The Early 20th Century, US Imperialism and the Spanish American War

I. Culture of 1900-1915a. Technologyb. Fashionc. Sports

II. Imperialism a. Causes:

i. First Industrial Revolution:1. Happened in Europe but focused in Britain.

a. 1215 Magna Charta- established the precedent for property rights and trade rights.

b. Defeated the Spanish Armada, beginning its colonial power which gave it a lot of wealth.

c. During the 16 and 1700’s it avoided the political power of absolutism and began a capitalist economy rather than mercantilist.

i. Enclosure system: England’s elite bought the surrounding land beside their manors. This forced the previous owners to become working laborers rather than agricultural farmers on their own land. This decreased the elite’s labor costs and increased their profit. England became divided into a small class of large landholders and a large class of agricultural laborers who worked for wages. The wages among the working classes gave them access to goods that they would have originally made for themselves. This was a market or CAPITALIST economy based on money. The supply and demand of goods, money, and services.

d. England effectively traded in the second largest desired good, textiles or clothing. Increased population meant more clothes. Had been a mass wool producer since the Middle Ages. New demand for cotton which the US provided. Met its domestic needs efficiently and produced cloth for export.

e. England was also free from guilds which would regulate prices and production levels. Guilds were an antithesis to supply and demand.

f. England had an entrepreneurial spirit. A desire to try new things.

i. England’s elite did not think that being a merchant was beneath them-many in Europe felt that way.

g. The increased population, the entrepreneurial spirit, capitalist economy, and the colonies abroad all made England the forerunner of inventions.

2. Improvement in crop rotation (wouldn’t come to the US until after the Dust Bowl!) and advancements in medicine both allowed people to live longer.

a. This increased the population making there a surplus of people. Labor became cheap because everyone was replaceable. If you didn’t want to work, someone else would!

b. Merchants also had more people to sell their products to now and make more money!

3. Napoleon abolished the mercantile system.4. Focused on textiles and food. They only traded for more goods. Like

food for more food or jewelry for more jewelry.ii. Second Industrial Revolution

1. Focused on capital or raw goods: goods used to make other goodsa. Steel, petroleum, factories, money, machines, rubber,

chemicals…2. Inventions

a. Autos, telephone, railroad, airplane, subway, camera, soaps, medicines, gasoline, fertilizers, light bulb, safety razor, vacuum cleaner, dental braces, semi-automatic weapons.

3. Results:a. Population kept expanding because health and wealth became

better. The first revolution created new and bigger empires which needed more products.

i. Engineers, jurists, civil officials, industrialists, financiers, teachers, missionaries, skilled laborers and infrastructures which can connect them efficiently and reliably.

b. Needed a way to produce more products.i. Make work more efficient (assembly line)

ii. Pay workers less so we can spend more on the materials to make our product

iii. By more raw goods some place and then we’ll also have a market for other goods.

c. People needed more capital goods and a market so imperialism began!

d. Colonialism is settling a portion of your country in another territory so that you have a permanent market and can protect your goods. Europe settled Asia and Africa and began to fight and compete.

iii. Imperialism Definition 1. The idea that if a country is not using its materials efficiently or if the

people are seen as an inferior race, a better people should conquer and colonize. This had a myriad of causes but Social Darwinism was definitely at the forefront.

iv. Globally and the effect on the US1. Quest for raw materials and markets. The second industrial revolution

increased people’s needs to find new places to sell their newly minted goods and the need to find more capital.

a. Colonies would protect interests.2. Civil unrest in Europe after Napoleon

a. He destroyed the mercantile system of Europe which sent tons of people into cities and crossed national borders trying to find work.

b. Countries were now trying to reevaluate and set governments back up.

c. During the early 1800’s Europe experienced a mass amount of climate change. Winters were much longer and the summers shorter. Crops were harvested later and people began to starve. A volcano erupted in Indonesia. Europeans fled to Russia under Alexander II or left for new places like America. They also desired to colonize.

3. Recession of late 1800’sa. pushed people out to find new jobs overseasb. pushed people out to find new goods/markets

4. Protect Shipping lanesa. Need for naval bases to protect trade and bases to refuel on

coal.b. Merchant Marines

5. Western Civilization was seen as the best of the globe. Time tested protected by God; destined to dominate. It had civil liberty and Christianity.

6. In the U.S. a. 1901: Typical man was British with traces of German. 5’9” with

three living children. Protestant and Republican, subscribed to a newspaper and lived in a two-story seven room house. Compared to Europe Americans were vastly better off leading the world with an income of 227 compared to Britain’s 181 and France’s 161. US had lower taxes (3% compared to Britain’s’ 9% and France’s 12 %). American’s spent more on tobacco per year than personal care and furniture put together!

b. Late 1800’s the US faced growing immigration, and rapid population growth. Prices were too low for farmers to sell

goods, working conditions in the cities were troubling. By 1920, 60% of the US population lived in a city. The government provided support for big businesses and encouraged: anti-union laws, tariff restrictions, government subsidies for railroads when they catered to big business, and supported tariffs. During this time, populists and socialists developed from the agrarian farmers and the industrialists, respectively. The populists sought to reform government and lobbied to work within the current context to provide better wages. They opposed gold and railroads. The Grange and Greenbacker party were both populists. (Many of these issues rose to prominence under Harrison)

c. President McKinleyi. Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley

ii. Cleveland: more balanced..iii. Republicans were pro-business and pro-tariffs. Harrison

was Republican and McKinley pushed the McKinley tariff of 1890 through that year. Raised duties on manufactured goods to an average of about 49.5%. Highest to that time.

iv. Elected in 1896 and showed a climatic struggled between the East and the West. The East won. First act was to raise the tariff again. Dingley Tariff of 1897 was the highest to that time. By 1897, prosperity was returning, helped by inflation of the currency.

d. The Results of US immigration crisis and the economic recession that was occurring in the US and around the world:

i. Manifest Destinyii. Desire for raw materials.

