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1 Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs
Aynor High School
Coach Jackson Woodle
2 Global Context
● Last decades of the 19th century=period of national consolidation, modernization, expansion
and national awaking for states around the world
● Europe had been radically altered after a long period of relative stability following the
Napoleonic Wars
○ German Empire and Italy
● French had fourth revolution in a century
● Industrialization led to competition between European powers for resources, colonies, influence,
and wealth.
● China fighting against Western domination
○ Russia at its northern frontiers, France in Indochina, and Britain in the interior (Opium
Wars=open treaty ports)
○ Boxer Rebellion
3 US expansionist foreign policy
4
In pairs review the maps below and discuss the methods by which the US had expanded westwards
throughout the 19th century. Discuss the extent to which internal expansion was complete and the
‘westward frontier was settled’ and closed by the end of the 19th century.
5 Context
● End of Civil War/Reconstruction
● Government land grants, subsidies and loans flowed to the private sector, especially the railway
industry
● 1870s were a period of economic depression
○ Reconstruction had caused an expansion of the money supply, leading Grant into a restrictive
monetary policy to counteract
○ Bank failures led to what is known as the Long Depression
○ Great Railway Strikes of 1877
● New immigrants (southern Europe and Asia) provide labor for industrial enterprises
● Gilded Age, Robber Barons/Captains of Industry, horizontal and vertical integration
● Urbanization leads to poor living conditions
● Poor working conditions lead to organized labor
6 Ideological reasons for expansion
● Monroe Doctrine
○ Stated the US would not allow foreign powers to establish new colonies in the western
hemisphere or allow existing colonies to be influenced by outside powers.
○ Response to America’s fear of international influence because of a period of worldwide
revolutionary fervor after Napoleon’s fall
○ Plus, many Latin American countries were gaining independence from Spain, and the United
States thought that these colonies might be taken over by other European powers,
threatening American security
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threatening American security
● Manifest Destiny
○ First used as a justification for the annexation of Texas
○ Belief that it was the inevitable mission (or God given destiny) of the US to expand beyond its
1840s boundaries and the eventually stretch from the Atlantic to Pacific.
○ Fit American exceptionalism and continentalism as the United STates began to look beyond
its borders
7
In pairs discuss the chart above; could westward expansion be viewed as a form of ‘imperialism’?
8 Expansion as moral duty
● Social Darwinism
○ Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer
● Josiah Strong’s Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis (1885)
○ Said the Anglo-Saxon race, especially as it had developed in the US, was destined to dominate
the globe.
○ The combination of liberal democracy and Christianity as expressed in the US was the chief
means by which the world would progress and the vehicle of this progress was to be
imperialist expansion
● Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law by John Burgess
○ Teutonic races had the greatest innate ability to create the modern nation state and those
who resisted the progress towards such states were justly subjugated.
○ Theodore Roosevelt was one of Burgess’ students
● Not just the US but other European powers would use these theories for justification
● “The White Man’s Burden”
○ Rudyard Kipling
○ Directed at the Philippines annexation debate but expressed what many had been arguing in
various forms for the previous two decades.
9 Expansion as a practical necessity
● Alfred Thayer Mahan’s Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660-1783
○ Maritime trade and the tools of trade (ships-merchant and military) brought national
greatness
○ Control of advantageous waterways, natural and man-made (looking to the future of canal
cutting across the Isthmus of Panama)
○ Islands that could potentially protect interests
10 Economic reasons for expansion
● Leaders of domestic economic expansion in the 1880s began to seek markets beyond North
America
● European capital was still flowing in the US but US oil and steel companies sought new markets
and resources around the globe and by default came into competition with other economic
powers such as the UK and Germany
● Gold standard
○ Move to the gold standard by most industrializing powers by the 1870s placed downward
pressure on prices until new gold deposits were found at the end of the century.
