The Imperial Republic

Chapter 20

“Progress” and Imperialism

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William Seward

• 1. Alaska (1860s)– –

• 2. Midway Islands (1867)

Stirrings of ImperialismThe New Manifest Destiny

– “closing of the frontier” Frederick Jackson Turner• •

– Increase of Foreign Trade• •

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– Increase of Foreign Trade» »

Senator Beveridgefrom Indiana

“We are raising more than we can consume. Today, we are making more than we can use. Therefore, we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital, new work for our labor.”

Imperialist fever in Europe

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge • “we must not fall out of line of the

march”

– Alfred T. Mahan and the importance of naval power

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Hemispheric Hegemony– Secretary of State James

Blaine expands Americas influence in Latin America•

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– Cleveland and a near war with Britain over boundary dispute with Venezuela

Hawaii• Pressure for American Presence

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• Lead-in History– – – – –

• Another Genocide– –

Hawaii Continued• American Impact

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• treaty of annexation tied up in party politics finally ratified: 1898

Samoan Islands• 1878 Hayes administration extracts treaty

from Samoan leaders giving them access to harbor at Pago Pago … and a hand in their dealings with other countries

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War With Spain

• Impact: changing American attitude from idea to fierce expression.

Controversy over Cuba– Cubans resisting Spanish

rule since 1868… battle for independence in which US does not intervene

– 1895 Cuba rises up again•

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Pulitzer vs. Hearst = Yellow Journalism

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Cuba Libre clubs

-Cleveland and McKinley: different attitudes towards war

-1897 Cuban insurrection loosing ground… looks as if war might be averted

Two events that changed everything• Dupuy de Lome wrote a letter that was

intercepted that called McKinley weak• American battleship Maine

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McKinley asks for Declaration of War April 25

“A Splendid Little War”– April to August 1898– “mopping up” exercise– Problems facing the American

Soldier•

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Seizing the Philippines– No agency in the American

military had clear authority over strategic planning (pre-Pentagon)

– Theodore Roosevelt• • • • Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt

Philippines Continued– On May 1 1898 Dewey sailed into Manila Bay

and completely destroyed the aging Spanish fleet

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– What had begun as a war to free Cuba was …

Battle for Cuba– hurried incompetence is the character of the US

invasion– Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

Cuba Continued– Spanish surrender

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– Terms of surrender• • •

Puerto Rico and the United States

– many rebellions against Spain during the 1800s– annexation takes place with little controversy in the

US–

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The Debate over the Philippines

– large and densely populated territory thousands of miles away

– McKinley claimed divine guidance for his decision to accept responsibility for the islands•

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Treaty of Paris 1898• Confirmed terms of the Armistice re: Cuba,

Guam and PR• •

Debate Continued

– Powerful anti-imperialist movement in the United States• • • • •

– Powerful pro-imperialist forces• • • •

Debate Continued

– “Uncivilized” Filipinos = status of American Indians•

– William Jennings Bryan surprise support backfires

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The Republic as Empire-Governing the Colonies

– Some “American Dependencies” presented little problems: Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico

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– Cuba was a problem•

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– Rebellion to “Yankee Imperialism”

The Philippine War– Results

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– American miscalculations• •

– Decision: more brutal• • • • •

– “Secure Possession”• Aguinaldo captured and signs treaty urging followers to stop fighting

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– Gradual autonomy• •

The Open Door

– China had long represented a major economic interest to western powers• •

– McKinley wants America to have trading power in China but wishes to avoid war

• “Asking only the open door for ourselves, we are ready to accord the open door to others”

The Open Door Continued– John Hay comes up with “Open Door Notes”

addressed to England, Germany, Russia, France, Japan and Italy and had three parts

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The Open Door Continued, Again– Some negative response to “Open Door”, but Jay asserts that its “final

and definitive”•

– Boxer Rebellion• •

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• McKinley and Hay use the Rebellion as a springboard for Open Door policy

Modern Military System– Spanish American War

demonstrated tremendous problems in American military

– McKinley appoints Elihu Root, a corporate lawyer from New York, to supervise military overhaul between 1900-1903

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