American Imperialism

Correct Answers to

Classroom Handouts

Placing U.S. Actions

on the Foreign Policy

Spectrum

Answer Key

Washington’s Farewell Address

Isolationism Washington rejected

the alliance system.

Instead he wanted the

United States to

remain politically

independent from

other nations.

The Monroe Doctrine

Internationalism/

Imperialism

Monroe believed that

the United States had

the right to influence

events in Latin

America and to warn

other nations to stay

away.

The Mexican-American War

Imperialism The United States declared war with Mexico to gain power and to force Mexico to give up territory so the United States could achieve “Manifest Destiny”-land stretching from coast to coast.

U.S. Entry into World War I

Isolationism At first the United

States declared

neutrality, then it

went to war to “make

the world safe for

democracy.”

U.S. Entry into World War II

Isolationism The United States

stayed out of foreign

involvements in the

1920s and 1930s.

Then it entered World

War II to help stop

fascist and military

regimes from taking

over the world.

The Truman Doctrine

Internationalism The Truman Doctrine

committed the United

States to protect

countries from

communism

throughout the world.

The Vietnam War

Internationalism/

Imperialism

The United States believed it was stopping the spread of an evil system, but many Vietnamese and Americans felt that the United States entered the Vietnam War for imperialistic reasons.

The Persian Gulf War

Internationalism/

Imperialism

Collective Security

The United States

worked with 28

nations to stop a

foreign aggressor and

to maintain global

access to oil.

Peacekeeping in Bosnia

Collective Security The United States

worked through the

United Nations to try

to stop the bloodshed

in Bosnia.

The Spanish-American

War and the Growth of

Imperialism

Check your answers

for Chapter 10,

Section 2

Causes of the Spanish-American

War

American business owners

– Urged U.S. intervention to protect American business

interests in Cuba

Jose Marti

– Provoked U.S. intervention by deliberately destroying

American-owned sugar mills and plantations

Valeriano Weyler

– Took harsh actions against the Cuban people,

including forcibly removing them to camps, where

thousands died

Causes of the Spanish-American

War

Yellow Journalism

– Encouraged the American public to sympathize with

Cuban rebels and the war

De Lome letter

– Angered the American public because of its criticism

of President McKinley

U.S.S. Maine

– Led to widespread support for war; led McKinley to

ask Congress to declare war

The Maine Incident

Why was the S.S. Maine going to Havana?

How did the U.S. press depict Spanish leaders?

How long did the war take?

How did the S.S. Maine really sink?

Effects of the Spanish-American

War

Cuba

– Achieved independence from Spain

Puerto Rico

– Went from Spanish to American rule

Guam

-Went from Spanish to American rule

Philippine Islands

– Sold by Spain to the U.S.; annexed by the U.S.

Imperialism in Action

Correct Answers to the

Similie Activity

U.S. Foreign Policy on China

During the 1800s U.S. businessmen and missionaries took an interest in China.

Late 1800s imperialist European powers carved out “spheres of influence”-regions that were forced to grant them exclusive trade agreements and leases on land for military bases in China.

To get influence in China, in 1899 the U. S. promoted an Open Door policy, urging European nations to respect Chinese rights and fair trade competition in China.

U.S. Foreign Policy on China

Chinese angered by foreigners’ lack of respect for Chinese culture and society and hoped to establish a strong and independent government.

In 1900 the Boxers, a Chinese nationalist movement, rebelled against foreign influence, killing foreigners and destroying buildings.

Imperialist powers crushed the Boxer Rebellion. China continued to provide new markets and raw material for U.S. and other foreign industry.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Cuba

From 1868 on, Cubans struggled for independence from Spain.

Americans identified with Cuban resistance to Spanish colonial rule. Also, U.S. businesses sought control of Cuban sugar and other natural resources.

In the 1890s, Jose Marti gained support for the Cuban Revolution by gathering arms, money, and men in New York City.

In 1898, sparked by a revolution in Cuba, the U. S. fought and won a short war against Spain, which led to the Spanish granting independence to Cuba.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Cuba

Following the Spanish-American War, President William McKinley set up a U.S. government in Cuba that promoted public works and legal reform.

United States insisted that the Platt Amendment-which restricted Cuban independence and gave the U.S. military rights-be part of the new Cuban constitution.

1906 Cubans seeking full independence rebelled against the U.S. government. U.S. troops took control of the island, but gave it up in 1909. Some Cubans resented U.S. intervention; others were thankful for the stability it provided.

