U.S. History / Unit 6: The Progressive Era and World War I
6.4 American Imperialism
Notes
Imperialism is a stronger nation extending its control over weaker territories. Around 1900 the U.S. joined European powers in seeking overseas influence.
- Reasons: new markets and raw materials, naval bases (Alfred Thayer Mahan), and beliefs about spreading American culture and religion.
- Hawaii: American sugar planters overthrew Queen Liliuokalani in 1893; the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898.
- Spanish-American War (1898): sparked by Cuban independence struggles, yellow journalism (sensational news) and the explosion of the **USS Maine**. The U.S. won quickly.
- The U.S. gained Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Cuba became independent but under U.S. influence (Platt Amendment).
- Filipinos fought U.S. rule in the Philippine-American War (1899 to 1902). Anti-imperialists such as Mark Twain argued that ruling colonies contradicted American ideals.
- Open Door Policy (1899): equal trading rights for all nations in China.
- Roosevelt's "Big Stick" diplomacy: the Panama Canal (opened 1914) and the Roosevelt Corollary, claiming the right to intervene in Latin America.
Practice
Sensational, exaggerated newspaper stories that helped push the U.S. into war with Spain were called:
Papers owned by Hearst and Pulitzer competed with dramatic headlines.
Which territories did the United States gain after the Spanish-American War?
Spain ceded them in the 1898 Treaty of Paris.
An anti-imperialist in 1900 would most likely argue that:
Anti-imperialists pointed to the principle of consent of the governed.
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