U.S. Imperialism

Factors for Imperialism•

• Source of raw materials• Need for foreign markets• Places to invest surplus capital

• ( )• Naval and trade bases• Other countries were colonizing

– British in Africa (Cape to Cairo, Bel in Congo, Fr. in Indochina, Rus. in China)

• • Spread American culture (democracy and Christianity especially)• Belief that spreading American ideas was good for other areas (International

Darwinism)• , just continued had been “closed”• Mahan: “look outward”

Supporters of Imperialism•

• Spread Christianity and Western civilization – Ex Josiah Strong: Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis

• Many Protestant faiths believed that it was their duty to spread their “superior” civilization (medicine, science, technology)

• • The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

– Strong navy was crucial to be a world power– Modern steel ships– Acquire overseas islands (Samoa) for coaling stations in Pacific and Caribbean– Build a canal in Central America

• • Adventure stories increased public interest in world affairs

• • Republicans especially had close ties to business

– Henry Cabot Lodge (MA) and Theodore Roosevelt (NY)

American Expansion

• Manifest Destiny resumed– started in 1840s continued after the Civil War/Reconstruction

• Expansionists looked (farther) west – the Pacific and Asia

Alfred Thayer Mahan

The Pacific could "be entered and controlled

only by a vigorous contest.”

Americans needed to turn their "eyes

outward, instead of inward only, to seek

the welfare of the country."

Matthew Perry

A Letter to an Emperor• Kayama Yezaimon, daimyo of Uraga, raced to the

battlement, the clash of the warning gong still ringing in his ears. Stopping beside the brass cannon that guarded the entrance of Edo Bay, he scanned the horizon. The summer sun flashed high above the blue Pacific, and beneath it four ships approached with the tide. As the ships sailed closer, the daimyo, his samurai, and their retainers watched in silent awe. Two huge steam frigates spouted thick black clouds as they maneuvered against the wind. With their paddle-wheels churning the water, the frigates came about, bringing their gun-decks to bear upon the shore defenses. Two sailing ships waited downwind in support. Bright signal flags fluttered from halyards.

• Kayama scowled. Through a telescope he studied the ships, which were well beyond the range of his small shore batteries. The ships bristled with cannon much more formidable than his own. Identical flags flapped at the stern of each vessel -- red and white stripes, with white stars on a patch of blue. Kayama barked out an order. A samurai ran forward and dropped to one knee. The daimyo instructed the samurai to ride to the castle of Abe Masahiro, and to inform the shogun that a barbarian fleet blocked the mouth of Edo Bay. From the Saratoga, Lieutenant John Goldsborough watched as dozens of Japanese galleys approached the American fleet. They were all fantastically decorated with flags and banners. They were propelled by from ten to twenty oars each with generally two or three men at each oar. None of the boats were permitted to come alongside any ship in the Squadron, though they all appeared quite anxious to go alongside the Flagship. Still none were permitted until we were fully convinced that a high officer was in one of the boats. Then he alone, with an interpreter who spoke Dutch, was allowed to come over the Susquehanna 's side.

• On board the Susquehanna, Commodore Perry's aide, Lieutenant Contee, informed the official that the Commodore carried a letter from the President of the United States to the Emperor of Japan. The Commodore intended to deliver the letter personally to an official representative. Since the Commodore was of the highest rank in the United States Navy, Contee said, he would meet only with a Japanese official of equal status.Two days later, Kayama Yezaimon visited the Susquehanna. He informed Captain Adams that the Americans must take their message to Nagasaki. Perry refused to meet with Kayama, but he wrote a message."The Commodore will not go to Nagasaki," Adams read. "If this friendly letter of the President to the Emperor is not received and duly replied to, he will consider his country insulted, and will not hold himself accountable for the consequences."

• After several more days of haggling, a suitable representative, "Prince“ Toda, arrived in Uraga. With cannon salutes and a marching band, Perry led a parade of marines to meet the Japanese delegation. He presented Toda with the president's letter, enclosed in a rosewood box trimmed with gold, and announced that he would return for the emperor's answer in the spring. Perry impressed the Japanese officials with his diplomacy and with the technological superiority of his ships and weapons. The Japanese shogunate decided to grant the minor trade concessions that President Fillmore asked for in his letter. Forming a treaty with the Americans, they reasoned, would prevent another European power from imposing even greater concessions. In February 1854, Perry returned to Edo with eight ships. He accepted the favorable reply to Fillmore's letter and visited several Japanese ports before beginning the long voyage home.

• His diplomatic mission had officially established the United States' presence in Asia. Still, the Americans never realized that they had been negotiating with a mere shogun. For the emperor to consult with barbarians was unthinkable.

Alaska• Secretary of State William

Seward• Russia and Great Britain

disputed the area• Russia proposed sale to US• 1867 purchased for $

million• 80,000 native Inuits and

Indians (today)• 1959 statehood