The Quest for Empire, 1865–1914

• What was the relationship between America’s economic interests abroad and the expansionist impulse of the late nineteenth century?

• What were the intellectual currents that encouraged Americans to believe that their country should be an Imperial Power?

Intellectual Currents 18th & 19th C

• Technological progress• Nationalism• Imperialism• Racism• Anglo Superiority• Social Darwinism• Manifest Destiny & Frontier mentality • Nativism• Capitalism• Rudyard Kipling’s White Man’s Burden

Identification’s• What are some examples of American foreign policy being

employed in the late 1800s and early 1900s?

– Bayonet Congress– Hawaiian and Queen Liliokalani Revolt– United States 1893 coup– Clayton-Bulwer Treaty– Foraker Act– Butcher Valeriano Weyler– Treaty of Paris– The Maine– Aguinaldo and the Filipino Anti-colonial Movement– Platt Amendment– John Hay’s Open Door Notes– Boxer Rebellion

Technology

• As an ideology in addition to economic development– Cultural changes observed by thinkers

• Self-renunciation in the pursuit of the accumulation of wealth• Lack of enjoyment, theater and learning for capital

• Profound impact on culture and race in America– Served as a metaphor and materialist basis for the

domination of• Mind over body• Capital over labor• Whites over Indians, Blacks, Mexicans, Asians

1830 technological Celebration

• America entered into a celebration of technology as an expression of its nationalism and progress

• President Jackson, 3 annual address– Praised science for expanding man’s power over

nature– Improving the mail system– Moving cities closer to each other in travel time– Opening lines of communication and trade to settlers

isolated by obstacles of nature

Celebration of Technology• Technology would serve to destroy “The traces

of savage life”– Like the Indians, the horse would disappear, they

would become traditional• It would transform production and labor in

America– Promise to free laborers from work…

• Instead it deprived work of interest & creativity• Maximized the amount of time worked• Degraded labor• Did not eliminate the body from laboring• It separated the intellectual power of production from manual

labor

Westward Expansion

• Manifest Destiny viewed in terms of technological progress

• Southern Quarterly Review, 1828– They could “perceive neither justice, nor

wisdom, nor humanity in arresting the progress of order and science, that unproductive and barren wastes may be reserved for the roaming barbarian”

New Imperial Vision

• Integrated science with expansion– “Science is steadily penetrating the

recesses of nature and disclosing her secrets while the ingenuity of free minds is subjecting the elements to the power of man and making each new conquest auxiliary to his comfort”

– American identity developed with the movement westward, toward Asia

• Desire to open doors to Asia

Senator Thomas Hart Benton• Personified West & its expansionist spirit

– While the “yellow” race was far above the “Black” and the “red” races, it was still far below the “White” and like all the rest “must receive an impression from the superior race whenever they come into contact”

– Adams sons, the White race alone received the “divine command, to subdue and replenish the earth”

– White developed religion, art, and science, destroying “savagery” and “savages” in America as they advanced civilization.

• Capital replaced the wigwam• White matrons replaced red squaws• Christian people replaced savages

Nationalism

• Political force at the turn of the century 19th C– A learned emotional loyalty that individuals

direct toward a group with which they perceive common bonds

• Provides members a sense of membership & belonging

• Nurtured by common bonds: language, religion, social & institutional traditions, territory, history

– History might be glorified or even a new one constructed and imagined to perpetuate nationalism and unity

United States

• Heterogeneous population of the United States• Nationalism complex & contradictory

– Traditional doctrine of an ethnic and religious “melting pot” whose citizens gave primary allegiance to the concepts of economic opportunity and political democracy

– Cultural tradition reflected values and prejudices of the politically & economically powerful persons descended from ethnic groups in Northern Europe

• Predominately Anglo (Germanic tribes) Saxon Protestants

Imperialism• The process by which a small number of

industrial nations extended their economic and political control over much of the rest of the world– The main driving force in international relations at the

turn of the century• Fueled by Nationalism

– Engendered in many countries a relentless urge to compete with other nations to become the most powerful in the world

– Special interest groups often encouraged national governments to extend their influence abroad

Strategic Imperialism

• Concern for control of key Waterways, ports, military outposts– U.S. control of Hawaii for example– U.S. creation of Panama to maintain control of

the Panama Canal

Cultural Imperialism

• Motive, rationalization, result• Basis of alleged natural superiority of the

white race, westerners argued that it was the “White Man’s Burden” to bring the benefits of “Superior” western civilization– technology,– Religion– Institutions

• To “inferior” non-whites of the world living in “darkness and ignorance”

Christian Missionary zeal

• Another manifestation of cultural imperialism– The flag follows the cross– Missionaries from America sought to impose

Christianity on non-Christian peoples around the world

• Missionaries would come into conflict with local peoples

• Imperial powers would send in military forces to protect the missionaries

Herbert Spencer & Social Darwinism

• Argued biological evolution, involving competition, elimination of the weak, and “survival of the fittest” should be applied to competition among cultures, nations and peoples– It was right or “natural” for “strong, superior

cultures” to control or even to eliminate “weaker, inferior cultures.”

