AMERICAN IMPERIALISM THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR Origins of the Spanish-American War • Most Cubans worked on sugar or tobacco plantations • José Marti – declared Cuban independence in April 1895 • General Weyler sent from Spain to stop rebellion • Brutal • Put Cuban peasants into concentration camps • “Yellow Journalism” • Yellow journalism – technique to sell newspapers that exaggerated events • Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hurst – journalists who exaggerated events in Cuba • Depicted Spanish as brutal murders and Cubans as helpless victims • Economic Interests • Cuban revolution was hurting American investments in Cuba • Free Cuba could help American businesses • Imperial Interests • “Ostend Manifesto” – called for the US to annex Cuba before the Civil War The Triggering Events • The De Lôme Letter • Sent my Enrique Dupuy de Lôme – Spanish ambassador to US • Called McKinley weak • Implied Spain was lying to the US about what they were doing in Cuba • Explosion of the USS Maine • The Maine was sent to Havana Harbor in Cuba to protect Americans • The ship exploded in the Harbor • No one knows why for sure • Hearst blamed Spain • Remember the Maine • Americans called for war Course and Consequences of the War • War lasted 4 months • US technology was superior • TR – started the Rough Riders • Famous battle – San Juan Hill • Commodore George Dewey led US Navy over Spanish fleet in the Philippines • Established USA as a new world power • Treaty of Paris ended the war • Spain lost: • Cuba • Puerto Rico • the Philippines • Guam • America annexed: • All but Cuba • Cuba independent…kind of THE DEBATE OVER IMPERIALISM • Imperialism – the rule of one country by another • Why people wanted imperialism: • New raw materials • New technology made imperialism possible • Importance of the Navy • Alfred T. Mahan argued America needed a strong navy to protect America and its trade • Competition with Europe • New “Manifest Destiny” • “White Man’s Burden” • Belief that white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants should rule over others • Needed to “civilize” non-whites • Social Darwinism • Anti-imperialist argument • Goes against democracy • Creates rivalries • American Anti-Imperialist League – group opposed to imperialism AMERICAN COLONIAL EMPIRE • The Philippines • Filipinos expected independence after Spanish-American War • Rebelled against US rule - led by Emilio Aguinaldo • More died fighting the rebellion that the SAW • Jones Act – Filipinos can elect their own legislature in 1916 • Given independence in 1946 • Hawaii • Hawaiians initially welcomed Americans who built sugar and pineapple plantations • 1880s – wealthy Americans seized power • 1892, Queen Liliuokalani – tried to take power back, unsuccessful • Hawaii annexed in July 1898 • Guam, Samoa, and Midway • All islands in the Pacific • Provided important resupply stops for American ships heading to Asia • Puerto Rico • Gained following the SAW • 1952, became a self-governing commonwealth (not a state but not independent) • Puerto Ricans are American citizens • Cuba • Teller Amendment – passed before end of SAW, America would not annex Cuba • Made a US protectorate – an area under US protection and control • 1901, Platt Amendment – US would have naval bases on Cuba and US can intervene in foreign affairs AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1898-1914 East Asia • China • Open Door Policy – equal trade with European countries and US in China • Boxer Rebellion – uprising of Chinese against foreign influence • US and Europe combined to put down rebellion • Japan • Japan became Westernized • Russo-Japanese War (1904-5) – Japan won. • TR negotiated peace and won the Nobel Peace Prize Latin America • Panama Canal • Connect Atlantic and Pacific Oceans *without having to sail around South America • US offered $10 million to Colombia to buy the land • Colombia wanted more $$ so US helped rebels for new nation of Panama • Panama gave control of the “Panama Canal Zone” to the US • Canal took the US 10 years and $400 million to complete The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine • Monroe Doctrine – 1823 US would oppose any new European colonies in the Western Hemisphere • Roosevelt Corollary – US would intervene to collect debts owed to European nations by countries in the Western Hemisphere • “Big Stick Diplomacy” – US would use the military in Central and S. America to protect American interests Taft and “Dollar Diplomacy” • Use businesses to promote American foreign policy • Would use military to protect US business interests Wilson and “Moral Diplomacy” • Opposed imperialism and called for intervention only to help the other nation • “Watchful Waiting” – policy for involvement in Mexican affairs after Mexican democratic government overthrown • Pancho Villa – Mexican rebel. Killed American workers in Mexico. Wilson sent US troops to Mexico.