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Hello and welcome to history 1120 United
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States history since
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1865. This is lecture 7 creating an
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empire 1897 to
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1902. And in this lecture we're going to
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explore the beginnings of international
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American
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imperialism. And what I mean by that is
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the movement in the late 19th
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century to
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expand American
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borders to acquire
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territory in order to grow the nation
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militarily which will in turn help the
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nation
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economically. Now, there's all sorts of
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other motivations behind it, but we'll
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go through these as we
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proceed. The first thing we want to do
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is look at the key
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considerations, the key things to think
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about as we move through this
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lecture. And the first thing to think
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about is when exactly did United States
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imperialism
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begin? For the longest time, United
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States imperialism was seen or
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determined to have begun in the late
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19th century with the acquisition of
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Hawaii and the SpanishAmerican War
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events we're going to talk about in this
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lecture. But I think what you have to
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consider
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is or think about
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is hasn't the United States always been
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imperialistic since its
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inception? And what I mean by that
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is the United States originated from the
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British North American colonies on the
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northeast coast of what is now the
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United States.
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And at the time the United States won
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its
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independence from Great Britain and the
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Treaty of Paris was signed in
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1783.
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Spain
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still occupied a large portion of the
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North American continent,
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including a large portion of what is now
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the American Southwest.
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and the American
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Southeast. Russia was still disputing
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territory in the Northwest with Britain
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and with the United States when they
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moved out there and their
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interests. So certainly there is a
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perpetual movement then west to
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challenge these countries for territory.
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But not only
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that, you could go back further and talk
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about the
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colonization of the British North
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American
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colonies. And you could argue that the
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takeover of land, the conquest of Native
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American tribes of the indigenous
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peoples could be considered imperialism.
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I guess what I'm trying to say is, you
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know, did imperialism begin with the
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acquisition of Cuba and Hawaii and the
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Philippines and Guam and Puerto Rico,
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the things we're going to talk about
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today in the late 19th century, or has
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it always been there and this perpetual
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push for more territory? So, just
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something to think about, some food for
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thought, as they say.
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A second key consideration is what
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fueled United States imperialism during
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this
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period.
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And this could be something of a
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physical nature, a tangible nature like
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resources. Now certainly we've already
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mentioned the United States was rich in
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natural resources, a net exporter of oil
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up through World War II.
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So, I'm not sure this was as much the
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case, but land is a tangible
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resource,
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definitely. But we're really going to
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look at some ideological motivations as
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well and the kind of
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ethnosentric motivations of Americans,
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indeed of Western Europeans at the time.
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Uh, probably best signified by Rard
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Kiplings, that famous author of The
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Jungle Book. his poem, The White Man's
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Burden, which I have provided you a link
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to and which you will be asked about on
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your quiz. A wonderful primary source
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from the late 1890s that demonstrates
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the ideological motivation of many
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Western Europeans or
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Americans for colonizing other parts of
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the world.
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Finally, the other key consideration is
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what motivated the United States to
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declare war on Spain. This is another
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question argued about
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historiographically. Was it this
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imperialist
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tendency, this long sought need for
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Cuba, this longing for
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Cuba that started the war with Spain? Or
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were was it a more immediate cause? Was
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it
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simply the explosion of the USS Maine in
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Havana Harbor in
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1898? So that's again something to
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consider as we move through this
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lecture.
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Once the continental United States had
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been filled out with the Gadston
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purchase in
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1853, the only other territorial
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acquisition was Alaska by William
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Seard in the
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1850s. The United States was extremely
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aggressive at the end of the 19th
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century.
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In this short amount of time, the United
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States created an empire across the
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globe, really in a time span of 5 years.
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And this would include territories in
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the Caribbean, in the South Pacific, and
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in the Central Pacific.
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So in 5 years, the United States gains
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Puerto Rico, gains dominance in Cuba, in
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Central America, it gains Hawaii, the
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Johnson Islands, the Wake Islands,
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American Samoa, Guam, the Philippines,
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and the Dominican Republic.
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Now there are negative consequences of
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these
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actions especially in Latin
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America but these actions occurred
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nonetheless. So then we have to ask
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ourselves
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how was this able to occur? How did the
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United States achieve this?