United States Imperialism

• Not a significant military or diplomatic force in the 1889– Army: 25,000 men– Navy: sails and wooden vessels

• Census Bureau announced the official closing of the “frontier” in 1890– Business people & farmers were concerned

with ability of domestic markets to absorb output and increase revenues

Foreign Policy Elite

• Argued

– US prosperity & security required expansion overseas & global activity

– Asserted foreign trade & investments = profit

• Relieved farm/factory overproduction (1890s depression)

Interventionists• The most important groups who became

interested in extending America’s influence abroad

 • Protestant missionaries• Businessmen/Capitalists• Imperialists 

Imperialistic Designs• Imperialists desire to control ports, and

territories beyond their own borders.  • -         to catch up with other nations

• Europe’s division of Africa complete by 1912• -         build a strong navy• -         Solidify a sphere of influence• -         External markets into Asia

Foreign Trade Expansion

• Economic Growth:– Exports & investments abroad surged

• USA achieved favorable balance of trade (1874)• Most US exports to England, Europe, Canada• Trade w/ Latin America & Asia also increased

– Farmers & some manufacturers (Singer) depended on exports

• 1913: factory exports surpassed farm exports for first time

Race Thinking & Male Ethos • Many intertwined

ideas encouraged empire

– Nationalism, Capitalism, Social Darwinism, & prejudice

• Imperialists asserted racial hierarchy w/ Anglo-Saxons on top

• “Might Makes it Right”

New Frontiers • Protestant clergyman, Josiah Strong’s Our

Country: It’s Possible Future and its present Crisis (1885)– celebrated divine Anglo-Saxon mission to lead world– “God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the

Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the world’s future”

• Author, John Fiske – lecture circuit on Manifest Destiny– Predicted “every land on the earth’s surface” that was not

already civilized would become “English in its language, in its religion, in political habits and traditions, and to a predominant extent in the blood of its people”

Race Thinking & Male Ethos

• National Geographic (1888) stereotyped foreign peoples as uncivilized; same w/ fairs

• Ethnocentrism/ paternalism shaped imperialism

• US culture superior; dark skinned foreigners = “children”

• Such ideas rationalized domination of others

Mahan and Navalism• Major factor of Imperialism

• “blue water” navy to protect foreign trade

• foreign bases to protect trade• Power derived from control of the

seas• Mahan’s Influence of Sea Power

Upon History, 1890, influences other countries

• 1880s: USA build new steel & steam navy

– 4 steel ships– 1890 congress appropriated funds for

3 battleships

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)• Secretary of State James G. Blaine, under the Garfield

Administration– Promoted American expansion throughout the western

hemisphere• Wanted to renegotiate the treaty to give the U.S. control over any

canal across Central America• Originally with Britain, prohibited both nations from exercising

exclusive control over any future waterway– 1552, King Charles of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire First

suggested it be built– exploring expedition of 1788-1793 Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans

for its construction – Construction begun by France in 1880– Completed and opened by the United States in 1912

– He wanted to create Pan-American system that would promote stability & security in Caribbean & South America

Pan-Americanism

• International Bureau of the American Republics became the Pan-American Union in 1910– Laid the foundation for sharing of ideas and

information throughout the western hemisphere– it offered technical and informational services to all

the American republics, served as the repository for international documents, and was responsible through subsidiary councils for the furtherance of economic, social, juridical, and cultural relations.