iii. Increased its navy to use it to protect trade.iv. The navy began to get involved in other people’s

business. We needed naval bases to load coal and protect the raw goods from being stolen. We made colonies to help make more raw goods and keep others away from those goods.

v. We became involved in Cuban affairs (protect shipping lanes), Hawaiian affairs (protect citizens and sugar trade), and the Philippines (protect Asian trade and protect the West coast from attack).

vi. Reflected the growing international power and prestige as well and mirrored the efforts of the European nation to acquire colonial possessions.

vii. Expansionists included:

1. Henry Cabot Lodge, T. Roosevelt, Alfred Thayer Mahan

v. European Competition and Prestige 1. European nationalism (jingoism) made all the countries compete for in

order to expand their empires.2. Britain expanded into Singapore in 1819. It was a stopping point gong

to China from the West. It also settled India and Burma to protect interest in India and it was also a land route into South China. When Burma’s government collapsed Britain took over.

3. France settled into Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos). They were scared when Britain settled into Burma because they had missionaries in Vietnam. They didn’t like ow Britain was monopolizing trade and eventually forced Vietnam to accept French protection from British incursion. They extended their control over the country from 1857-1884. Made Vietnam a protectorate. Eventually they extended the French control over Cambodia and Laos. Thailand was not taken.

4. Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Dutch, Spanish, and Germany, all began to settle into China and Africa. In China, they would create spheres of influence, spread Western ideas, eventually cause the Boxer Rebellion and inadvertently lead the people to overthrow the monarchy. Communism (Western idea) would be established.

5. 1880-1917, Europe colonized in Africa. In 1870, 10% of Africa was colonized. By 1917, only 90% was NOT colonized. In Africa, by 1917 only Liberia and Ethiopia were not colonized by a Western Power.

vi. Social Darwinism1. In the 1800’s Darwin came up with the idea that people and other

animals evolved from a common ancestor. Over time those creatures who were the fittest were able to adapt and survive. It is called “survival of the fittest”. People applied this scientific idea to social settings and taught that the best (or most fit) nation could conquer and control other more inferior people.

2. Western civilization was superior and western countries needed to spread them-by force.

3. Economics: Laissez Fairea. Far from no govn’t interference as the government manipulated

the system with tariffs and infrastructure. Loaned money and land to enterprise, passed laws to encourage competition, used federal and state troops to break strikes…. (people’s choice to work)

b. John Rockefeller: Applied it to big business4. Immigration: Strong survive in cities5. Race: Eugenics

a. Margaret Sanger: Founder of Planned Parenthood6. Imperialism: taking over another’s country by force

7. Government: Government intervention would detract from personal qualities of independence and self-righteousness. Government didn’t want to take away the personal qualities of people such as “hard work, temperance, frugality”

a. Herbert Spencer: Philosopher who applied Darwinism to government.

i. “merely the working out of the law of nature and the law of God”

vii. Missionary Approach1. Others during this time used a more Social Gospel approach and

believed that colonizing was simply a way not for the US to take over but to extend a helping hand. This idea was not opposed to Darwinism as evolution can still be applied philanthropically.

2. Christianity and Western Civilization needed to be expanded into other places. Western ideas were superior and there for gave people the authority to spread them-but in a civil manner.

viii. Questions 1. Should expansion lead to acquisition as well? Or to intervene in other

countries?b. Proponents:

i. Albert J. Beveridge and henry Cabot Lodge, Teddy Roosevelt and Alfred Thayer Mahan.

1. 1880’s Mahan became a leading advocate of sea power and Western imperialism. Alfred T. Mahan was a naval officer in the U.S.

2. He was involved in many maritime mishaps during his time in active naval duty.

3. His lectures were published in 1890 under the title, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783.

4. Mahan believed that sea power was the key to national security and world dominance and that the coastline of a territory was just as important as the inside land. All national greatness and prosperity flowed from sea power. Modern economic development called for a powerful navy, a strong merchant marine, foreign commerce, colonies, and naval bases. He championed America’s destiny to control the Caribbean, build an isthmian canal, and spread Western civilization in the Pacific. His ideas were widely circulated in popular journal and within the American government.

5. In 1880 the nation had few than a hundred seagoing vessels, many of them rusting or rotting at the docks. By 1896, eleven powerful new battleships had been built or authorized

6. Theodore Roosevelt supported Mahan, and made the Great White Fleet to help protect U.S. interests in the sea. The Great White Fleet was a fleet of battleships and cruisers.

c. Japan

i. Commodore Matthew C. Perry, commander of the United States naval forces in the China seas, was a staunch expansionist. Back in 1852 he warned President Fillmore that the British, who had already taken control of Hong Kong and Singapore, would soon control all trade in the area. Perry recommended that the United States take "active measures to secure a number of ports of refuge" in Japan. President Fillmore agreed with Perry. In 1853 he ordered the Commodore to open negotiations with the Emperor of Japan.

ii. Perry arrived at Japan in 1853 and demanded an audience with the emperor-which he never actually got but thought he did. He gave a letter asking for trade concessions. Japan had never been open to trade. His diplomacy and the show of firearms impressed the Japanese and they accepted his agreement in February 1854. The Japanese had never seen steamships before. By 1868, Japan began to industrialize and b 1880 they had built a powerful navy.

d. Alaskai. In 1867, Secretary of State, William Seward, purchased Alaska for 7.2 million

from Russia-less than 2 cents an acre... The U.S. wanted quick access to the Pacific to expand its trade and colonial opportunities. Seward believed that US first had to remove all foreign interests from the northern Pacific coast and gain access to that region’s valuable ports. He initially wanted British Colombia but learned of Russia’s desire to sell Alaska because it had become unprofitable. Called “Seward’s folly”.

ii. Remained a possession until 1912 when it became a territory. Gold rushes attracted people and the growing population finally led to territorial status. Alaska Railroad was built in 1923 and Anchorage was founded.