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And we have to turn then to some
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motives, some motivations for this
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imperialism or at least uh
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rationale. And these motives and reasons
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really center around the SpanishAmerican
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War. And textbooks usually emphasize two
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reasons. A desire for new markets to
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sell goods and a desire for raw
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materials.
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But this imperialism, this outburst of
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imperialism probably had more to do with
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a desire to emulate the major powers of
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Europe. It was probably more
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ideological, a kind of pride in the
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United States or
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nationalism. The United States was not
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really a global power yet. And to be a
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major player in the world, you had to
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possess colonial
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territories, just like the big European
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nations did, like Great Britain and
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France and Germany and
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Italy. All of these European countries
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were engaged in an all-out race to
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acquire foreign territory from not the
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non-industrialized world.
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And in the 1880s, these nations carved
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up Africa and Southeast Asia and what
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has been called the new
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imperialism. France established
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dominance in Vietnam and in Cambodia and
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in
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Laos. Britain established dominance in
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India. Japan and other European nations
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were carving up China into spheres of
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influence.
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There were major US spokespersons and
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intellectual
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leaders talking
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about acquiring a United States empire
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to emulate European nations or to
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compete for supremacy.
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Two of those vocal advocates of
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expansion were Teddy Roosevelt, a future
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president of the United States, who
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we're going to talk about in the next
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lecture, and Henry Kat
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Lodge, a politician from
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Massachusetts, who dominated
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Congress. These are striding voices for
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expansion and imperialism.
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Roosevelt was extremely influenced by
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Admiral Alfred theor Mayan's book, The
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Influence of Sea Power on History,
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published in 1887.
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Mayan had been fascinated by the success
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of Britain's world domination of
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trade and he thought the United States
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could become a great power by emulating
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Britain. So his book then was a study of
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the building of the British
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Empire or how the British Navy carved
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out the empire.
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Britain had used their powerful navy to
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grab a hold of key seal lanes for
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trade. Britain controlled the openings
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of the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez
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Canal,
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Gibralar. Also, Britain controlled
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Singapore and other key ports in
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Asia. In other words, then you had to
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pass through British controlled
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territory to get in or out of these
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areas.
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mayor concluded that there was room for
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the United States to do the same and he
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advocated what's called the large
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policy. The large policy and this large
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policy is a kind of strategic rationale
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for
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expansion. Maym's large policy was
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supported by Teddy Roosevelt and Henry
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Kabat Lodge to follow the British
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pattern, the British example.
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to build a large navy to protect US
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merchant shipping wherever it
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went. The large policy called for
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acquiring territories and key islands
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around the globe. These territories and
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islands would serve as stations for
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navy and merchants. They would be called
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cooling stations.
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So, you'd want to choose islands with
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good harbors where you could store coal
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and supplies for naval vessels and
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merchant
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vessels. The United States begins to
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discuss the policy and what islands
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would be
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advantageous and they decide on Hawaii
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and other islands in the Pacific.
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They argued vigorously for a canal
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across Central
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America, which would make for a quick
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transfer of naval vessels from the
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Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and vice
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versa, which would allow the United
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States to control trade between the
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Atlantic and
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Pacific. They decided that the United
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States needed to control islands in the
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Caribbean. to control access to the
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Caribbean, make it a kind of American
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lake so no one else can take over the
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canal. The second rationale or
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justification for the acquisition of
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territories was an idea built around
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religion and strong confidence in the
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United States system of
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government. I guess you could say
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American
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exceptionalism. This ideological
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motivation was probably best voiced by
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Josiah Strong, a Protestant
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minister and an elite member of society.
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Strong wrote our country in
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1885 which provided a religious
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rationale for
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expansion. In our country, Strong argued
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that United States expansion would be
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good for the
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world. that the people in the
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territories which the United States
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would gain would benefit from the United
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States system of government, the United
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States economic system,
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capitalism, and Protestant
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Christianity. That the United States had
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a divine mission to make the lives of
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people around the globe better by
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imposing the United States system on
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them. This this was the United States
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responsibility. According to Strong and
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others of his
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ilk, he argued that it would be good for
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both
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parties, the native peoples and the
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United States.
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Most of the expansion, however, comes
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within the context of
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war. And that war would come with Spain.