Annexation of Hawai‘i• US missionaries, businessmen, & navy see

Hawai‘i as base for profit & expansion – 1820’s Boston Missionaries – sugar planters– 1875 (Sugar) duty free entry into American Market– 1887 U.S. Naval rights in Pearl Harbor– 1887 “Bayonet Congress” and “Bayonet Constitution”

of King Kalakaua• While attempting to create a Polynesian confederation• Business men or the “missionary party” forced Kalakaua into

signing a provisional government that allowed for foreign control of the government and economy

Queen Liliokalani Revolt

• 1892, the Hawaiian Legislature and Queen argued over the presence and role of foreigners in the country

• She dismissed the legislature• Established a constitution that stripped

white settlers of the powers enjoyed under the previous institutions

United States Coup, 1893

• White planters & businessmen favored annexation of Hawaii

• Stage coup of Queen (’93) w/ help of US diplomats/navy – McKinley Tariff 1890 canceled Hawaii’s

favored access to American Markets

• Queen Liliokalani took over

and strove to establish independence. – 5-6 princes of various royal

families mysteriously died• Princess Kaiulani died at age

24 

 • Kauananakoa - Today

LilioKalani

• "I yield to the superior force of the United States of America, whose minister, his Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused United States troops to be landed at Honolulu. ... Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do, under this protest, and impelled by said force, yield my authority until such time as the government of the United States shall undo the action of its representative and reinstate me."

President Grover Cleveland• Dec. 18, 1893, he briefed Congress on his findings: • "By an act of war, committed with the

participation of a diplomatic representative of the United States and without authority of Congress, the government of a feeble but friendly and confiding people has been overthrown," Cleveland said. "A substantial wrong has thus been done, which a due regard for our national character, as well as the rights of the injured people, requires we should endeavor to repair."

Puck & Judge, 1897“Another Shotgun Wedding”

• A woman (Hawai'i) and Uncle Sam are getting married, kneeling before the minister (McKinley) who is reading from a book entitled "Annexation Policy". The bride seems ready to bolt. Behind the couple stands Morgan (jingo) with a shotgun.

Annexed in 1898 – President McKinley

Jingoism• Describes chauvinistic

patriotism, usually with a hawkish political stance. In plain language it means bullying other countries, or, using whatever means necessary to safeguard a country's national interests.

• Xenophobia “10,000 miles from tip to tip” political Cartoon from 1898

Revolution in Cuba (1895)• 1868 Cubans launch guerrilla war; many

die & much destruction of US property, but weaken Spain

• “Butcher” Valeriano Weyler – 200,000 - concentration camps– 1/8 of population died of starvation and

disease

• Americans sympathize w/ rebels

Resistance Movement 29 years

 • Liberation Movement continued through

1897 – Cuba demanded full independence

• Riots broke out in Havana– McKinley ordered the Battleship Maine into

Havana Harbor to protect US citizens and their property.

 

United States Intervention

• Excuse– Explosion of Maine– (Feb., 1898)

• Motives– “humanitarian”– secure US property /trade– opportunity for US expansion/ empire

Conditions to Avoid War • United States conditions to Spain to avoid war

– Abandoning the concentration camps– End fighting of resistance– Commit Cuba to independence.

 

• American superior navy– Took Cuba, Philippines, Puerto Rico

 

Changing American Opinion

• Cuban revolutionaries • initially intelligent, civilized, and democratic while

possessing an Anglo-Saxon tenacity of purpose.  

• Opinion changed • Primitive, Savage and incapable of self control or

self government. • White Man’s Burden

Treaty of Paris (1898)o Cede Puerto Rico and Guam to the USo & Philippines in exchange for 20 million   

Anti-Imperialist Arguments

• Imperialism and empire building, whether through formal or informal methods violates principles of the United States– formal (annexation) – informal (economic control)

• racist arguments (fear nonwhite immigration); labor unions fear competition

Imperialist Arguments

• Taking Philippines – boost US trade w/ China

• Competition w/other Empires

• “white man’s burden”

Intellectual Currents

• Social Darwinism– Herbert Spencer

• Darwin’s theory of biological evolution applied to competition among cultures, nations, people

• White Mans Burden– Rudyard Kipling

• Anglo Saxon Movement– Woodrow Wilson– Kaiser Wilhelm II

• Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait, in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child..."

• Rudyard Kipling -  McClure's Magazine 12 (Feb. 1899).

• Take up the White Man's burden-- Send forth the best ye breed-- Go, bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait, in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild-- Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child..."

• Rudyard Kipling -  McClure's Magazine 12 (Feb. 1899).

