Chapter 27 Empire and Expansion, 1890-1909 In the years after the ...

Chapter 27
Empire and Expansion, 1890-1909
In the years after the Civil War the US was so absorbed in her own growth and problems that she
took little interest in the rest of the world. But by the end of the century the country would abandon its
anti-colonial stand to enter the age of empire.
America Turns Outward
1. Expanding production turned the eyes of industrialists and farmers to overseas markets.
2. Overseas markets could be a safety value for labor violence and agrarian unrest by providing
prosperity.
3. The “yellow press” of Pulitzer and Hearst made people see the world as adventurous and manly.
4. Rev. Josiah Strong’s book Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis created the zeal
to spread Christianity and American values.
5. Darwin led aggressive Americans (TR and HCL) to believe the strong should control the world.
6. Regions of Africa were colonized by Europeans and China came under the very strong influence
of other nations.
7. Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan’s book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1873 led to
a steel navy race among the major nations who believed his theory that control of the sea equaled
world dominance.
8. Americans wanted a stronger navy and an American built Panama Canal.
9. Sec. of St. (for both Garfield and Harrison) James G. Blaine’s Big Sister Policy aimed to make the
US the leader of Latin American countries and a major trade partner. His work led to the 1 st Pan
American Conference (DC-1889) which began an increasingly important set of conferences.
10. In the 1880’s and 90’s the US was involved in several crises and near wars with Germany, Italy,
Chile, Canada and Britain
11. Britain and Venezuela disagreed over the border between Venezuela and British Guiana, and
Venezuela wanted to arbitrate the problem.
12. Cleveland and Sec. of State Richard Olney sent a message to Britain telling them they were going
against the Monroe Doctrine and should arbitrate.
13. Britain saw it as another twist of the lion’s tail and took 4 mo. to respond. They said it was their
business not ours (Monroe Doctrine didn’t apply), and they weren’t going to arbitrate.
14. Cleveland asked Congress to set up a panel of experts to draw the border. He implied the Br. could
accept it or fight the US.
15. War hysteria swept the country even though the Br. navy was for stronger than that of the US.
16. Br. didn’t really want to fight (Canada vulnerable, merchant marine losses, Euro. Countries being
unfriendly) and they were at odds with Germany over the Kaiser’s support of the Boers
(descendants of Dutch settlers) in S. Africa.
17. Br. decide to arbitrate and war is deflected. (Br. got most of their claim)
18. Results of this for America were positive.
- Monroe Doctrine stronger
- Cleveland’s claim to US dominion in W. Hemis. stuck
- Many Lat Amer. Countries happy that we would help the area
- Britain decided they had enough enemies and needed to be friends: ending twisting the lion’s
tail and beginning the Great Reapproachment.
Spurning the Hawaiian Pear
1. After Hawaii’s discovery by James Cook the islands became a place of R and R for ships, sailors,
and whalers. Their tales brought New England missionaries whose children grew up to become
entrepreneurs and plantation owners on the islands.

2. Americans began to view Hawaii as a part of the US and warned other powers away. We made a
commercial reciprocity treaty in 1875 and in 1887 we got the right to use Pearl Harbor.
3. The McKinley Tariff put duties on Hawaiian sugar in the US which upset the white planters. Since
they were mostly Americans they decided to get Hawaii annexed to the US so there would be no
tariff.
4. They created a rebellion and had US Marines assist in putting it down. Then a treaty of annexation
was sent to DC. Cleveland, who felt the US was in the wrong, withdrew the treaty and sent a fact
finder.
5. Cleveland refused to allow the annexation but could not put Queen Lili back on the throne without
sending an army. (Amer. Public would have had a fit.)
6. The situation set off out 1 st full fledged imperialistic debate.
Cubans Rise in Revolt
1. Cubans rise against Spanish governors (again) in 1895.
2. Much of the problem was economic. The 1894 tariff was lessening the demand for Cuban sugar
3. The insurrectos burned canfields and sugar mills hoping to drive Spain out or pull the US in to
help them.
4. Americans were sympathetic to their fight for freedom, were aware of the effects of the rebellion
on US and Cuban investments and trade, and were concerned about how Spain’s control of Cuba
could hurt shipping and a Central American Canal.
5. Spanish sent General Weyler (Butcher), who used cruel methods and reconcentration camps to
keep the populace from helping the rebels.
