Foreign Policy1865 - 1914

SETTING THE CONTEXT

IMPERIALISM: You will need to understand the following basic concepts as a context for our study of U.S. imperialism. You probably already have studied most or all of these concepts in earlier years.

•The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 defined United States foreign policy in the Americas for the rest of the nineteenth century and beyond. It declared that the United States had an interest in the Western Hemisphere and that European powers must not meddle in the affairs of any developing nations there. The United States was a young nation in 1823 and did not really have the power to back up the Monroe Doctrine. However, the policy was used to justify the sending of U.S. troops into Mexico in 1866 (to intimidate the French) and the purchase of Alaska in 1867.

•The idea of manifest destiny gained popularity in the 1830s and 1840s. (The term was coined in 1845 by newspaper columnist John L. O’Sullivan.) As people began settling the western territories, wresting control of the land from the original Native American inhabitants, many Americans came to believe that it was their nation’s “manifest destiny” to possess the entire North American continent. Later in the century, this idea easily gave way to larger dreams of expanding America’s influence around the world.

•By the late nineteenth century, the growing industrial economy of the United States was producing more goods than the nation could consume. This overabundance of industrial goods led the United States to look for new markets abroad.

•European nations such as England, Spain, France, Russia, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium had already carved up Africa and large parts of Asia into colonies and “spheres of influence” by the late 1900s. To remain competitive, the United States reacted to European imperialism by looking for a way to secure its own economic future through a policy of expansionism.

SETTING THE CONTEXT continued

Economic Gain

Militarism

Nationalism & Social Darwinism

International Darwinism

A playoff of Darwin’s theory of only theSURVIVE

Only nations with strong political, religious and military strength would survive the conquest of other nations

Worldwide markets in agriculture and industry were developing

Nations needed more sources of raw materials

STRONG

Imperialism Missionaries

Protestant Americans had a duty to spread Christianity and Western Ideals

“Superior” civilization traveled to Africa, Asia, and Pacific Islands brought medicine, science, and technology to less fortunate.

Politicians Republican candidates allied with business leaders.

Henry Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt were eager to build U.S. power through global expansion

Naval Power (Alfred T. Mahan)

Idea that a strong navy was crucial to a country’s ambitions of becoming a world power.

Naval strategists persuaded Congress to finance the construction of modern steel ships

Used oversea islands as supply stations

By 1900, the U.S. was 3rd largest naval power

Imperialism Cont...

Popular Press Press editors printed adventure stories about exotic places.

Used stories to increase public interest for larger U.S. role in world affairs.

~ Leading Republican in 1850s and 1860

William Seward 1801-1872

« No one will ever be President of the United States who spells Negro with two g ’s. »

~ Secreatary of State under Lincoln and Andrew Johnson

~ Helped to prevent Britain and France from entering Civil War on South side

~ Persuaded the annexation of Midway Island

~ Gained rights to build a canal in Nicaragua

~ Purchased Alaska for the U.S.

Alaska~ Both Russia and Great Britain claimed the territory

~ Russia assumed control and established colonies but had to sell due to economic burdens

~ Purchased for 7.2 million (2 cents/acre) in 1867 after Seward’s lobbying

Hawaii~ 1893 American settlers aided in overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani

~ Cleveland opposed Republican efforts to annex Hawaii

~ Spanish-American War gave Congress and President McKinley pretext to complete annexation in July 1898

~ Hawaiian islands became territory of U.S. in 1900

~ Hawaii became 50th state in August 1959

~ Growth of wave of Jingoism (intense form of nationalism calling for aggressive foreign policy)

Spanish-American War

~ Cuban revolts cause Spain to send 100,000 troops to Cuba

~ Yellow journalism printed false accounts of Spanish atrocities in Cuba. Americans urged Congress to intervene.

~ Spanish minister Dupuy de Lôme wrote highly critical letter of McKinley (printed on front page of NY Journal)

More Causes~ U.S. Battleship Maine exploded in Havana

killing 260 Americans (Yellow press accused Spain)

~ McKinley demanded cease-fire in Cuba. Spain agreed but public still wanted war.

~ McKinley declared war

“Remember the Maine!”

