Chapter 10 Becoming World A Power
Dec 31, 2015
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