6. Americans wanted Cleveland to recognize the rebels but as an anti-jingoist/ anti-imperialist he
vowed not to send the troops if Congress declared war.
7. Hearst and Pulitzer were in duel for circulation and their papers tried to out scoop each other in
reporting atrocities. Small papers followed in their footsteps. Americans are made even more irate.
8. Spain recalled Weyler and discussed giving the Cubans some self-rule. Spaniards in Cuba were so
upset by the idea that they rioted.
9. DC sent the battleship Maine to Cuba to protect and evacuate Americans if necessary.
10. Hearst printed a private letter from Sp. Minister to the US Dupuy de Lome. He called McKinley
an ear- to- the- ground politician who couldn’t be trusted. Americans so upset de Lome had to
resign.
11. 260 men died when the Maine blew up in Havana Harbor.
12. The US and Spain both investigated. Spanish felt it was the result of an internal accident. The US
said the ship had been mined.
13. The Sp. Offer to arbitrate but the US refused
14. In 1976 a US admiral determines the explosion probably was an accident
15. US becomes war mad and their battle cry is “Remember the Maine!”
16. American diplomats had gained Sp. agreement to end the reconcentration camps and to sign an
armistice with the rebels.
17. McKinley, Hanna and Wall Street did not want war, but the public (due to “Yellow Journalism”
and the prodding of Cuban exiles in the states) did.
18. McKinley didn’t really expect the Spanish to follow through on promises they had made before,
he believed in the rule of the people, and he didn’t want to give the Democrats election fodder, so
on 4/11/1898 he sent Congress a war message.
19. The legislature declared war and passed the Teller Amendment proclaiming that when the US had
overthrown Spain they would give Cuba her freedom.

Dewey’s May Day Victory at Manila
1. Americans went to war with great enthusiasm.
2. The US Army was commanded by Civil War officers and unprepared for war in the tropics and
vastly outnumbered by the Sp. Army in Cuba. Sp. Navy seemed to be better than the US’s and
except for Br. (now more a US ally) Europe favored Sp.
3. As Under Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt took advantage of the secretary’s absence to
cable Commodore George Dewey, who was commanding the Asiatic Squadron in Hong Kong,
telling him to attack the Philippines if war started. McKinley later confirmed the order.
4. On 5/1/98 Dewey sailed into Manila Bay and attacked the antiquated Sp. Fleet. The Sp. lost the
battle and almost 400 men (No US sailors died.).
5. Dewey had defeated the Sp. Navy, but he couldn’t take Manila, so he had to wait for troops from
the US.
6. Other countries sent warships to “protect their nationals” in the Philippines. Dewey almost went to
war with Germany, but the Br. were friendly.
7. Troops finally arrived and Americans worked with Filipino insurgents led by Emilio Aguinaldo,
who had been brought from exile by Dewey, to defeat the Sp.
8. Events in the Philippines made America convinced that they needed Hawaii as a coaling station.
Hawaii was willing to cooperate, America wanted Hawaii, and Congress annexed it.
9. Hawaiians became citizens in a US territory.
The Confused Invasion of Cuba
1. Despite his protests that his fleet would be destroyed, Sp. ordered Admiral Cervera to take his
ships to Cuba.
2. Americans on the Eastern seaboard expected to be invaded and panicked.
3. Cervera sailed in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba and was bottled up by the American fleet.
4. US government decided to send an unprepared army across Cuba to drive Cervera out.
5. Theodore Roosevelt was the principal organizer of a group of cowboys, hearty characters, ex-polo
players, and ex-convicts who were led by Leonard Wood. They became known as the Rough
Riders
6. In June 1898 amid much chaos the army sailed from Tampa and landed near Santiago.
7. Fighting occurred on July 1 between the US and Sp. troops. The Rough Riders were very involved
and TR evidently thought it was great fun!
Curtains for Spain in America
1. As the American army closed in from the rear, a protesting Admiral Cervera was ordered to fight.
As he expected his fleet was destroyed, (500 Sp. Deaths to 1 American)
2. Soon after the naval loss Santiago surrendered.
3. American troops headed to PR where most of the people greeted them as liberating heroes
4. On August 12, 1898 Spain and the US signed an armistice
5. The American Army was laid low by malaria, typhoid, dysentery, yellow fever, and embalmed
beef.