U.S. Foreign Policy on The

Dominican Republic

In the late 1800s Ulises Heureaux took power in the Dominican Republic. He improved education and transportation and encouraged foreign investment, but also used money for his own pleasures and ran up large debts to overseas companies.

Heureaux was assassinated in 1899, leaving a large foreign debt.

Based on the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, President Theodore Roosevelt agreed to assume the country’s foreign debt in return for the right to collect Dominican import duties.

U.S. Foreign Policy on The

Dominican Republic

President William Howard Taft, promoting “Dollar Diplomacy,” established U.S. businesses in the Dominican Republic and ordered troops there to teach law and order.

Dominicans resented U.S. presence in the republic.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Hawaii

During the 1700s Hawaii became an important way station for American shippers, sailors, and whalers, and Protestant missionaries sought to Christianize the Hawaiians

Many Americans settled and became prosperous sugar plantation owners.

In 1891 Queen Liliuokalani came to power and tried to restore Hawaiian control of the islands.

In 1893 white planters, aided by U.S. troops, organized a successful revolt against the queen.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Hawaii

After the revolt, white planters applied to the U.S. Congress for U.S. annexation of Hawaii. President Grover Cleveland withdrew the treaty because he felt that the U.S. actions were improper.

In 1898, after the Spanish American War, the United States annexed the Hawaiian Islands.

U.S. intervention resulted in long-lasting resentment among many native Hawaiians.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Mexico

From 1876 to 1911 Mexico was ruled by Porfirio Diaz, who encouraged U.S. investment.

By the early 1900s U.S. businesses had invested over a billion dollars in Mexico.

Only a small class of wealthy Mexicans benefited from foreign investments. Desperate, poor Mexicans staged a revolution in 1910.

U.S. investors helped Victoriano Huerta, a brutal dictator, seize power.

President Woodrow Wilson refused to recognize Huerta, and he supported his rival Venustiano Carranza, whom he believed would bring democracy.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Mexico

In 1914 tensions between Wilson and the Huerta government nearly led to war when a group of U.S. sailors were taken into custody in a small Mexican port.

Carranza seized power in Mexico, but refused to adhere to U.S. demands for a new government. Wilson briefly supported Pancho Villa, but soon withdrew his support, angering Villa and his men who then killed Americans in Texas and New Mexico.

Wilson sent 6,000 U.S. troops into Mexican territory on an unsuccessful mission to capture Villa. The United States withdrew the troops when it entered World War I.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Panama

After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. wanted to build a canal across Central America to allow warships to pass between the oceans and defend the newly acquired U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

U.S. attempted to lease from Columbia and build a canal through Panama, then a possession of Columbia. Columbian senate rejected the offer.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Panama

In 1903 U.S. naval forces assisted an armed

rebellion of Panamanians overthrow Columbian

rule.

New Panamanian government immediately

agreed to allow the U.S. to build the Panama

Canal, which was completed in 1914.

In 1921 the U.S. apologized and paid Columbia

for the acquisition of the canal zone.

U.S. Foreign Policy on the

Philippines

In 1898 U.S. forces and Filipino forces led by Emilio Aguinaldo defeated the Spanish troops n the Philippines and eliminated Spanish rule there.

After the Spanish-American War, Aguinaldo claimed he had been assured of Filipino independence, but his claims were denied by the U.S.

President William McKinley decided to maintain U.S. control of the Philippines because he considered the Filipinos unfit for self-government and wanted to “uplift and civilize and Christianize them.”

Filipinos rebelled against U.S. forces, but the revolt was crushed after a three-year war.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Puerto

Rico

After the 1898 Spanish-American War, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

The U.S. government selected a U.S. governor, an executive council, and judges to rule the island.

The new government launched programs to control disease and build infrastructure in Puerto Rico.

At first, Puerto Ricans did not become U.S. citizens and could not travel freely to the United States. In 1917 the Jones Act granted Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship.

During World War I 17,000 Puerto Ricans served the United States.

U.S. Foreign Policy on Puerto

Rico

U.S. businesses took advantage of cheap labor and natural resources in Puerto Rico. By 1930 U.S. investors owned 60 percent of public utilities and banking, 80 percent of the tobacco plants, 60 percent of the sugar industry, and all overseas shipping.

Puerto Rican small farmers, who could not compete with large U.S. companies, were forced to sell their land or work in low-paying jobs for U.S. businesses.

Many Puerto Ricans resented U.S. rule, which after 30 years led to an employment rate of 30 percent, poor sanitation, widespread disease, and low life expectancy.