○ Made international trade easier because currency was more easily exchangeable
● Growing sense by the 1890s that the US economy was destined to produce more than its current
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markets so it would need to expand its markets
11 Political reasons for expansion
● Somoan Islands
○ US merchant ships had used the island increasingly as a coaling station for Pacific trade
○ Eventually, a three-way protectorate over the islands formed between the US, Britain, and
Germany but would be changed to a two-way split of the islands between Germany and the
US by 1899
● Hawaii
○ Important station in the growing China trade
○ Sugar plantations and the sugar trade
○ Pearl Harbor-islands seemed to provide an easily defended natural harbor for the growing US
Navy
● Venezuela
○ Gold found in border region between Venezuela and British Guiana
○ US suggests arbitration in regard to British interference in the US sphere of influence; Monroe
Doctrine used by Cleveland to justify interference
○ Britain says it will not submit to arbitration
○ Eventually, the US and Britain agree on an arbitration treaty and terms
12 The Spanish-American War
13 Warm Up
Source: George C Herring. The American Century & Beyond. US Foreign Relations 1893 – 2014.
OUP. 2017. P. 11
What was once called the Spanish-American War was the pivotal event of a pivotal decade, bringing
the ‘large policy’ to fruition and marking the United States as a world power… The very title is a
misnomer, of course, since it omits Cuba and the Philippines, both key players in the conflict. Despite
four decades of ‘revisionist’ scholarship, popular writing continues to attribute the war to a
sensationalist ‘yellow press’ which allegedly whipped into martial frenzy an ignorant public that in
turn drove weak leaders into an unnecessary war. The war itself has been reduced to a comic opera,
its consequences an aberration. Such treatment undermines the notion of war by design, allowing
Americans to cling to the idea of their own noble purposes and sparing them responsibility for a war
they came to see an unnecessary and imperialist results they came to regard as unsavoury. Such
interpretations also ignore the extent to which the war and its consequences represented a logical
culmination of major trends in nineteenth century US foreign policy. It was less a case of the United
States coming upon greatness almost inadvertently than of it pursuing its destiny deliberately and
purposefully.
*Read through the source above and identify the key points made by historian George C Herring
about the Spanish American war.
14 Causes of the Spanish-American War: The Cuban Revolution
● US came to see the economic value of Cuba due to its key resources (sugar and tobacco)
● US military saw the potential strategic benefits of establishing a naval base there due to Cuba’s
position within the sea-trade routes of the Caribbean.
● Ostend Manifesto
● Jose Marti called for insurrection in 1895 and later that year Cuban guerrillas began attacking
government installations and troops
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○ US had $50 million invested in Cuba and the annual sugar trade was worth double this.
○ Growing calls for the US to intervene
15 The Yellow Press
● yellow press: refers to newspapers associated with presenting poorly researched articles with
sensational headlines designed to increase sales.
○ Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst used their publications to whip up US public
opinion against the Spanish during the Cuban uprising.
○ Sensationalized the brutality and cruelty of the Spanish forces.
● De Lome Letter
○ Spanish Ambassador's unflattering remarks on McKinley’s diplomacy
● U.S.S. Maine
○ Exploded in Havana Harbor (Feb 15, 1898)
○ 250 out of 355 sailors killed
○ “Remember the Maine!”
16 Fidel Castro in the 1960s
In pairs discuss why Fidel Castro’s government in the 1960’s added this inscription to the USS
Maine memorial in Havana:
‘To the victims of the Maine who were sacrificed by imperialist greed in its mission to conquer
the island of Cuba’
17 Yellow Press Extension Activity
1 ATL-Thinking Skills
2 Follow the directions posted on the discussion board in Schoology.
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19 Warm Up
2 Discuss in small groups what historian Dana Wegner means when he suggested that the conclusion
of the US inquiry into the explosion of the USS Maine ‘benefitted all bar the Spanish.’