6. With TR as a ringleader demands were made to pull out the troops and they were transferred to
Long Island, NY ending the “Splendid Little War.”
7. A scandal of the war was the death rate from disease; especially typhoid which was rampant in the
unsanitary camps
America’s Course (Curse) of Empire
1. The 1898 meeting between the US and Spain in Paris decided that Cuba was free that America got
Guam and Puerto Rico, and that (after much soul searching by McKinley on the pros-spread

Christianity, profit from trade: and cons- can’t give back to Spanish misrule can’t abandon and
have some else take the over) the US would pay Spain 20 m. for the Philippines (Spain was
disputing over US right to take the Philippines because she felt it was not a spoil of war since
Manila was captured after the armistice was signed.)
2. The signing of the Pact of Paris created furious debate in the US. With the exceptions of Hawaii,
Alaska. And a few small Pacific Islands we had only taken over contiguous land in North
America. Now we had taken on a far away people with a very different culture.
3. The Anti-Imperialist League which was fighting this annexation included many prominent
citizens. They argue that it was against our beliefs, that it was despotic and could lead to
despotism at home, and it would involve the US in the problems of the Far East.
4. The expansionist/imperialists appealed to patriotism and the desire for profits. They said it was
America’s duty to uplift (and exploit) the poorer people of the world.
5. Senate opposition to the treaty was very strong and it looked like it would fail until W.J Bryan
supported it. He wanted to use Republican imperialism as a campaign issue in 1900.
6. Bryan argued that we needed to officially end the war and that since we already had them on our
hands we should accept them so we could set them free sooner. He got Democrats to vote for the
treaty and it passed.
Perplexities in Puerto Rico and Cuba
1. Puerto Rico’s population grew faster than its economy and the country was poor (as a result).
2. The US passed the Foraker Act of 1900 which gave PR a limited amount of popular government.
In1917, PR’s were given US citizenship.
3. The US was responsible for many internal improvements in PR, but many of the people wanted
their freedom.
4. The question, “Does the Constitution follow the flag?” arose. Did US laws and rights fully apply
in new territory?
5. In a series of cases (The Insular Cases) which began in 1901 a divided Supreme Court decided that
the answer was no. PR and the Philippines while ruled by the US did not have all US rights.
6. Under the leadership of Rough Rider Wood many political and social improvements were made in
Cuba (including the wiping out of yellow fever as a results of discoveries made by Dr. Walter
Reed- a boon to the S. and Atlantic seaboard regions of the US too).
7. The US honored the Teller Amendment and withdrew from Cuba in 1902
8. Using US concern for Cuba’s vulnerability, the Cubans were forced to write into their 1901
constitution the Platt Amendment.
9. Under the Platt Amendment Cuba’s government bound themselves not to endanger their
independence through treaty or indebtedness. They gave the US the right to do military
intervention to restore order and to provide mutual protection. Finally they promised to sell/lease
coaling/ naval stations to the US. We ended up with Guantanamo Bay as a result.(They can only
get it back if both the US and Cuba agree.)
New Horizons in Two Hemispheres
1. The Spanish-American War let the world know that the US was a world power.
2. Sp. Amer War= Splendid Little War because it was short, low in causalities, successful. Our world
prestige rose and Europeans were more respectful of the US.
3. A negative result for the US- it increased our indifference to our unpreparedness
4. As shown by US’s enthusiasm for things like John Philip Sousa’s marches the war increased
national pride and cockiness.
5. Enthusiasms made it easier to become imperialistic.
6. Latin America became suspicious of US greed.

7. Taking on the Philippines made the US a Far Eastern power and created the problem of defending
the islands and America wasn’t willing to do so.
8. The war supported Mahan’s big-navyism, and American pride in the navy’s accomplishments
created public support for more and better battleships.
9. Elihu Root became secretary of war. He did reorganizations by establishing a general staff and a
war college. These changes were helpful in WWI. Fighting together helped heal the rift that still
existed as a result of the division of the states in the Civil War.
"Little Brown Brothers" in the Philippines
1. Filipinos assumed that they would be granted their freedom after the Spanish-American War, just
like the Cubans. But, the U.S. excluded them from peace negotiations from Spain and intended to
stay in the Philippines indefinitely.
