry attack

• Roosevelt was declared the “Hero” of San Juan Hill

• Americans invade Puerto Rico on July 25

Photograph of Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders.(Rough Riders, 1898)

Treaty of Paris

• Armistice signed on Aug. 12th (a cease fire)

• Secretary of State John Hay called it a “splendid little war”

• Actual fighting lasted 15 weeks

• Spain freed Cuba and turned over Guam in the Pacific and Puerto Rico in the West Indies

• Also sold the Philippines to the US for $20 million

Debate

• Over the right to annex the Philippines

• McKinley said that after praying there was nothing left for us to do but to “take them all and to educate the Filipinos and uplift and Christianize them”

• Most had been Christian for centuries

• Feb. 6, 1899, Senate approved the Treaty of Paris; US now has an empire

China

Open Door Policy

• Imperialists saw the Philippines as a gateway to the rest of Asia

• John Hay: Open door notes (or policy)

• Letters addressed to the leaders of imperialist nations proposing that they share their trading rights with the US

Protecting American Rights

• John Hay issues a 2nd series of “open door notes”

• The US would “safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire”

Boxer Rebellion

• Members practiced martial arts

• Killed hundreds of missionaries and other foreigners

• An international force put down the rebellion

Three Deeply Held Beliefs

• Americans believed that the growth of the U.S. economy depended on exports.

• They felt the US had a right to intervene abroad to keep foreign markets open.

• They feared that the closing of an area to American products, citizens, or ideas threatened U.S. survival.

These beliefs became the bedrock of American foreign policy.

References

Barritt, W. (1898, June 29). War Yellow Kids [Image]. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PulitzerHearstWarYellowKids.jpg

Cartoon of belligerent Uncle Sam placing Spain on notice, ca. 1898 [Image]. (2011, February 26). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Independence_Seaport_Museum_226.JPG#/media/File:Independence_Seaport_Museum_226.JPG

Cogswell, W. (1892). Portrait painting of Queen Liliuokalani at Iolani Palace in Honolulu [Image]. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Liliuokalani_painted_by_William_Cogswell,_Iolani_Palace.jpg

Destruction of the U.S Battleship Maine [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Independence_Seaport_Museum_222.JPG#/media/File:Independence_Seaport_Museum_222.JPG

Gillam, V. (1900, August 11). Judge August 11 1900 Bryan Against American Imperialism.jpg [Image]. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Judge_August_11_1900_Bryan_Against_American_Imperialism.jpg

Philippines white elephant cartoon [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PhilippinesWhiteElephantCartoon.jpg#/media/File:PhilippinesWhiteElephantCartoon.jpg

Rough Riders [Image]. (1898). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TR_San_Juan_Hill_1898.jpg

U.S. Census Bureau. (2005, August 17). Alaska boroughs and census areas 1997-2007 [Image]. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alaska_boroughs_and_census_areas_1997-2007.png#/media/File:Alaska_boroughs_and_census_areas_1997-2007.png

U.S. Geological Survey. (2011, July 30). Hawaii in United States (zoom) (US50) (-grid) [Image]. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawaii_in_United_States_(zoom)_(US50)_(-grid).svg#/media/File:Hawaii_in_United_States_(zoom)_(US50)_(-grid).svghttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

Yucatan carrying rough riders to Cuba [Image]. (1898). Retrieved October 2, 2015, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yucatan_carrying_rough_riders_to_cuba.jpg#/media/File:Yucatan_carrying_rough_riders_to_cuba.jpg