20 Spanish-American War (1898)
● In April 1898, Congress authorized the use of force against the Spanish
● Most of the fighting was contained to Cuba and the Philippines
● Caribbean Theater
○ Cuba
■ Battle of San Juan Hill (July 1)
● Roosevelt and Rough Riders
■ Battle of Santiago (July 3-17)
○ Puerto Rico
● Pacific Theater
○ Commodore George Dewey and American Asiatic Squadron
○ Battle of Manila Bay (April 27)
■ four US cruisers and two gunboats sank all ten Spanish ships in Manila harbor.
■ No US losses were incurred.
○ Battle of Manila (August 13)
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■ 11 000 were deployed and together with Emilio Aguinaldo’s men and support from the
islanders themselves
21 Treaty of Paris (1898) and the Imperial Debate
1 Supporters
● “Suppose we reject the Treaty. We continue the state of war. We repudiate the President. We are
branded as a people incapable of taking rank as one of the greatest of world powers!” – Senator
Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA)
● “Providence has given the United States the duty of extending Christian civilization. We come as
ministering angels, not despots.” – Senator Knute Nelson (R-MN)
2 Opponents
● “This Treaty will make us a vulgar, commonplace empire, controlling subject races and vassal
states, in which one class must forever rule and other classes must forever obey American
Acquisitions” – Senator George Hoar (R-MA)
● “I wish to call attention to a fact which may have escaped the attention of Senators thus far, that
with five exceptions every man in this Chamber who has had to do with the colored race in this
country voted against the ratification of the treaty. It was not because we are Democrats, but
because we understand and realize what it is to have two races side by side that can not mix or
mingle without deterioration and injury to both and the ultimate destruction of the civilization of
the higher. We of the South have borne this white man’s burden of a colored race in our midst
since their emancipation and before.” – Senator Ben Tillman (D-SC)
22 Treaty of Paris (1898)
● “A splendid little war.” – Secretary of State John Hay
● American Acquisitions
○ Puerto Rico
○ Philippines ($20 million)
○ Guam
● American Anti-Imperialist League
○ Formed to argue against the annexation of the Philippines
○ Sugar growers and isolationists
23 Cuba under the United States
● Teller Amendment (1898)
○ Prohibited American annexation of Cuba
● American Occupation (1898-1902)
○ Cuba became an American protectorate
○ Implemented policies beneficial to American business and commercial interests
● Platt Amendment (1901)
○ United States must approve any new treaties and foreign credit
○ United States may intervene to preserve Cuban independence
○ Guantanamo Bay-permanent naval base in Cuba
24 The Philippines
● Philippine-American War (1899-1902)
○ Under the leadership of former US ally Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipinos rose against the US and
conducted a brutal guerrilla war until 1901
● William Taft
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William Taft
○ Americanization-paternalistic program of reform
■ Freedom of religion
■ English as official language
■ Construction of schools and infrastructure
25 Spanish American War Document Analysis
2 Complete the guiding questions that go along with each source in the assignment posted in
Schoology. Be prepared to discuss and give an explanation for your answers.
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27 US Foreign Policy
28 The Open Door Policy
● Spheres of influence
○ European and Japanese powers in exclusive control of particular Chinese regions and ports
● Secretary of State John Hay’s Open Door Notes
○ Propose equal trading policies between imperial powers
○ Preserve China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty
○ No military threat to back it up nor international authority to enforce it
29 Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901)
● Society of Harmonious Fists aka Boxers
○ Xenophobic nationalists to restore Qing sovereignty
○ Targeted Christian missionaries, railroads
● Eight-Nation Alliance
○ United States joined Europeans and Japanese to quash the rebellion
○ Gave the US a say in the resolution to the incident (further pushed the Open Door Policy)
● Qing Dynasty further weakened and subjugated
○ Qing paid indemnity of $330 million
○ Falls in 1911 and China becomes a republic in 1912
30 Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy
● “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”
● Big Stick diplomacy: the notion that the US could achieve its foreign policy goals if it backed its
interests with a credible military threat.