iii. WWII was the turning point for statehood (but still took another 14 years-1959). The Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands prompted a strong U.S. military presence in Alaska.

iv. The US sought coaling stations and trading posts in the Pacific during this time. It laid claimed to various small islands and coral atolls in the mid-Pacific.

e. Hawaiii. In the 1800’s the first American missionaries to the islands (led by Hiram

Bingham and Asa Thurston) were horrified at the natives. They thought the appearance of destitution, degradation, and barbarism among the chattering, and almost naked savages…was appalling. Congress had coveted the Hawaiian Islands for several years.

ii. Consist of 8 major islands which are actually volcanic mountains and 124 small islets. Polynesian sailors discovered them long before Magellan (500 AD?). They originally came from the Marquesas Islands-2,000 miles away! They kept in contact with the metropolis until 1400 AD. They grew taro and cultivated coconut and banana trees. Religion was centered on a system of kapus or taboos. To break a taboo meant death unless you could escape to an asylum on a different location. The journey into exile was dangerous and survival meant the gods protected you.

iii. 1778 James Cook was looking for a northwest passage through the American continent. He sailed up the west coast of North America. He was running out of

supplies and decided that he needed supplies. He discovered the Hawaii islands and named them after his patron the Earl of Sandwich. He died at the hands of the natives-not much is known.

iv. The US and others now began to use the islands as a stopping point to refuel and rebuild ships. The sandalwood was stripped. It was a popular way station for whalers and traders. Hawaii had been a united kingdom since 1795, and in the 1820’s the Queen mother abolished the Hawaiian religion. The natives realized that they could “break” rules without the gods enacting retribution. However they went from fear of retribution/appeasement to confusion. They no longer had absolutes. It was at this time that a large settlement of American missionaries and planters settled on the island. They rather destroyed the native culture in favor of Victorian indoctrination. Western culture soon was taking over. School and writing were good but guns and alcohol weren’t.

v. They introduced the concept of private land ownership but the Americans and Europeans took most of the land (called the Great Mahele). They also began to desire political control. Western diseases wiped out much of the native population and other Asians or Portuguese or Puerto Rican were brought in.

vi. Many American sugarcane planters gravitated to the island. They began to fear occupation by a European country. They would pose a threat to US economy if Hawaii was conquered.

vii. In 1878, Samoa signed a treaty with the US that granted a naval based at Pago Pago. Germany and Britain worked out similar arrangements on other islands.

viii. 1875 Hawaiians signed a trade agreement with the US. They got to import their sugar into the US without taxes. It would help the Hawaiian economy during the recession. 12 years later, the US demanded that in return they get a naval base on the island-Pearl Harbor. Lots of US growers left for Hawaii.

ix. IN 1887, the US plantation owners forced the King to make a constitutional government.

x. In 1890, McKinley’s Tariff actually put all sugar growers on the duty free list and the government gave money to growers in the US. Which hurt the Hawaiian economy.

xi. In 1891, Queen Liliuokalani ascended the throne and tried to reclaim control away from the plantation owners. She wanted only native Hawaiians to be able to vote and worked to make a new constitution. But the business owners had too much at stock and didn’t want Hawaii returning back to its original natives. They even called in the marines.

xii. January 17, 1893, the US population seized control of the government. They took over the government office building. From its steps they read a proclamation abolishing the monarchy and establishing a provisional government. The provisional government "would exist until terms of union with the United States of America have been negotiated and agreed upon." A month later, a committee visited Washington and signed an annexation treaty.

xiii. All this occurred just weeks before Cleveland took office and when he did he withdrew the treaty. The niece of the Queen Liliuokalani visited Washington and Cleveland sent a commissioner to investigate.

1. He stated that the Americans on the islands had acted improperly and most Hawaiians opposed annexation. The commission also stated that the revolution had been engineered mainly by sugar planters hoping for annexation in order to get the new domestic sugar subsidy for sugar grown in the US. (All sugar was tax free and had equal trade access but those grown in the US were granted extra money).

xiv. Cleveland proposed to restore the queen. The new Hawaiian government refused and on July 4, 1894 proclaimed the Republic of Hawaii-with president Sanford Dole the leading businessman. In desperation, supporters of the queen began to collect weapons and to make secret plans to overthrow the republic and restore the monarchy. They planned to strike on the morning of January 7, 1895, but informers told the government about their plot.

xv. At dawn, as the queen's supporters slipped silently ashore on Waikiki, government soldiers opened fire. A few of the rebels fell dead or wounded; others surrendered. The government declared martial law. During the next few days, government troops defeated the disorganized rebels in a series of brief but deadly skirmishes. Within two weeks, they completely suppressed the uprising and captured its followers, including Queen Liliuokalani. The prisoners were tried for treason. Liliuokalani was forced to sign a document in which she finally renounced all claims to the throne.

xvi. He imprisoned her in the royal palace for eight months! xvii. 1897, McKinley became president and was looking was an excuse to annex the

Hawaiian Islands. He found it when the Japanese, also wanting the Island, sent warships to Hawaii. McKinley responded by sending American ships and asked the Senate to approve a treaty to annex Hawaii. When the Senate couldn’t get the necessary 2/3 vote, McKinley used a joint resolution of the House and Senate to achieve his aims.

xviii. Hawaii was annexed in the summer of 1898 and became a state in 1959.III. Spanish American War

a. Cuba Librei. Spain controlled Cuba in the 19th century. The paid texes to the Sanish

government and had no representation. Spain looked to its own interest while ruling the island and paid no attention to Cub’as needs or interests. Spanish troops and police on the island kept order, Spanish judges ruled int eh courts and wer harsh to any prtesters, sending them to Spaish firing squads for execution.

