Chapter 10

Becoming World

A Power

Section 1- Pressure to Expand

• Imperialism

• Late 1800’s marked the height of European imperialism

• Nationalism

• US wanted to join in competition for new territory that British were going after

• “The sun never sets on the British Empire”

• Annex- join a new territory to an existing country

• Imperialism would offer Americans a new frontier

New Lands• Sec. of State William Seward bought

Alaska from Russia in 1867

• Seward’s Folly

• People said he was buying land that was “barren, worthless, God-forsaken region”

• 3 resources?

• US wanted control of the Pacific

• 1867 Seward annexed uninhabited Midway Islands so US could use as a refueling and repair station for naval vessels

• In 1898, the US annexed Hawaii because the US needed more naval stations in the Pacific

• Open Door Policy for China

Arguments for Expansion• America was over producing

• Markets abroad

• Alfred T. Mahan wrote The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783

• Said US needed a powerful navy to protect new markets that would be gained

Banana Republics

• Latin American countries

• American Businessmen

• Day-O (Banana Boat Song)

Fredrick Jackson Turner, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Teddy Roosevelt• Agreed that the quest for an empire might

restore the country’s pioneer spirit

• Believed in social Darwinism to justify the takeover of new territories

• Believed it was the nation’s destiny and a noble pursuit

Section 2- The Spanish American War

• Spain in Cuba

• Cuban Rebellion

• Guarded camps

• Jose Marti

• American sugar plantations destroyed

Yellow Journalists during the War• Joseph Pulitzer vs. William Randolph

Hearst

• Boosted Jingoism in the US

• Americans had sympathy for Cubans

The war against Spain

• USS Maine explosion

• US blamed Spain, later found out it was an accidental fire

• McKinley give Spain demands

• All were accepted except Cuban Independence

• 1898 Congress approves war with Spain

• Thomas Dewey attacks in Phillipines

• Teddy Roosevelt and the Roughriders

• Treaty of Paris

Section 3- A New Foreign Policy

• The Panama Canal

• Columbia/France/US

• Panamanian Revolt

• Canal shortened the distance between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Big Stick Diplomacy

• “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

• The Navy was TR’s big stick

• The Great White Fleet

• Roosevelt Corollary

• “international police power”

• Nobel Peace Prize

Section 4- Debating America’s New Role

• Anti-Imperialists

• Said “liberty for all” was being rejected

• Racism

• Could hurt the economy

Appeal of Imperialism• Competition

• A new frontier

• American tradition

• Frontier mentality led to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts

Imperialism Views from Abroad

• Central America- had to defend governments that were unpopular

• Latin America- “Yankee, Go Home!”

• Smaller countries-asked US for help