● The Influence of Sea Power upon History by Alfred T. Mahan (1890)
○ Powerful naval fleet to dominate the sea, exert full might in diplomacy, defend borders
○ Between 1898 and 1913, the US Navy constructed 25 battleships and more than doubled its
personnel
● Great White Fleet (1907-1908)
○ Demonstrate American international goodwill
○ Display American naval might
31 Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy
● Roosevelt Corollary
○ American intervention in financially unstable nations in Central and South America indebted
to European creditors
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to European creditors
○ Venezuela
○ Dominican Republic
32 Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1905)
1 ATL: Thinking and communication skills
2 In pairs read through an excerpt of Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and
identify the key justifications given for the pursuit of this policy
33 The Panama Canal
● Initial treaties
○ Clayton-Bulwer (1850)
○ Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (1901)
● Panamanian Revolution (1903)
○ Roosevelt encouraged Panamanian separation from Colombia
○ Use of U.S. gunboats to thwart further Colombian incursion into Panama
○ United States recognized Panamanian independence
● Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903)
○ Granted U.S. full rights to Panama Canal Zone
● Construction of the Canal
○ U.S. cost of $375 million
○ Saved 7,800 miles from New York to San Francisco
○ American engineers and planning; Panamanian workforce
○ Yellow fever and exhaustion plagued and delayed construction
○ Opened August 1914
34 Dollar Diplomacy
● Actively encouraged American investment in foreign nations
○ “substitute dollars for bullets”
○ Economic coercion to achieve American interests
● Guarantee and protect American foreign commercial and financial investments and interests
● Threat or use of military to achieve goals in Central and South America
● Influence
○ Nicaragua
■ Overthrew government after Nicaragua refused to pay loans in U.S. dollars
○ China
■ Fostered investment in railroad construction
35 The Banana War and “Banana Republics”
● Central/South American nations exploited by American corporations
○ Exploit impoverished working class under a typical plantation agricultural system
○ Ruling-class oligarchy made of business, political, and military elites
● United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company in Honduras
○ The United Fruit Corporation had considerable investments in the production of bananas, but
also tobacco and sugar cane across Latin America and the Caribbean.
36 Banana Wars Lecture Clip
1 ATL : Communication and Research skills
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ATL : Communication and Research skills
2 Get into small groups and research the banana wars. You should explore the following:
● Dominican Republic 1903, 1904
● Honduras 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912
● Nicaragua from 1912
37 Woodrow Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy
● “Foreign policy will be based on ‘human rights, national integrity, and opportunity…’”-Woodrow
Wilson.
● Missionary Diplomacy
○ Support nations who share democratic beliefs
● Promote democracy and peace
○ Opposed imperialism
○ Self-determination
38 American Interventions under Wilson
● "I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men“ – Woodrow Wilson
(1913)
● Nicaragua becomes a U.S. protectorate (1914)
● Mexican Revolution
● Haiti (1915-1934)
○ Wilson sent marines to defend US citizens when an uprising broke out in Haiti in 1915. US
troops remained stationed in Haiti until 1934.
● Dominican Republic (1916-1924)
○ deployed troops in 1916, and these also remained until
● Cuba (1917)
● Panama (1918)
39 Moral Diplomacy
Mexican Revolution: Border War (1910-1919)
● Porfirio Diaz
○ Established close economic relations with U.S.
○ Defeated by Madero in 1910 election
● Francisco Madero
○ U.S. ambassador conspired to overthrow Madero
● Victoriano Huerta
○ Wilson refused to recognize Huerta’s government
● Tampico Affair (April 1914)
○ Mexico arrested U.S. naval officers
○ Wilson sent naval force to occupy Veracruz
● Venustiano Carranza
○ Wilson recognized Carranza
● Pancho Villa
○ Raid of Columbus, New Mexico
○ General John J. Pershing
○ Carranza demanded US troops leave – and Wilson backs down and withdrew again
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41 Moral Diplomacy Discussion Board
1 ATL- Thinking skills
2 Discuss the aims and outcomes of Wilson’s Moral Diplomacy and the fact that this president ended
up intervening in the region militarily more than Roosevelt or Taft.