ii. Spanish ruled Cuba and the Americans sided with the Cubans and freedom. During the last half of the 19th century, the Cubans continually revolted against the Spanish. The US also began to have investments in Cuba mainly in sugar and mining. The US traded more with Cuba than Spain did! This made the US more sympathetic to the plight of the Cubans.

iii. Cubans revolted in 1868 in a rebellion that lasted 10 years almostto the day. Becam known as the 10 Year War.

iv. February 24, 1895:Americans extended help to the Cuban revolutionaries. US used propgagnda from NY to help.

v. 1896: Spanish general Valeriano Weyler adopted a policy of gathering Cuban civilians behind Spanish lines in order to protect them and keep them from joining the insurrectionists. They were called reconcentrado centers or detention camps. In some of these centers, poor food and unsanitary conditions soon brought a heavy tool of disease and death. The American press nicknamed him “Butcher” Weyler. “Weyler, the brute, the devastator of hacienas, the destroyer of men.”

b. Yellow Journalismi. William Randolph Hearst was the editor of the New York Journal and Joseph

Pulitzer was the editor for the New York World.ii. They were locked in a competition for readers. The sufferings of Cubans were

stories to furnish the competition. Became known as Yellow Journalism based on a cartoon that was called “The Yellow Kid”.

iii. Hearst emerged as the champion. “You furnish the pictures. I’ll furnish the war.”

c. Explosion of the Mainei. When McKinley came into office he supported Cuban independence, control of

Hawaii and an isthmian canal. ii. Spain offered Cuba autonomy but not formal independence.

iii. 1898, Hearst’s Journal released the text of a letter from Spanish minister Depuy de Lome to a friend in Havana Cuba. He called McKinley “weak and a bidder for the admiration of the crowd”. (not much different than what Roosevelt said about him: “he had no more backbone than a chocolate éclair”)

iv. February 15, 1898 the Maine was sitting in the Havana Harbor when it exploded and sank with a loss of 266 men, most who died in their hammocks. Only 84 survivors one of which was the captain. He scribbled a telegram to Washington. Maine blown up…and destroyed…public opinion should be suspended until further report.” But those eager for a war with Spain saw no need to withhold judgment; they demanded an immediate declaration. Roosevelt called the sinking “an act of dirty treachery on the part of the Spaniards.”

v. A naval court of inquiry reported that an external mine had sunk the ship. But they lacked hard evidence however. The press ran with the stories. “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!”

vi. The actual sinking of the Maine was an accident the result of an internal explosion triggered by a fire in its coal bunker.

d. Steps towards wari. McKinley tried to avert war but was pressured by those like Roosevelt.

McKinley feared the disruption of trade. ii. April 1898, Spain announced a unilateral cease-fire and on the e19th gave a

statement of surrender. However, McKinley was ready for war by that point and appealed to congress the next day. He asked for the power to use armed forces in Cuba to protect American property and trade.

iii. April 20, 1898 Congress went further and declared Cuba an independent entity and demanded withdrawal of Spanish forces. And on April 22, they blockaded Cuba.

iv. Spain declared war on April 24.v. Marked the emergence of the US as a world power. Lasted only 4 months.

e. Dewey in Manilai. Roosevelt ordered Commodore George Dewey to engage with Spain’s ships off

the coast of the Philippines in case they might attack. ii. Once at sea, Commodore Dewey had his men paint all the ships. Once

a bright white, the ships were soon covered with a dull gray to make them less visible to the enemy. Next, Dewey ordered that everything made of wood, including the piano on his flagship Olympia, be tossed over the side. Splintered wood presented a greater danger to his crews than enemy shells. Then with chests, chairs, and tables bobbing in the water behind them, the ships went after the Spanish fleet.

iii. After searching throughout an oppressive tropical night, Dewey found the Spaniards in the shallows of Manila Bay. At dawn on the first of May, the Olympia led the fleet in single file toward its enemy. The Spanish opened fire long before the Americans were within range. The Olympia moved still closer. When it reached effective range, it turned sharply to the west, bringing all its guns to bear upon the Spanish fleet.

iv. "You may fire when ready, Gridley," Dewey told his executive officer. With a deafening roar, the huge cruiser's guns erupted. The flagship swung around in a wide circle, and each ship followed, guns blasting as it passed. "We made five trips past the fleet," a gunner on the Boston wrote.

v. Just two hours after the beginning of the battle we hauled out and, withdrawing a few miles, the order was given for breakfast. I was exhausted from the heat, loss of sleep, and lack of proper food. I went up on deck. Below the thermometer was at 116°, and the fresh air was a great relief. From this vantage point, I could see the destruction we had wrought.

vi. When the thick, black smoke that had obscured the battle cleared, he saw the Spanish fleet, battered and afire. The battle had been won. Eight seamen suffered wounds aboard the Boston (the same ship that had helped "liberate" Hawaii). One man died from the heat before the battle began. They represented the total casualties for the fleet.

vii. When the news of the stunning victory reached home, Americans cheered ecstatically. Dewey, "the conqueror of the Philippines," became an instant national hero. Stores soon filled with merchandise bearing his image. Few Americans knew what and where the Philippines were, but the press assured them that the islands were a welcome possession.

viii. April 30, 1898 the destroyed or captured all the Spanish warships in Manila Bay. He was now in possession of the Bay. He was reinforced and by August 13 he had liberated the island from Spanish control.

f. Cuban Land Campaign i. Despite Dewey's early victory, the war in the Caribbean was getting off

to a slow start. American ships blockaded the Spanish fleet at Santiago. More than 250,000 soldiers rushed enthusiastically into the service. The U.S. army could only get 28,000 regulars and 100,000 militiamen. The army's quartermaster corps, however, had only fifty-seven men to supply the army with equipment. The armed forces suffered badly from both inexperience and maladministration. More American troops died from disease than from enemy action. The only good thing was that the Spanish forces were even worse off.

ii. Soldiers gathered in Florida and waited impatiently for supplies and transportation. Invasion force of 17,000 American troops which assembled in Tampa,, Florida.