Fighting the War~ First shots fire in Manila Bay, Philippines and the

last shots were fired a few months later

~ Teddy Roosevelt ordered fleet commanded by Commodore George Dewey to Philippines

~ Spanish fleet in Manila Bay soon pounded by U.S. navy

~ 5,000 American soldiers died from typhoid, malaria, and dysentery in Cuba

~ 500 American soldiers died in battle

“Kill every one over ten.” - Gen. Jacob H. Smith

“Criminals Because They Were Born Ten Years Before We Took the Philippines” (New York Journal – May 5, 1902)

Treaty of Peace

Treaty more controversial than war

Philippine question took many months longer to resolve than the war with Spain

Most controversy came between imperialists and anti-imperialists

Imperialists prevailed and Treaty of Paris was ratified 57 to 27, two votes short of anti-imperialist victory

Results of the WarInsular (island) cases in Supreme Court ruled

Constitutional rights not automatically extended to U.S. territories

U.S. troops remain in Cuba from 1898 to 1901

Congress made withdrawal of troops conditional upon Cuba’s acceptance of Platt Amendment of 1901 – Cuba was granted independence in 1902, including restrictions on rights of Cubans and granting to the U.S. the “right to intervene” to preserved order in Cuba.

Election of 1900 McKinley and Bryan were candidates for Republicans and Democrats respectively

McKinley had larger margin of victory than in 1896

U.S. power shown from outcome of war

Open Door Policy & China

~ In the 1890’s Russia, Japan, Great Britain, France and Germany had all established spheres of influence in China

~ Each country could dominate trade and investment within their sphere and shut out competitors

~ Sec. of State John Hay proposed the concept of an Open Door, by which all nations would have equal trading privileges in China. No nation rejected his proposal and Hay declared all had accepted his Open Door Policy

More Open Door ~ In 1900 the Boxers attacked foreign settlements

and murdered dozens of Christian missionaries

~ U.S. troops participated in an international force that marched into Peking and quickly succeeded in crushing the Boxer Rebellion

~ Hay wrote a second note to imperialistic powers stating U.S. commitment to preserve China’s territorial integrity and safeguard “equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire”.

East Asia~ The U.S. and Japan’s relations during Roosevelt’s presidency were at first friendly but grew increasingly competitive

~ Imperialistic rivalry between Russia and Japan led to war which Japan was winning. To end the war Roosevelt arranged for a conference at Portsmouth, NH in 1905

~ Though both Japan and Russia agreed to the Treaty of Portsmouth Japanese nationalists blamed the U.S. for not giving their country all that they wanted from Russia

~Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906

~ In the “Gentleman’s Agreement” the Japanese gov’t secretly agreed to restrict the emigration of Japanese workers to the U.S. in return for Roosevelt persuading CA to repeal its discriminatory laws toward Japanese-Americans

More East Asia

~ To demonstrate U.S. naval power Roosevelt sent a fleet of battleships around the world from 1907 – 1909

“THE GREAT WHITE FLEET”~ In the Root-Takahira agreement in 1908 mutual respect for each nation’s (U.S. & Japan) Pacific possessions and support for the Open Door Policy in China was agreed upon

More East Asia

~ The purpose of all applications of Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy was to maintain peace between rival nations

~ Roosevelt directed U.S. participation at the Second International Peace Conference at the Hague in 1907, which discussed rules for limiting warfare

~ The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declared the U.S. would intervene in Santo Domingo and other Latin American countries rather than Europeans which would be a blatant violation of the Monroe Doctrine

Roosevelt and the Monroe Roosevelt and the Monroe DoctrineDoctrine

~ U.S. sailors and marines would occupy the country’s major port to manage collection of customs taxes until European debts were satisfied

~ The long term result of this corollary was poor U.S. relations with the entire region of Latin America

~ Roosevelt’s motto was to “speak softly and carry a big stick”

Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy

Theodore Roosevelt

~ Roosevelt attempted to build a reputation of the U.S. as a world power

~ As a strategic necessity for holding onto Puerto Rico in the Caribbean to the Philippines in the Pacific, the U.S. needed a canal through Central America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

More Big Stick

~ As a result of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty in 1901 the U.S. could begin to dig the canal without British involvement

~ The Panama Canal was started in 1904 and completed in 1914 with hundreds of laborers losing their lives

~ In 1921 Congress voted to pay Colombia an indemnity of $25 million for its loss of Panama

~ As a result of a bloodless revolt Panama became independent of Colombia and signed a treaty granting the U.S. long term control of a canal zone

GROUP 1: What is the Roosevelt Corollary & what was Latin America’s reaction to the Roosevelt Corollary?

GROUP 2: Who is responsible for Dollar Diplomacy and what is it?

GROUP 3: How is what happened in Nicaragua in 1909 & 1912 similar to what happened in Hawaii?