2. On February 4, 1899, the Filipinos erupted in rebellion led by Emilio Aguinaldo.
3. American soldiers as well as Filipino guerillas resorted to brutal fighting tactics and guerilla
warfare. Despite it’s noble ideals, the U.S. resorted to torture such as the “water cure” for
information out of prisoners; rivaled the atrocities of “Butcher” Weyler in Cuba.
4. The backbone of the Filipino rebellion was broken in 1901 when American soldiers captured
Emilio Aguinaldo.
5. William H. Taft, who referred to the Filipinos to "little brown brothers," became governor of the
Philippines in 1901.
6. President McKinley's plan of "benevolent assimilation" of the Filipinos was very slow and
involved improving roads, sanitation, and public health. The plan developed economic ties and set
a school system with English as the 2 nd language. It was ill received by the Filipinos who
preferred liberty over assimilation.
7. The Filipinos finally received freedom July 4, 1946 (after WWII had ended).
Hinging the Open Door in China
1. Following China's defeat by Japan in 1894-1895, Russia and Germany moved into China.
2. The American public was worried. Churches were concerned about their missionaries and
merchants feared that Chinese markets would be monopolized by Europeans. The public
demanded that the U.S. government do something.
3. Secretary of State John Hay dispatched to all the great powers a communication known as the
Open Door note. He urged the powers to announce that in their leaseholds or spheres of influence
they would respect certain Chinese rights and the ideal of fair competition.
4. All the great powers eventually accepted it except for Russia (who wanted Manchuria).
5. The Chinese did not care to be used by the West and in 1900, a super-patriotic group in China
known as the "Boxers" killed hundreds of foreigners. A multinational rescue force came in and
stopped the Boxer rebellion.
6. After the failed rebellion, the allied invaders assessed China an indemnity of $333 million, of
which US was to get $24.5 million. U.S. didn’t need that much to pay for damages and expenses
so it gave back $18 million to be used for education of Chinese students in the U.S. (an attempt to
further westernize Asia).
7. Secretary Hay declared in 1900 that the Open Door would embrace the territorial integrity of
China as well as its commercial integrity. This was eventually written into the Nine Powers
Treaty of 1922 but was broken by Japan when they conquered Manchuria in the ‘30s.
Imperialism or Bryanism in 1900?
1. President McKinley was the Republican presidential nominee for the election of 1900 because he
had led the country through a war, acquired rich real estate, established the gold standard, and
brought prosperity to the nation.

2. Theodore Roosevelt was nominated as the vice president after the political bosses of New York
(where Roosevelt was governor) found it hard to continue their "businesses" with the headstrong
governor. They wanted Roosevelt elected as vice president so that Roosevelt would no longer
pose an authority problem to the political bosses at the local/state level.
3. William Jennings Bryan was the Democratic presidential candidate for the election. Bryan and the
Democratic Party supported the silver standard and anti-imperialism. They proclaimed that the
paramount election issue was Republican overseas imperialism.
4. McKinley campaigned from his porch (again). Bryon traveled for his campaign, charging that
McKinley had enslaved 7 million Filipinos. TR outdid even Bryan, and the Republican Party won
the election of 1900.
TR: Brandisher of the Big Stick
1. In September 1901, a deranged anarchist named Leon Czolgosz murdered President McKinley at
the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo, NY. Theodore Roosevelt took over the presidency. At
the age of 42, he was the youngest to that point in U.S. history.
2. TR – Educated, a writer, a rancher/cowboy, champion of the army and navy, energetic, loud, wellliked.
His proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far.”
3. Roosevelt was a direct actionist in that he believed that the president should lead and keep things
moving forward. He had no real respect for the checks and balances system among the 3 branches
of government. He felt that he may take any action in the general interest that is not specifically
forbidden by the laws of the Constitution.
Building the Panama Canal
1. The Spanish-American War renewed American interest in building a canal across the Central
American Isthmus of Panama. It would strengthen the U.S. Navy by increasing it’s mobility
between oceans. It would make it easier to defend Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines as
well as aid the merchant marine.
2. Initial obstacles were legal, not geographical. By the terms of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, made
with Britain in 1850, the U.S. could not gain exclusive control over a route for the canal. But
because of friendly relations with Britain, and their confrontations in an unfriendly Europe and the
Boer War in South Africa, Britain signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty in 1901, which gave the U.S.
a free hand to both build the canal and fortify it.
