CSUP Lec 5 Sp-Am War and American Imperialism

The New York Journal – a Hearst paper – from February 17, 1898

Lecture 4: The Spanish-American War and American Imperialism

Key Questions to Consider:

Give at least two reasons for why the United States constructed a Pacific empire

Why did many Filipinos and Cubans believe that the Spanish-American war merely replaced one group of imperialists (the Spanish) with another (the Americans)?

Besides the acquisition of the Philippines, what other examples have historians discovered as evidence of American imperialism from approximately 1890 to 1920?

Background to the warUS had $50 million invested in Cuban sugar and $100

million a year in trade before Cuban rebellion

Cubans revolt against Spain, 1865-1895 Instability threatens US business investments

President McKinley dispatched the USS Maine to Cuba to protect US citizens and their property

Feb 1898: letter from Spanish foreign minister Depuy de Lome, published in the New York Journal, described McKinley as a “cheap politician.”

“Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!”

Photograph of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, three weeks before the explosion that killed 266 US sailors

So what really happened?There have been numerous investigations launched

by historians, the governments of the US, Cuba, and Spain, the History Channel, and National Geographic: The results of these studies are not unanimous and

suggest several possible factors (e.g. a boiler explosion) Most likely, the explosion originated from inside the

vessel, meaning that it did not come from Spain A fire in the coal bunker of the ship could have ignited

the weapons onboard the ship

But US media blamed Spain anyway

Sometimes in history we don’t get 100% proof

Newspapers fed the war frenzy

Hearst’s New York Journal and Pulitzer’s New York World competed with one another to sell newspapers

Selling the war made sense as a business decision

Newspapers promoted sensationalism, jingoism (extreme patriotism in support of war), and “yellow journalism”

Hearst to an artist in Cuba: “You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.”

To understand this war, we must consider the historical context

Economic concerns: devastating Panic of 1893 An industrial economy that overproduces constantly needs

new markets and outlets to sell its goods

Nationalism and Patriotism – encourage unity among Americans by focusing on an “enemy” Orwell – is this a distraction from other problems?

Consider racial anxieties, Women pushing for suffrage

Religion: A Christian duty to spread “civilization”

European Imperialism: “Scramble for Africa,” 1880s King Leopold carving up map of Africa

US wanted to join “civilized” countries on the world stage

Songs support the war

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and standing for the “Star-Spangled Banner” became common in these years

Mexican-American War

Spanish-American War

Sketchy origins

Border dispute along Rio Grande River

Mysterious explosion on the Maine, blamed on the Spanish

Fought against weaker nations

Mexico hobbled by class divisions, regional divisions, political divisions, an untrained army, etc.

Spain’s empire had been in decline for decades, if not centuries

Race Fear of mixing with “brown” race

White man’s burden

Religion Catholics presumed to be authoritarian

Spread of Christianity connected with empire

Preceded by economic downturn

Panic of 1837 – country needs “new markets” to thrive

Panic of 1893 – country needs “new markets” to thrive

US acquired territory after victory

US gained 1/3-1/2 of Mexico’s territory, including California and Texas – the two most populous states in the union

The Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.

Major Critics

Henry D. Thoreau, Abraham Lincoln

Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie

Fighting the warUS army had been fighting Indians, 1870s to 1890s

Many of these troops then went to the Philippines Segregated units – blacks did not serve with whites

Opportunity for Theodore Roosevelt (TR) to demonstrate heroism and masculinity in Puerto Rico

US navy routed Spanish fleet in Cuba and Philippines

Admiral George Dewey led US navy in the Philippines and General Arthur MacArthur led much of the subsequent occupation of the Philippines

The war lasted only ten weeks and was brought an end by a treaty signed in Paris, December 1898

TR and the Rough Riders

Results of the warUS gains Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines Teller Amendment, 1898 – after US intervenes militarily

to help Cubans gain independence, US military will leave But once in control of Cuba, US decides that the Cubans

are not really “fit” for self-government Platt Amendment, 1901 – replaces Teller Amendment