iii. Some individuals organized and outfitted their own regiments. One such individual, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, resigned his post in the Navy Department and formed a volunteer regiment of cavalry. Teddy Roosevelt did not intend to miss his chance at glory. Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt was second in command. He ordered a custom-fitted, fawn-colored uniform with yellow trim from Brooks Brothers, grabbed a dozen pairs of spectacles, and rushed to help organize a colorful volunteer regiment of Ivy League athlete, leathery ex-convicts, Indians, and southwestern sharpshooters.

iv. Rough Riders and Roosevelt

1. Summarya. Most of the major conflict occurred around the port of

Santiago. b. July 1, 1898: a large American force attacked San Juan

Hill; a smaller unit which included the Rough Riders attack Kettle Hill. Roosevelt shot a Spaniard as “neatly as a jackrabbit.” He was “reveling in victory and gore.” This two battles put American forces into a position in which they could win.

c. July3, the Spanish ships made a run for it but the American vessels out ran them. 474 Spanish were killed and wounded and 1,750 were taken prisoner. One American was killed and one wounded. Santiago surrendered on July 17.

d. July 25, American forces moved in Puerto Rico.e. July 26, Spain asked for peace.f. July 18, Spanish government sued for peace.g. August 12 an armistice was signed.

i. Spain give up Cuba; US annex Puerto Rico; US could occupy the Philippines.

h. August 13 Philippine’s felli. Splendid Little War: It coast little and only 5,462 died.

But only 379 in battle-the rest died in boot camps trying to prepare for battle. They died of malaria, typhoid, dysentery or yellow fever.

2. Roosevelt had been born forty years earlier to a wealthy New York family. He described himself as "a sickly, delicate boy" who "suffered much from asthma, and frequently had to be taken away on trips to find a place where [he] could breathe." Determined to overcome his physical limitations, Roosevelt embarked on a grueling program of body building. He practiced boxing, hunting, and riding. He won election to the New York State legislature in 1882, two years after graduating from college. However in 1884, both his wife and mother died within eleven hours of each other. In an attempt to recover from this tragedy, he sold the house and he spent three years as a working cowboy in the wild Badlands of Dakota. "It was still the Wild West in those days," he wrote. "The West of the Indian and the buffalo hunter, the soldier and the cow-puncher." There he "led a free and hardy life with horse and rifle." Adorned in a buckskin shirt, silver spurs, and alligator boots, he told a relative he was “having a glorious time here.” He loved hunting, leading roundups, capturing outlaws, fighting Indians, and reading Tolstoy by the campfire.

3. Back in NY, he remarried. Roosevelt's political career began in the New York legislature. Next, after running unsuccessfully for mayor of New York, he served as that city's police commissioner. He would roam the streets at night and rap a sleeping policeman with his nightstick.

4. A loyal Republican, he campaigned tirelessly for McKinley in the 1896 election, and the president rewarded him with an appointment to the Department of the Navy. (also due to his reputation for his moral devotion)

5. He quickly developed a reputation as a prodigious worker with high integrity and an infectious sense of humor.

6. Now, seeking again the "hardy life with horse and rifle," Roosevelt waited in Tampa with his men. His regiment, which called itself the Rocky Mountain Riders, consisted mostly of cowboys from the West, although it contained a few Indians and wealthy polo players from the East as well. The papers called the regiment "Teddy's Terrors," but its commander was Leonard Wood, a physician who was also a colonel in the regular army. Roosevelt served as lieutenant colonel.

7. "Tampa was a scene of the wildest confusion," Teddy remembered. "There was no semblance of order." Thousands of men, horses, mules, and supply wagons were scattered about haphazardly in the tropical heat. Somehow the expedition reached Cuba. Still, "different parts of different outfits were jumbled together. . . . For instance, one transport had guns, and another had the locks for the guns. Soldiers went here, provisions went there, and who got ashore depended upon individual activity."

8. Roosevelt, always active, got his regiment ashore quickly. "We disembarked with our rifles, our ammunition belts, and not much else," he remembered. "I carried some food in my pocket, and a light coat which was my sole camp equipment for the next three days."

9. With the July temperature climbing above 100°, the soldiers plodded off through the thick jungle toward the city of Santiago. Wearing uniforms made of wool, the men struggled against the

heat. Those who managed to obtain rations often discovered that their food had spoiled. Soon the ranks were riddled with malaria, fever, and dysentery. (Before the war ended, 5,200 Americans would perish from disease.) General Shafter, the army's commander, realized that if he didn't capture Santiago soon, he might not have an army left.

10. After a few brief skirmishes, the armies confronted each other. The Spanish defended the San Juan hills, a long ridge east of Santiago. The Americans, arrayed in the valley below, sent up an observation balloon to study the city's defenses.

11. Roosevelt, who had managed to obtain a horse, rode up and down the lines anxiously. "I had come to the conclusion," he said, "that it was silly to stay in the valley firing up at the hills. . . . The thing to do was to try to rush the entrenchments." Never a man to stand on ceremony, Teddy took it upon himself to order the charge.

12. With a pistol in one hand and a saber in the other, Teddy spurred his mount forward. His face grew flushed; his glasses clouded with steam; a wide grin covered his face. The rough riders followed on foot, and the Ninth Cavalry, an African American regiment, rushed forth beside them. As he reached the crest of Kettle Hill, Teddy saw its defenders fleeing before him. He fired at one of them, and later remarked that the man fell "as neatly as a jackrabbit."

13. Atop Kettle Hill, the soldiers dined on captured Spanish provisions. Later Teddy left his men and rode to the top of San Juan Hill, but the Tenth Cavalry, another African American regiment, had already stormed and captured it. That night the Americans repelled a Spanish counterattack. In the morning, General Shafter demanded that the Spanish commander surrender.

