RISE OF AMERICAN POWER1890-1919
Imperialism
• Manifest Destiny was an idea that shaped America since the Louisiana Purchase. By this point the frontier has been discovered.
• “New” frontiers, beyond our borders, were being looked at.
• Growth of a powerful steam engine navy required ports to refuel
• Industrialization has made us a global trade partner with the need for foreign resources
Open Door Policy
• The United States negotiated with the Europeans to have an “open door” policy in China which we would have fair access to Chinese markets.
• The US was also responsible for ending Japanese isolation by negotiating the opening of 2 ports for US ships
• Japan’s friendship will go on to modernize with American help and become a global power in the region.
• By 1890 the US had important business interest in Hawaii, sugar plantations.
• To protect American sugar growers a tariff was placed on foreign sugar, hurting Hawaiian growers
• In 1893 the American growers assisted by the US Marines successfully overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy
• But President Cleveland refused to annex Hawaii with force
Spanish American War
• Underlying Causes:
• Economics- Spain increased taxes on Cubans, America placed a tariff on sugar from Cuba, Cuban was on verge of collapse
• Humanitarian- Many Americans sympathized with Cuban revolutionaries and the suffering of the people
• Expansionism- War was an opportunity to seize territory from Spain
Jingoism
• Super Patriotism and aggressive actions were brewing in America that created a warlike mood
• But there were also many underlying factors that were creating war for the Americans
Yellow Journalism
• William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World are competing for readers
• Both papers printed the most sensational stories and pictures about the horrors of the Cuban Revolution.
• Things were exaggerated and distorted for effect
The “De Lome Letter”
• A personal letter written by the Spanish minister, Enrique Dupuy de Lome, called President McKinley “weak and catering to the rabble”
• It will get printed in the New York Journal and the public outcry for war is immediate
Sinking of the Maine
• Less than a week after the letter is publish, the battleship Maine exploded and sank in the harbor of Havana Cuba
• 266 Americans died
• Public blames Spain and demands a declaration of war in 1898.
Fighting the Spanish American War
• War will last 4 months with 2,400 American soldiers dying
• Teddy Roosevelt will gain notoriety with the Rough Riders
Results of the War
• 1898 Treaty of Paris is negotiated with Spain:
• Cuba gains its independence
• US buys the Philippines for $20 million, and gave Puerto Rico and Guam
America in Latin America
• Monroe Doctrine of 1823:
• European nations are not allowed to interfere with the independence of Latin American countries
• The US uses this to basically threaten war against anyone who is involved in our hemisphere (stole Texas from Spain, Venezuela vs England)
• Roosevelt Corollary: President Roosevelt had his own interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. The United States has the right to step in “as a international police power”in the western hemisphere
“Speak softly but carry a big stick”
• Big Stick Policy: Roosevelt meant that the US would use peaceful methods to protect its interests, but would use military force if necessary
• Troops were sent to Nicaragua 1912-1933, Haiti 1915-1934, Dominican Republic 1916-1924
• Dollar Diplomacy: President Taft came up with the way to stabilize other countries was to increase US investment in foreign economies
Panama Canal
• 1901 the US gained the sole right to build a canal connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic as long as it was open to all
• TR wanted to build it across Panama but it was part of Colombia, and they were reluctant
• The US encouraged a revolution in Panama and once they gained independence they negotiated a 99 year lease
• Construction began in 1904 and finished in 1914
• Yellow fever and malaria caused delays as did trying to move 250 million cubic yards of soil
Pics of the Panama Canal