GROUP 4: Who is responsible for Moral Diplomacy and what is it? Give an example as to how & where it was applied.

GROUP 5: What happened in Haiti during Wilson’s Administration? Once you have determined this, join with group 3 to discuss how the answers to your questions are similar.

GROUP 6: How were Taft & Wilson’s approaches responsible for differing outcomes in the Mexican Revolution?

$ Taft’s foreign policy was mildly expansionist but depended more on investors’ dollars than on the navy’s battleships

Taft and Dollar Diplomacy

$ This policy of trying to promote U.S. trade by supporting American enterprises abroad was the “Dollar Diplomacy”$ Growing anti-imperialism both in the U.S. and overseas was a major obstacle for his policy $ In the northern Chinese province of Manchuria, the U.S. was excluded from an agreement between Russia and Japan that held Manchuria as a jointly held sphere of influence

U.S. assumed role as protector of Latin America from European ambitions

Latin America

Blaine and Pan-American Conference (1889)

Representatives from Western Hemisphere nations create permanent organization for international cooperation, trade and other issues

More Latin AmericaMost important use of Monroe Doctrine in the 19th century concerned British colony of Guiana

Britain didn’t think Monroe Doctrine applied; U.S. did and was ready to use force

Britain agreed to U.S. demands and Latin America was grateful

1895 on Britain and U.S. friendly

$ To protect American investments the U.S. sent marines to Nicaragua in 1912 when a civil war broke out

More Dollar Diplomacy

$ Marines remained in the area, except for a short period, until 1933

$ The Lodge Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine stated that non-European powers (such as Japan) would be excluded from owning territory in the Western Hemisphere. $ This was a result of Lodge’s fear that Japan’s government was secretly scheming to acquire part of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula

William Jennings Bryan

1860-1925

Woodrow Wilson

1856-1924

Moral Diplomacy

Woodrow Wilson and his Secretary of State, William Jennings Bryan, hoped to

demonstrate that the United States respected other nations’ rights and would

support the spread of Democracy

Wilson hoped to show U.S. was against self-interested imperialism.

The PhilippinesCongress passed Jones Act of 1916, (TEXT pg. 265) which

1. Granted Full territorial status to Philippines

2. Guaranteed a bill of rights and universal male

suffrage to Filipino citizens

3. Promised Philippine independence as soon as a stable government was established

Puerto RicoCongress passed Foraker Act in 1917, which

1. granted U.S. citizenship to all the inhabitants

2. Provided for limited self government

Panama CanalIn 1914, Congress repealed act that granted U.S. ships an

exemption from paying that standard canal tolls charged to other countries.

Angered American nationalists like Roosevelt and Lodge but pleased the British, who strongly objected to the U.S. exception.

Conciliation treatiesBryan was to negotiate treaties in which nations pledged

1. Submit disputes to international commissions

2. Observe a one-year cooling-off period before taking military action

Bryan arranged with Wilson's approval, 30 such conciliation treaties.

Military Intervention in Latin America

Wilson went far beyond both Roosevelt and Taft in his use of U.S. Marines to straighten out financial and political troubles in Central and Latin America

Throughout his presidency marines were kept in Nicaragua and troops were ordered into Haiti in 1915 and the Dominican Republic in 1916

French In MexicoWhile U.S. was engaged in Civil war Napoleon

III sent French troops to Mexico.

Napoleon III

After the war ended Seward invoked the Monroe Doctrine and threatened military action.

Napoleon III backed down and French troops withdrew.

Conflict in MexicoIn Mexico Wilson refused to recognize the

military dictatorship of Gen. Victoriano Huerta who seized power in 1913

To aid a revolutionary faction fighting Huerta ,Wilson sent a fleet to blockade the port of Vera Cruz War between Mexico and the U.S. seemed imminent, but averted when South America’s ABC Powers (Argentina, Brazil & Chile) offered to mediate the disputeThis dispute was the first in the Americas to be settled through joint mediation

More Conflict in MexicoHuerta fell from power in late 1914 and

was replaced by a more Democratic regime led by Venustiano CarranzaImmediately after the regime’s takeover revolutionaries loyal to Pancho Villa challenged the new governmentVilla led raids across the U.S. Mexican boarder and murdered a number of people in TX and NM In 1916 Wilson ordered Gen. John J. Pershing to pursue Villa into Mexico

In January 1917 the growing possibility of U.S. entry into WWI caused Wilson to withdraw Pershing’s troops

Foreign Policy1865 - 1914