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It would begin in the spring of
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1898. Now, the United States did not
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need to get involved in the
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SpanishAmerican War. It was a war of
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choice rather than a war of necessity.
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There had been many revolution attempts
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in Cuba's history, a very prominent one
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in the
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1860s. Cuba had been under the rule of
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Spain since the time of
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Columbus. The
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revolution in Cuba in 1895 was
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particularly intense.
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So there was a long tradition of
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aspiration for independence in Cuba and
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this attracted the United States
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attention because Cuba is only 90 miles
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away from the Florida
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Keys. It seemed to many in US history
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that Cuba would inevitably be a United
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States state.
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John Quincy Adams referred to Cuba as a
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ripening apple that would eventually
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fall into the US's
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basket. In other words, he believed that
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eventually Cuba would become a
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state. Every president from John Quincy
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Adams to Abraham Lincoln offered to buy
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Cuba from Spain. Andrew Jackson tried
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several
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times. The South was adamant about
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buying Cuba before the Civil War. They
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wanted it to become a slave state.
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Slavery was already legal in
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Cuba. Cuba rebuked the United
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States. In the 1890s, it had become a
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question of gaining control of the
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Caribbean.
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Cuban revolutionaries took up arms
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against Spain and Spain utilized brutal
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suppression
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policies. One policy was called
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reconstitrado and this reconstitrado
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policy caused outrage in the United
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States. Under reconstit rebels were
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placed in concentration camps where the
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conditions were horrible.
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Now this of course was very brutal but
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the United States press made it
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worse. This is the era of yellow
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journalism. This is when the term yellow
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journalism gets
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coined. So the press is key to bringing
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about this war or at least US
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involvement in it because the press
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tried to find sensational stories during
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the period to excite the public and sell
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newspapers. Two major New York
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newspapers were engaged in a newspaper
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war in New York
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City. William Randph Hurst paper and
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Joseph Pulitzer's paper.
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They were engaged in a death-like
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struggle to dominate the New York
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market. They were trying to get people
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to get excited about buying newspapers.
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So, the newspapers portrayed with
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sensationalism the abuses of Spain in
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Cuba. This built sympathy towards Cubans
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and bred hate toward Spain.
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And as this continued to go on, voices
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for US involvement in this Cuban push
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for independence from Spain
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increased. In fact, almost $50 million
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worth of bonds to finance the Cuban
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revolutionaries had been sold in the
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United
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States, mostly on the East Coast in the
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New York area.
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What is crucial though is all of this
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comes
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together. This yellow journalism, this
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anti- Spanish fervor, this imperialistic
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tendency, these motivations, they all
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come together with the sinking of the US
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battleship, the USS Maine in Havana
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Harbor.
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All of this would force the hand of
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President William McKinley to ask
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Congress for a war declaration against
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Spain. McKinley had been reluctant to go
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to war. The economy was fragile. He
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didn't want another depression.
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Remember, the United States had just
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gone through or was just coming out of a
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major depression from 1893 to 1897.
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and he feared investors would become
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frightened with United States
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involvement. But the sinking of Maine
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changed
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everything. The papers, the government,
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and the public assumed a Spanish bomb
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sunk the
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main. Now, they found out later that the
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main probably sunk because of an
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internal
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explosion, but 262 American lives were
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lost. and it is the perception in the
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United States that
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matters. McKinley continued to debate
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the question of
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war. The main sunk in February of
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1898. By April, however, he concluded
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that the uncertainty of going to war was
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doing more damage to the economy than
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actually going to war. So, in April,
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McKinley asked Congress for a
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declaration of
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war. and I've linked you to McKinley's
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war declaration or request for a war
00:21:01
declaration from
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Congress. At the same time McKinley
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decided to go to war. Spain offered
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terms for peace. They didn't want the
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United States getting
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involved. They said they would grant
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Cuban independence on terms favorable to
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the United
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States. They would basically give the
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United States everything they were
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asking for.
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But McKinley pressed for war anyway and
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Congress gave the agreement for his war
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declaration on April 20th,
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1898. The war itself was completely
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one-sided. In fact, Frank Fredell wrote
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a book about the war titled The Splendid
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Little War.