3. Many Americans favored the Nicaraguan route for the canal, but Congress decided on the Panama
route for the canal in June 1902 after the New Panama Canal Company dropped the price of its
holdings significantly, from $109 million down to $40 million.
4. Colombia stood in the way of the construction of the canal, because they controlled Panama. After
a treaty to buy land for the canal (at $10 million and $250,000 per year) had been rejected by the
Colombian senate, President Roosevelt, who was eager to win the upcoming election, demanded
that the canal be built without Colombia's consent.
5. On November 3, 1903, Panamanians, who feared the United States would choose the Nicaraguan
route for the canal, made a successful revolution incited by Philippe Bunau-Varilla (the engineer
of the French Canal Company who wanted to sell the land). U.S. naval forces prevented
Columbian troops from quelling the rebellion.
6. TR “recognized” Panama as an independent nation just three days after the insurrection. Bunau-
Varilla became the Panamanian minister to the United States and signed the Hay-Bunau-Varilla
Treaty in Washington. The treaty gave the U.S. control of a 10-mile zone around the proposed
Panama Canal.
7. The so-called rape of Panama marked a downward lurch in U.S relations with Latin America.
President Roosevelt defended himself against all charges of doing anything wrong.

8. In 1904 the construction of the Panama Canal began, and in 1914 just as World War I was
beginning. Faced difficulties with labor troubles, landslides, and lethal tropical diseases. Colonel
William C. Gorgas dealt with the yellow fever and other diseases, making the area safe.
TR's Perversion of Monroe's Doctrine
1. Several nations of Latin America were in debt to European countries. President Roosevelt feared
that if the European nations (mainly the Germany and Britain) got their feet in the door of Latin
America, then they might remain there, in violation of the Monroe Doctrine.
2. Roosevelt therefore created a policy known as "preventive intervention." Knows as the Roosevelt
Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, it declared that in the event of future monetary problems of
Latin American countries with European countries, the U.S. would intervene, take over the
customs houses, pay off the Latin American counties' debts and keep European nations out of
Latin America. Did so first in the Dominican Republic in 1905.
3. Did more than anything else to promote a “bad neighbor” policy. Latin American countries began
to hate the Monroe Doctrine for it had become the excuse for numerous U.S. interventions in Latin
America.
Roosevelt on the World Stage
1. Japan began war with Russia in 1904 after Russia failed to withdraw troops from Manchuria and
Korea. Japan was defeating Russia in the war when Japan's supply of troops and money began to
run low.
2. Japan therefore asked President Roosevelt (secretly) to step in and sponsor peace negotiations.
Roosevelt agreed. He wanted to avoid a complete Russian collapse because he wanted a
counterweight to Japan’s growing power.
3. In 1905 the treaty to end the Russo-Japanese War was signed. Neither side was satisfied, but it
captures the Nobel Peace Prize for TR in 1906. Because of the treaty, friendship with Russia faded
away and Japan became a rival with America in Asia.
Japanese Laborers in California
1. When the Japanese government lifted its ban on its citizens emigrating in 1884, thousands of
Japanese were recruited to work in California. More came after the end of the Russo-Japanese
War. Japanese immigrants were confronted with racist hostility by whites who feared a new
“yellow peril”.
2. In 1906, San Francisco's school board segregated the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students to
make room for white students. The Japanese saw this action as an insult and threatened with war.
3. President Roosevelt invited the entire San Francisco Board of Education to the White House to
settle the dispute. TR broke the deadlock and the Californians were persuaded to repeal the
segregation and to accept what came to be known as the "Gentlemen's Agreement." The Japanese
agreed to stop the flow of immigrants to the United States.
4. Concerned that his intercession in the CA-Japanese dispute might be seen as fear, TR decided to
impress the strength of the US upon the Japanese and the rest of the world. He sent the entire
battleship fleet (the Great White Fleet) on a highly visible voyage around the world, where they
were welcomed at every port.
5. A rousing reception by the Japanese was the high-point of the trip and brought diplomatic success
in 1908, when the Root-Takahira agreement was reached with Japan. The U.S. and Japan pledged
themselves to respect each other's territorial possessions.