14. A Big Turkey Shoot Ramon Blanco y Erenas, governor general of Cuba, received Shafter's demand. He responded by ordering his fleet to attack the American ships blockading Santiago harbor. If the Spanish could destroy the Americans' supply line, he thought, they could force the enemy to withdraw. His fleet

commander, Admiral Cervera, disagreed. Attacking a force four times the size of his own seemed like suicide. Nevertheless, Cervera obeyed his orders, and in the hazy dawn the Spanish, led by the magnificent Maria Teresa, bravely steamed into battle.

15. The Americans were ready. Four first-class battleships (any one of them might have been a match for the whole Spanish fleet), two cruisers, and several smaller ships enclosed the mouth of the harbor in a half-circle. Tugboats filled with reporters scurried in their wake. The Oregon fired the first shot of the battle, and soon black smoke blurred the bay.

16. "It was a big turkey shoot," Seaman Cross of the Oregon said. "The Fleet came out and went to Davy Jones' locker."

17. By one o'clock the battle was over. The Spanish fleet was destroyed, and with it sank all hope of victory in Cuba. General Nelson Miles, the old Indian fighter, led a force to Puerto Rico. He conquered the island and its few Spanish defenders easily. In effect, the war was over.

18. Spain agreed to an armistice. In the four months of fighting, Americans had lost a total of 460 soldiers in battle. Compared to the Civil War, in which tens of thousands were often killed in a single day, these casualties seemed insignificant. "It's been a splendid little war," the ambassador to England wrote to his friend, Teddy Roosevelt.

19. Roosevelt returned, the hero of the war. Because of his heroism on Kettle Hill, he'd been nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor. His popularity swept him to the governorship of New York. Like Dewey before him, Roosevelt memorabilia filled shop windows. One of the more popular items was a cuddly stuffed animal wearing a bandana and glasses. People called it the "Teddy Bear."

g. How did expansion cause the Spanish American War?i. We were in the shipping lanes to protect our coaling bases.ii. We had a better navy and won against Spain.

IV. Annexation of Philippines a. Signed the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898.

b. The US originally had no interest in annexing the Philippines until Dewey’s victory. Business leaders began thinking of the commercial possibilities in the nearby continent of Asia. Oil for lamps of China and textiles for their people. Missionary yearned to save the “little brown brother.”

c. Possessions:i. Hawaii had been annexed during the war (1898). US also claimed Wake Island

and Puerto Rico (commonwealth) in 98 and in 99 agreed to partition the Samoan Island between Germy and the US.

d. Protectorates:i. Cuba 1898-1902

ii. Haiti 1915-34iii. Nicaragua 1912-25iv. Dominican Republic 1916-24

e. Democrats and Populists and some Republicans opposed the Treaty of Paris. Anti –imperialist argued that acquisition of the Philippines would undermine democracy. They saw the inconsistency in “liberating” Cuba and then taking over the Philippines and undermine the Monroe Doctrine. Too expensive to defend. Incorporating aliens into American life was also troubling.

f. William Jennings Bryan persuaded congress believing that the Treaty might be the first step towards Cuba and Philippines freedom and independence.

g. Ironically, American were clashing with the people on the Island. The Filipino rebel leader, Emilio Aguinaldo was brought back to make trouble for the Spanish under Dewey. The Philippines desired control of their island and clashed with Americans. Most collapsed by 1899 but sporadic guerrilla action lasted until mi-1902. Massacres and torture on both sides. The must be pacified, one American colonel boasted, in order make way for the “bandwagon of Anglo-Saxon progress and decency.”

h. Senator Beveridgei. “just beyond the Philippines are chin’s illimitable markets. We will not retreat

from either…The power that rules the Pacific is the power that rules the world. That power will forever be the American Republic.”

i. McKinley quickly moved to setting up a civil government. 1901, Taft became the civil governor. The Philippine Government Act, in 1902 make the Philippine Islands and “unorganized territory”. Independence finally occurred in 1946.

V. Annexation of Puerto Ricoa. 1900 the Foraker Act established a civil government on the island. b. Citizens of US in 1917.c. 1952 became a commonwealth with its own constitution and elected officials. Like a

state, Puerto Rico is free to change its constitution insofar as it does not conflict with the US constitution. Benefits of being a US citizen just without paying federal taxes.

VI. Annexation of Cubaa. After US restored order, started schools, and improved sanitary condition, they ban

turning over the reins of power to the Cubans.b. Platt Amendment of 1901

i. Retracted the new government’s independence.

ii. Couldn’t make treaties with another country iii. Maintain a level of debt that they could repay (so as to not get indebted to

another country)iv. Acknowledge the right of the US to intervene if Cuban’s liberty was threatened.v. Had to sell or lease to the US land to be used for coaling or naval stations

1. Guantanamo Bay which is still held by US today.VII. Anti-Imperialist League

a. United in 1899b. Andrew Carnegie (capitalist mogul), Samuel Gompers (socialist), William James

(pragmatist) all belongedVIII. China and the Open Door Policy

a. US and other European civilizations entered into China and created spheres of influence in the country. In China, they would create spheres of influence, spread Western ideas, eventually cause the Boxer Rebellion and inadvertently lead the people to overthrow the monarchy. Communism (Western idea) would be established.

b. After Matthew Perry opened Japan to Western ways in 1854, Japan began to flex its muscles. Japan defeated China’s empire in the Sino-Japanese War and as a result acquired the island of Taiwan (renamed Formosa). China’s weakness, demonstrated in the war, led Russia, England, France, and Germany to renew their scramble for “spheres of influence” on that imperialistic frontier.

c. The different powers possibly could erect tariffs in each sphere and not allow foreign goods to enter into their area-thus protecting the European’s trading of goods.

d. Britain and the US feared loss of trade in China and Britain urged them both to join into an agreement to protect China’s commercial and territorial integrity.

