1. Chapter 18, “America Claims an Empire”

2. Expansion
Imperialism – Social, political, and economic control of one country by another. Usually driven by the following:
thirst for raw materials / new markets (wealth)
desire for political power / prestige (use military)
belief in cultural superiority (maybe thinly veiled by an assertion that, “they need us”)

3. Thirst for Raw Materials / New Markets
Incredible wealth being generated due to Industrialization
Technology enabled farms and factories to produce more than Americans could consume
Keep it going: Import more raw materials
Export the surplus of food and finished goods: Find consumers abroad, around the world
Be a “Player…”

4. Facilitated by Military Strength
Admiral Alfred T. Mahan urged government to increase American naval power in order to compete with other nations
Built (9) steel-hulled cruisers
Self-fulfilling prophecy?

5. Belief in Cultural Superiority
Social Darwinism - belief that free market capitalism leads to the “survival of the fittest”
“White Man’s Burden”
Ethnocentrism

6. America Acquires Alaska
In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward purchased Alaska for $7.2 million
Known as “Seward’s Icebox” or “Seward’s folly”
2 cents an acre for what turned out to be valuable land:
- Timber
- Fish
- Minerals
- Oil

7. Have to have Hawaii
Hawaii had become a site for business investment and eventually a naval base…
Business leaders forced the King of Hawaii to amend the Constitution
Overthrew Queen Liliuokalani and set-up a government headed by Sanford B. Dole

8. Spanish American War (1898)
Just 90 miles off coast of Florida, America had an interest in Cuba
In addition to imperial motives listed above:
- Americans grew restless as frontier is
closed by 1890
- Shift away from isolationist policy
- Interested in Caribbean
Diplomats recommended purchase of Cuba in 1854, but offer was rejected by Spain

12. Effects of Spanish American War
American dominance in the Caribbean
Expansionist policies in Pacific and Far East
Building of Panama Canal (opens 1914)
Emergence as world power
Growth of anti-imperialism…

15. The Treaty of Paris: 1898 Cuba was freed from Spanish rule
Spain gave up Puerto Rico and the island of Guam
The U. S. paid Spain $20 mil. for the Philippines
The U. S. becomes an imperial power!

16. The American Anti-Imperialist League
Founded in 1899
Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, William James, and William Jennings Bryan among the leaders
Campaigned against the annexation of the Philippines and other acts of imperialism

17. DILEMMA--Did
U. S. citizenship
follow the flag??

18. Puerto Rico: 1898 1900 - Foraker Act 1901-1903 - The Insular Cases
PR became an “unincorporated territory”
Citizens of PR, not of the US
Import duties on PR goods
The Insular Cases
Constitutional rights were not automatically extended to territorial possessions
Congress had the power to decide these rights
Import duties laid down by the Foraker Act were legal!

19. Puerto Rico (cont.) 1917 – Jones Act
Gave full territorial status to PR
Removed tariff duties on PR goods coming into the US
PRs elected their own legislators & governor to enforce local laws
PRs could NOT vote in US presidential elections
A resident commissioner was sent to Washington to vote for PR in the House

20. Teddy Roosevelt in Panama (Construction begins 1904)
Panama Canal
Teddy Roosevelt in Panama (Construction begins 1904)

21. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: 1905
Chronic wrongdoing… may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power .

22. Speak Softly, But Carry a Big Stick!

23. Stereotypes of the Chinese Immigrant
Oriental [Chinese] Exclusion Act, 1887

24. The Boxer Rebellion: 1900 The Peaceful Harmonious Fists
“55 Days at Peking”

25. The Open Door Policy Secretary John Hay
Give all nations equal access to trade in China
Guaranteed that China would NOT be taken over by any one foreign power

26. The Open Door Policy

27. The Great White Fleet: 1907

28. Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”
Improve financial opportunities for American businesses
Use private capital to further U. S. interests overseas
Therefore, the U.S. should create stability and order abroad that would best promote America’s commercial interests

29. Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”
A.k.a “Missionary Policy”
The U. S. should be the conscience of the world
Spread democracy
Promote peace
Condemn colonialism

30. U. S. Global Investments & Investments in Latin America, 1914