The United States: New Imperial Power?

When did U.S empire start?

• Westward expansion and “manifest destiny”?

• The Monroe Doctrine? [1823]

• Expansion beyond the continent?

• 1867: Alaska• 1875: Hawaii• 1899: Philippines, Guam,

PR, Cuba

The Monroe Doctrine1823

• A warning to European powers to stay out of the Western Hemisphere

• Became the justification for interventions in Central and South America

“Greater America”

“An American Lake”

1895-1941

The Spanish-American War1898-99

• U.S. supported anti-colonial efforts against Spain in PR and Cuba

• 1898 Maine exploded in Havana harbor

• U.S. defeated Spain and took control of PR, Cuba, Philippines, Guam

Teddy Roosevelt during theSpanish-American War

See RGH #24: “The March of the Flag”

Japan: from nearly colonized to colonizer

• Commodore Matthew Perry sent to Japan 1853

• Returned to Japan 1854

• Japan signed “unequal treaties” with the U.S., Britain, others

• 1868 samurai government fell “Revere the emperor, expel the barbarians.”

Commodore Matthew Perry

A gift from Perry

The “Black Ships”

The “Meiji Restoration”In thirty years, Japan• Industrialized

• Created a modern military

• Established a national education system

• Created a modern infrastructure

• “Modernized” politics and society

• “Westernization with anti-Western objectives.”

See RGH #31, #33, and #34 “Goodbye Asia”

Meiji Reforms“Civilization and Enlightenment”

• Abolish Shogun and Samurai

• New Land Tax system – private property

• Conscript Army – western weapons

• Education Reforms

• “Ye, our subjects, be filial to your parents. . .pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop your intellectual faculties. . .advance the public good, always respect the constitution. . .should any emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the propsperity of our Imperial Throne, coeval with heaven and earth.”

» Imperial Rescript (See RGH p. 195)

Meiji Constitution

• “a gift from the Emperor”• it “restored” the ancient form of Japanese

rule.• modeled on the German constitution• military had direct access to the Emperor,

could bypass parliament• all government measures would be

passed “on the basis of general opinion” by “men of ability”

Industrialization“Rich County, Strong Military”

• Characteristics– It was rapid – 40 years– Nationalistic goals – Strong government involvement– Strategic market share – 1/3 on defense,

railroads– Export-based – silk textile industry– “Yankee samurai” – Japan controls,

foreigners “on tap, not on top” – Zaibatsu (cartels) created– Communitarian capitalism

East Meets West

“Enlightened man”

“Half-enlightenedman”

“Unenlightenedman”

How the Japanese emperor got new clothes…

Meiji Emperor, 1860s

Meiji Emperor, 1872

East Meets West

“If one observes carefully what is going on in today’s world, one knows the futility of trying to prevent the onslaught of Western civilization. Why not float with them in the same ocean of civilization, sail the same waves, and enjoy the fruits and endeavors of civilization?” Fukuzawa Yukichi in “Goodbye Asia”

The Sino-Japanese War1895-96

• Japan went to war with China in Korea over influence over Korea

• Japan won:– Unequal treaty with

China

– Taiwan became Japan’s first colony

The Russo-Japanese War1904-05

• Japan went to war with Russia over Korea and Manchuria

• Japan won:– Influence in Manchuria– Korea became Japanese

colony

• The first Asian country to defeat a Western power

Asia by 1914….

Comparing China and Japan

• China was a larger “target” of colonizing efforts

• Japan was much smaller and able to unify itself against outside threat

• Japan’s emperor became a symbol of modernization; China’s became a symbol of backwardness

Anti-colonial nationalism

• National identity based on opposition to colonial rule

• “In almost all cases the leaders of [anti-colonial movements] were European-educated elites who absorbed Enlightenment values and then turned those values into an attack on European colonial rule in foreign lands.” TE

Ho Chi Minh

Gandhi