e. The State Department wanted to act alone however. In what was known as the Open Door Policy, it proclaimed a hands-off policy and to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis. None except Britain accepted the US’s policy but none rejected it either. It was rooted in the self-interest of American businessmen eager to exploit the markets of China. But also, tapped the deep-seated sympathies of those who opposed imperialism as it endorsed China’s territorial integrity.

f. However, the US did little to enforce the policy until 1941 when continual expansion from Japan brought war.

g. In 1900, a group of Chinese nationalists known to the Western world as Boxers rebelled against foreign involvement in China. The Boxers surrounded the foreign embassies in Beijing. (They were thought to possess special magical powers while they were boxing)

h. The present situation is becoming daily more difficult. The various Powers cast upon us looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other to be first to seize our innermost territories. . . . Should the strong enemies become aggressive and press us to consent to things we can never accept, we have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause. . . . If our . . . hundreds of millions of inhabitants . . . would prove their loyalty to their emperor and love of their

country, what is there to fear from any invader? Let us not think about making peace.In northern Shandong province, a devastating drought was pushing people to the edge of starvation. Few people there were thinking about making peace. A secret society, known as the Fists of Righteous Harmony, attracted thousands of followers. Foreigners called members of this society "Boxers" because they practiced martial arts. The Boxers also believed that they had a magical power, and that foreign bullets could not harm them. Millions of "spirit soldiers," they said, would soon rise from the dead and join their cause.Their cause, at first, was to overthrow the imperial Ch'ing government and expel all "foreign devils" from China. The crafty empress, however, saw a way to use the Boxers. Through her ministers, she began to encourage the Boxers. Soon a new slogan—"Support the Ch'ing; destroy the foreigner!"—appeared upon the Boxers' banner.In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers roamed the countryside. They attacked Christian missions, slaughtering foreign missionaries and Chinese converts. Then they moved toward the cities, attracting more and more followers as they came. Nervous foreign ministers insisted that the Chinese government stop the Boxers. From inside the Forbidden City, the empress told the diplomats that her troops would soon crush the "rebellion." Meanwhile, she did nothing as the Boxers entered the capital.Foreign diplomats, their families, and staff lived in a compound just outside the Forbidden City's walls in the heart of Beijing. Working together, they threw up hasty defenses, and with a small force of military personnel, they faced the Boxer onslaught. One American described the scene as 20,000 Boxers advanced in a solid mass and carried standards of red and white cloth. Their yells were deafening, while the roar of gongs, drums and horns sounded like thunder. . . . They waved their swords and stamped on the ground with their feet. They wore red turbans, sashes, and garters over blue cloth. [When] they were only twenty yards from our gate, . . . three volleys from the rifles of our sailors left more than fifty dead upon the ground.

The Boxers fell back but soon returned. Surrounded, the foreigners could neither escape nor send for help. For almost two months, they withstood fierce attacks and bombardment. Things began to look hopeless. Seventy-six defenders lay dead, and many more were wounded. Ammunition, food, and

medical supplies were almost gone. Then, shortly before dawn, loud explosions rocked the city. Weary defenders staggered to the barricades, expecting a final, overpowering Boxer attack. But as a column of armed men approached them, they began to cheer. Help had arrived at last.

After a month of no news from their diplomats, the foreign powers had grown worried. They assembled an international relief force of soldiers and sailors from eight countries. The United States, eager to rescue its ministers and to assert its presence in China, sent a contingent of 2,500 sailors and marines. After rescuing another besieged delegation in Tientsin, the international force marched to Beijing, fighting Boxers and imperial soldiers along the way.

The international troops looted the capital and even ransacked the Forbidden City. Disguised as a peasant, the empress dowager escaped the city in a cart. She returned to the Forbidden City a year later, but the power of the Ch'ing dynasty was destroyed forever.

Because it had participated in the campaign, the United States participated in the settlement that followed. Hay called for an expanded "Open Door," not only within the spheres of influence, but in all parts of China. He also recommended that the powers preserve China's territory and its government. Other powers agreed, and the Open Door policy allowed foreign access to China's market until World War II closed it once again.

The event was a large crisis as they attacked and murdered hundreds of European citizens and hundreds of peaceful missionaries. The powers of the British, German, Russian, Japanese, and American broke the rebellion and the US reinforced its policy.

IX. Roosevelt and his Big Stick Diplomacya. Election of 1900

i. Imperialism was the largest issue. Bryan (D) opposed and saw imperialism as directly opposed to American democracy. McKinley and Roosevelt disagreed. McKinley was re-nominated with Roosevelt as his mate.

ii. September 6, 1901 McKinley attended a reception at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz fired at point-blank range. He died six days later.

iii. Roosevelt was the youngest man ever to take charge of the White House.iv. He was a hard worker. His glittering spectacles, glistening teeth, along with his

captivating grin and overflowing gusto were a godsend to the cartoonists. He later added the idea of “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Roosevelt cast every issue n moral and patriotic terms.

v. He saw the presidency as his “bully pulpit.” He preached fist-smacking sermons on the virtues of honesty, civic duty, and the strenuous life to his national flock. However, he was cautious and in reference to foreign policy he was not impulsive. He would only get carried away, when “I am assured that I shall be able eventually to carry out my will by force.”

b. Latin America and the Panama Canali. After the Spanish-American War the US became more deeply involved than ever

in the Caribbean area, where on issue overshadowed every other: the Panama Canal.

ii. The narrow Isthmus of Panama had excited dreams of an interoceanic canal ever since Balboa’s crossing in 1513. After America’s victory over Spain, Secretary of State John Hay commenced talks with the British ambassador to gain Britain’s consent to an American plan to build a canal. These negotiations led to the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty of 1901 in which Britain gave US consent.

iii. A French company had spent nearly 300 million and sacrificed around 20,000 people to dig less than a third of a canal. The company offered to sell its holding to the US.