Intellectual Challenges• Edward Wilmot Blyden • Black Spokesman• His life’s work to dispel

superiority and inferiority myths

• To include Africa in Geopolitics– Black Nationalism & pan-

Africanism– The African Personality– Place of Islam and Arabic

in Africa• Pan-Africanism

1832 – 1912West IndianLiberian Statesman & Ideologue

Intellectual Challenges to Western Cultural Imperialism

• Sociologist, Lester Frank Ward– Dynamic Sociology (1883)

• Criticized social Darwinism• Argued the conservative social scientists

responsible for Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer & William Graham Sumner wrongly applied evolutionary theory to human affairs

• Confused organic evolution with social evolution

Philippine Insurrection and Pacification

• Emilio Aguinaldo, Leader of the Filipino Anti-colonial Movement– The Filipino people rose in revolt against

the US army of occupation February 6, 1899

• USA crushed most resistance by 1902– war continued in south– 5,000 Americans die– 200,000 Filipinos die

• Controlled Philippines via education (create pro-US elite), censorship, economic links

America’s Philippines• concentration camps•   houses, farms and livestock

destroyed• economy destroyed – starvation• 16,000 rebels• 200,000 civilians deals • New York infantry killed 1,000

men, women, and children in retaliation for the death of one soldier.  

Colony to “Protectorate”

In 1900 General Arthur Macarthur – amnesty to those who agreed to surrender and he

cultivate ties with the wealthy elites– Wm Howard Taft to establish civilian government

became the colonies first governor-general.

 • By 1913 the revolt was crushed • US held the Philippines as a colony until 1946

Cuba

• 1901 Platt Amendment

• Conditions for Cuban independence

– could not make treaties with foreign powers– US would maintain broad authority to intervene in economic and

political affairs– had to sell or lease lands to US for Naval Stations

 • US invested heavily there and intervened in political and

economic affairs to protect those investments and reap the wealth (5x 1906-1921)

 

Puerto Rico

Annexed under the Foraker Act 1900– “unincorporated territory”

• no citizenship• congress would dictate the government and

specify the rights of inhabitants throughout the 20th century

• Large scale sugar production by U.S. business• Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

– Under domination of US capital “poverty was wide spread and hunger, almost to the verge of starvation , common”

Open Door in China

• Imperialist powers (Europe/ Japan) carved weak China into “spheres of influence”

• Secretary of State, John Hay “Open Door notes”– “Open Door” US policy goals in China

• Equal trade opportunities• Open spheres of influence to U.S. Merchants• Grant reasonable harbor fees and Rail Road Rates

China’s Resistance • Boxer Rebellion – 1900

– Righteous and Harmonious Fists

• Goal to expel all foreign influences

• Imperial coalition of expeditionary forces crushed rebellion– included 5,000 Americans

Obstacles in Keeping the Peace• Roosevelt encouraged Japan to build a

secure sphere of influence in East Asia and to maintain peace with the US.

• Obstacles – Racism and fear of Asian immigrants.– Chinese Exclusion Act 1882– Segregation of Japanese school children

• 1907 anti-Asian riots (San Francisco & L.A) – The “Yellow Peril.”

Speak Softly, Carry a Big Stick

• Roosevelt - skilled diplomat in foreign policy– When to make concessions and when to

stand firm– Lessened the prospect of war – Preserved strong American presence in the

east• A Show of strength - “Great white fleet”

Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”

• “Substitute dollars for Bullets” promote private American investments abroad– Increase American power and influence in the

Caribbean and tied underdeveloped countries to the US economically and strategically

– Failed to improve conditions for Latin Americans • Military intervention and imposition of United

States Interests– Nicaragua– Caribbean

Nicaragua

• Progressive Nicaragua President, Jose Zelaya – President 1893 – 1909

• Public education, RR and steam ship lines

– began negotiating with a European country to build a second trans isthmus canal

• In Response, U.S. Marines toppled his regime. • United States maintained military presence for

at least 20 years

Wilson’s Foreign Policy• Democrat Woodrow Wilson took office in 1913• “Would never again seek one additional foot of

territory by conquest” but would instead promote “human rights, national integrity and opportunity in Latin America”

• Wilson intervened militarily in the Caribbean on behalf of economic interests more than any other president before him– Haiti– Dominican Republic– Cuba

1. Compared to RivalsBetween 1870-1900

foreign policy judged against 2 standards

• 1. Compared to the actions of other rival powers

• 2. American Ideals

Unites States added 125,000 miles to its empire (not including the

nearly 4 million taken from Native peoples)United States 4.2+ millionGreat Britain 4.7 million France 3.5 millionGermany 1 million

2. American Ideals

• Imperialism and Colonialism

– Violated democratic ideals of America– By demeaning people of it’s colonies it

mocked the Declaration of Independence• “all men are created equal…with unalienable

rights”• Abandoned claim of being a nation that valued

liberty more than power