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You have a modern and industrial nation,
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the United States, versus a country that
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was neither in
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Spain. Teddy Roosevelt, the assistant
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secretary to the Navy at the time,
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dispatched Admiral Dwey in a flotilla of
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US
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ships. The ships were sent to Manila
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Harbor, and they arrived on May 1st.
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They destroyed the Spanish Pacific Fleet
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in seven
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hours. They sunk 10 ships and killed 381
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Spanish
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sailors. The United States suffered
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eight wounded and no ships
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lost. Basically, you had a Spanish wood
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navy versus a steel propeller-driven US
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Navy.
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One month later, you have a similar
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battle at Santiago Bay on the southern
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coast of
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Cuba. This battle lasted for 4 hours.
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The United States sunk all
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vessels in Spanish
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waters, killed 474 Spaniards, took over
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1,700 prisoners.
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One soldier died, one
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wounded. There were some battles on land
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in Cuba. Famous battle at San Juan Hill
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where TR Teddy Roosevelt became famous
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for leading his rough riders up San Juan
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Hill. Although this battle really didn't
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affect the outcome, it springboarded. It
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propelled Teddy Roosevelt to American
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fame. So the outcome of the war then was
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based on two naval battles. one in
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Manila Harbor in Philippines and one at
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Santiago Bay in
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Cuba. Now, Spain could not continue.
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They couldn't supply their troops. So,
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they sued for
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peace. For the entire war, total US
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casualties was under
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400. The United States did
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lose almost 5,000 people due to disease.
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So disease was a much greater enemy than
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the Spanish and the fighting had lasted
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almost three
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months. The two sides signed the Treaty
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of Paris in December
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1898. The treaty was ratified by the
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Senate in February of
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1899 with two votes to spare. Although
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there there was intense debate over this
00:24:40
treaty because it was the acquisition of
00:24:44
new territory and those there were many
00:24:46
that opposed acquiring new territory for
00:24:49
humanitarian reasons or for simple
00:24:52
racial
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considerations. In the Treaty of Paris,
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Spain seated Puerto Rico to the United
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States. Spain sold the Philippines to
00:25:03
the United States for $20 million.
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Spain seated Guam in the Pacific Ocean
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to the United
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States. In this treaty, the United
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States promised Cuban independence in
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Spain accepted. In
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fact, when McKinley asked Congress for a
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war declaration against Spain, he said
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it was to grant Cuban
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independence. Keep that in mind.
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In a stroke of a pen, then the United
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States acquired an international
00:25:40
empire. For the first time, the United
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States is a major Pacific
00:25:50
power. Now, if you're thinking all of
00:25:52
this seems a little too
00:25:55
easy, you're
00:25:57
right. The Filipinos were not thrilled
00:26:00
with the treaty.
00:26:02
They had taken up arms against Spain
00:26:04
just like the Cubans
00:26:07
had. The United States brought in exiled
00:26:10
Filipino leaders to fight
00:26:12
Spain. One of those leaders, Amelio
00:26:18
Auanado, began to lead the Filipino
00:26:21
rebels against the United States. 2 days
00:26:24
after the United States Senate approved
00:26:27
the Treaty of
00:26:30
Paris, they thought they were going to
00:26:32
receive their independence from the
00:26:34
United States once Spain was
00:26:37
defeated. They did not want to exchange
00:26:39
one colonial government for another.
00:26:42
They felt that they deserved their
00:26:44
independence. They had raised their own
00:26:46
army and wrote their own Declaration of
00:26:48
Independence.
00:26:51
Agonado raised the forces that had
00:26:53
fought against
00:26:56
Spain. In
00:26:59
response to the Filipinos
00:27:03
actions, McKinley sent troops to put
00:27:06
down
00:27:07
Auanaldo. Initially, McKinley sent
00:27:10
20,000 troops. Those troops killed
00:27:13
Auanado, but the Filipinos spot on in
00:27:16
guerilla fashion.