Part of new Cuban constitution Restricts Cuban trade Allows US to have unilateral military intervention in Cuba Military base at Guantanamo Bay (more torture, 2003)

Some Cubans called American occupation the “betrayal” of 1898 and believed they were merely substituting one colonial oppressor (Spain) for another (the US) This helps us understand Cuban Revolution of 1959

US occupation of the PhilippinesUS declares that Filipinos are not really fit for self-

government, so they need a US occupation Established by the Schurman Commission (next slide) Critics said that this contradicted American ideals After all, didn’t the US rebel from a colonial empire?

US embarks on nation-building with its army William Howard Taft is governor of the Philippines

There are some successes – improved literacy, roads, etc.

But in February 1899, Filipino insurgents, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, revolt against their American occupiers

The Schurman CommissionNov. 2, 1900: “Should our power… be withdrawn, the commission believe that the government of the Philippines would speedily lapse into anarchy (author’s emphasis)…Only through American occupation, therefore, is the idea of a free, self-governing, and united Philippine commonwealth at all conceivable. And the indispensable need from the Filipino point of view of maintaining American sovereignty over the archipelago is recognized by all intelligent Filipinos (author’s emphasis) and even by those insurgents who desire an American protectorate. Nevertheless, they recognize the indubitable fact that the Filipinos cannot stand alone. Thus the welfare of the Filipinos (author’s emphasis) coincides with the dictates of national honour in forbidding our abandonment of the archipelago….”

The Philippine-American War

See geography – insurgents used islands to fight US army

US responds with counter-insurgency and “total war” Concentration camps, torture,

and burning entire villages

4,000 US dead to pacify the Philippines, but 34,000-220,000 Filipino casualties

1902: TR says war is over even though insurgency continues

Student story from CSU Bakersfield – Filipino grandmother and US troops

Why keep the Philippines?McKinley, a Methodist, believed that the Filipinos needed

Christianity and civilization But many Filipinos were already Catholic from Spanish rule

Perhaps mature countries have colonies Part of “growing up” and the “white man’s burden,” referring to

1899 poem by British poet Rudyard Kipling

How will peoples living under these newly acquired territories be brought into the US? Normally when the US gained territory, the territory eventually

became a state with full constitutional protections for citizens SCOTUS: Insular Cases, 1901-04: constitutional protections

do not apply fully to people in insular territories (islands)

At what point do liberty and empire become incompatible?

“Ten Thousand Miles from Tip to Tip,” Philadelphia Times

A Pacific Empire for the US

This map, showing numerous interventions in Latin America from 1898 to 1939, illustrates some of the examples on the previous slide

Other examples of US imperialism Hawaii: sugar interests help overthrow the Queen in 1893

Push for annexation to avoid high tariff on sugar McKinley annexed Hawaii in 1898 President Clinton’s apology in 1993 (100 year anniversary)

United Fruit Company dominating Costa Rica and Guatemala China – John Hay’s Open Door Policy to maintain US trade Panama Canal – NY investors encourage Panamanians to

rebel against Colombia, 1903, and allow US-built canal Wilson authorized military intervention in Nicaragua, Haiti,

and the Dominican Republic on behalf of US banking Wilson sends 12,000 US troops into Mexico under Gen.

Pershing in search of Pancho Villa after border clashes

Ambiguous imperialismUS not really comfortable thinking of itself as an empire

Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Feb. 25, 2003: “We’re not a colonial power. We’ve never been a colonial power.”

Sec. of State Powell, Sept. 2002: “We have never been imperialists. We seek a world in which liberty, prosperity, and peace can become the heritage of all peoples.” Context: right before the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 Can an army engage in successful nation-building?

Past examples: US federal troops in Reconstruction The cases of Germany, Japan, and South Korea The cases of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan

Is this a forgotten history? If so, why?