iv. US opened negotiation with the Ambassador from Colombia to build a canal across Panama. (Panama was a province of Colombia) In return the US agreed to pay 10 million and a rental fee of 250k a year. Columbia refused and held out for 25 million instead. This heightened the desire of the Panamanian rebels for independence. The French conspired with the rebels and informed the US of what the rebels intended to do. The US sent ships to block the Columbia shipping lanes. The Panamanians won. A couple weeks later Roosevelt and the New Panamanian ambassador signed a treaty extending the Canal Zone from six to ten miles in width and for 10 million down and 250,000 a year the US received occupation and control of the Canal Zone.

v. Roosevelt ordered army engineers to start digging. Thousands of workers sweated in the malarial heat. They tore up jungles and cut down mountains. Insects thrived in muddy, stagnant pools. "Mosquitoes get so thick you get a mouthful with every breath," a worker complained. The mosquitoes also carried yellow fever, and many fell victim to the deadly disease before Dr. William Gorgas found a way to stop it.

vi. Some Americans did not approve of Roosevelt's behavior. "There was much accusation about my having acted in an 'unconstitutional' manner," Teddy shrugged. "I took the isthmus, started the canal, and then left Congress—not to debate the canal, but to debate me. . . . While the debate goes on, the canal does too; and they are welcome to debate me as long as they wish, provided that we can go on with the canal."

vii. Work did go on. Despite lethal landslides, workers with dynamite and clumsy steam shovels cut their way across a continent. They built a railroad, three sets of concrete locks, and a huge artificial lake. Nine years later the freighter Ancon entered the new channel. Hundreds of construction workers hopped aboard for the historic ride. A shiny towing locomotive pulled the Ancon into the first lock. Bands played and crowds cheered as the ship slipped into the Pacific.

viii. Roosevelt liked to repeat an old African saying: "Speak softly, and carry a big stick. You will go far." In Panama, Teddy proved to the world that he was willing to use his big navy as a stick to further American interests.

ix. August 15, 1914 he canal opened-less than two weeks after the outbreak of World War I.

X. Roosevelt Corollarya. The US was concerned about the stability of Caribbean area especially with the activities

of hostile powers in the region. Some countries intervened in the Caribbean to force the payment of debts to other nations.

b. In 1904, a crisis in the Dominican Republic over its debts forced Roosevelt to add a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

i. Monroe Doctrine prohibited European intervention in the region. Since it prohibited intervention, the US could exercise an “international police power” in its own sphere of influence.

ii. Roosevelt installed a collector of customs in the Dominican Republic. It would apply a portion of the revenues to debt payments.

XI. Roosevelt’s Legacy in Latin America and President Taft

a. Between the end of the Spanish-American War and the dawn of the Great Depression, the United States sent troops to Latin American countries thirty-two times. It used the Roosevelt Corollary, or addition, to the Monroe Doctrine to justify intervention. In the corollary, Teddy Roosevelt proclaimed that the United States, because it was a "civilized nation," had the right to stop "chronic wrongdoing" throughout the Western Hemisphere.

b. "Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship," he said. "Chronic wrongdoing, however, may force the United States to exercise an international police power." Teddy didn't hesitate to use this "police power" to strengthen his country, but he was always careful not to upset the balance of world power.

c. William Howard Taft, former governor of the Philippines, followed Roosevelt into the White House. Taft believed in economic expansion, and he introduced

a policy called "dollar diplomacy." This policy used diplomacy to advance and protect American businesses in other countries. Taft employed Roosevelt's corollary in Nicaragua and other Latin American countries to protect American investments.

d. American businesses had been active in Nicaragua since the 1850s. The lush country attracted American fruit growers and mining companies. Others believed that Nicaragua offered the best site for a canal, and they invested in land. Cornelius Vanderbilt started a company that transported passengers between New York and San Francisco via the Nicaraguan jungle. Shortly after Commodore Perry opened Japan, Vanderbilt plotted to take control of Nicaragua.

e. With Vanderbilt's help, a young adventurer named William Walker set out with fifty-seven followers to conquer Nicaragua. A short, freckled man with sharp green eyes, Walker formed an alliance with a group of local rebels and defeated the Nicaraguan forces. He proclaimed himself "commander in chief," and soon thousands of Americans rushed into the country. Many Americans wanted the United States to assume direct control of Nicaragua. The government, however, was afraid to upset the fragile balance between "free" and "slave" territories.

f. Walker eventually quarreled with Vanderbilt about the transit company, and soon another revolution drove him from power. In 1860 Walker died before a firing squad. American economic involvement in Nicaragua lived on

g. Nicaraguans confidently expected the canal, and they gladly accepted loans and payments based on its eventual construction. By 1909 the United States-Nicaraguan Concession was largest American company in Nicaragua. That year the Concession's chief legal counsel, Philander C. Knox, resigned to become Taft's Secretary of State. When Nicaragua's ruler cancelled an agreement with one American business and threatened the Concession, the company organized another revolution. Adolfo Diaz, a Concession employee, became the new president. Taft quickly recognized the Diaz government.

h. When still another revolt threatened Diaz, Taft invoked the corollary and ordered American marines to suppress the rebellion. Then he and Knox worked out a plan to collect the money that Nicaragua owed to foreign investors. Under the plan, American banks took control of Nicaragua's customs collection. They applied the money they collected directly to the country's debt. The marines remained in Nicaragua's capital to serve as

"international police" and prevent any further revolts. Except for a short period in 1925, they stayed for 21 years.

i. The two decades that sandwiched the turning of the century enclosed a turning point in American history. Despite George Washington's advice to the contrary, the years saw American interests scatter across the globe. America had flexed its muscles, and the world had cowered. But the ease with which America gained its new possessions obscured the responsibilities that came with them. Dollar diplomacy would soon drag a reluctant America into the muddy trenches of the Western Front. The "Open Door" welcomed a series of squabbles that later erupted in a mushroom cloud. But few in that innocent era could foresee such extraordinary events. Most believed that America was simply following its natural order, its destiny.