00:27:18
McKinley sent 20,000 more troops and
00:27:21
then more. So you get this gradual
00:27:24
escalation
00:27:26
similar to what we will see in Vietnam
00:27:30
in the
00:27:33
1960s. There are atrocities on both
00:27:35
sides, many
00:27:37
executions,
00:27:38
torture. These led to congressional
00:27:42
investigations. One Filipino village was
00:27:45
torched and everyone was killed. This
00:27:47
was extremely embarrassing to the United
00:27:53
States. I've linked you to some primary
00:27:56
source letters of soldiers fighting in
00:27:58
the Philippines and they write home and
00:28:00
they're questioning, "We don't know what
00:28:01
we're fighting for. We just want to come
00:28:03
home." Those letters, the tone of those
00:28:05
letters are very similar to the letters
00:28:08
written by troops in
00:28:11
Vietnam. So many similarities
00:28:15
there. Eventually, the Filipinos were
00:28:18
defeated by the end of
00:28:20
1902 and a territorial government was
00:28:24
established. Initially, this territorial
00:28:27
government was headed by the military,
00:28:29
but then by the United States civilian
00:28:32
regime in
00:28:35
1906. By 1916, Congress concluded that
00:28:39
all of this had been an expensive
00:28:42
mistake, kind of an admission that the
00:28:44
war had been a mistake. and they
00:28:46
promised the Philippines their
00:28:50
independence. This was called the Jones
00:28:52
Act. However, the Jones Act would not be
00:28:56
implemented until after World War II
00:29:00
when the Filipinos would finally get
00:29:03
their
00:29:06
independence. Let us then return to
00:29:11
Cuba. And I've posted what you see in
00:29:15
front of you is a map of all of the
00:29:18
United States interventions in the early
00:29:20
20th century in Latin America in the
00:29:24
Caribbean. And it's rather extensive. So
00:29:27
let's talk about how we get to that
00:29:31
point. The United States, as I mentioned
00:29:33
earlier, had promised Cuban
00:29:36
independence. There was an amendment
00:29:38
that said this in the war declaration.
00:29:43
that the US had no territorial ambitions
00:29:46
in Cuba, that they were only fighting to
00:29:48
free
00:29:48
Cuba. But after the war, this was hard
00:29:52
to
00:29:53
do. There was no law and order. So the
00:29:56
United States left Marines in
00:29:58
Cuba. Cuba was in turmoil. There was no
00:30:01
civilian authority. It looked like chaos
00:30:04
would result if the United States left.
00:30:07
So these US troops were left in Cuba and
00:30:10
they oversaw the writing of a new
00:30:14
constitution. They submitted it to
00:30:16
Congress. They gave it to the US War
00:30:18
Department, decided that it was
00:30:21
inadequate, that it needed special
00:30:23
provisions protecting US interests.
00:30:29
So, it was the United States War
00:30:33
Department that rewrote the Cuban
00:30:40
Constitution. The US War Department
00:30:43
wrote the Cuban
00:30:46
Constitution. They wanted to place
00:30:48
provisions in it that protected
00:30:50
America's interests. There was a
00:30:52
military appropriations
00:30:55
act. Excuse me. It was I mean
00:30:58
essentially th this constitution was a
00:31:00
military appropriations act and they
00:31:02
made two significant revisions that I
00:31:05
want to emphasize. The first
00:31:07
is a provision that guaranteed the
00:31:10
United States the right to intervene
00:31:12
militarily in Cuban affairs whenever the
00:31:16
United States saw
00:31:18
fit. So not much sovereignty for Cuba
00:31:21
there. And the second provision
00:31:24
specified that the United States should
00:31:27
have ownership of a naval base on the
00:31:29
southern coast of Cuba, what would
00:31:32
become Guantanamo Bay. So if you were
00:31:35
ever asking yourself why through all
00:31:38
these icy relations with Cuba during the
00:31:41
Cold War and ever since uh
00:31:43
Castro led the Cuban Revolution in the
00:31:46
late
00:31:47
1950s did the United States remain at
00:31:50
least still maintain a military base in
00:31:54
Cuba in a communist Cuba. This is why
00:31:58
because of this Cuban Constitution
00:32:00
written by the War
00:32:03
Department. There were other minor
00:32:05
changes as
00:32:06
well. Congress took the constitution
00:32:09
from the war department and adopted
00:32:14
it. The revisions to the constitution
00:32:18
were called the platt amendment. P l a
00:32:22
tt plat amendment.
00:32:25
The Platt amendment essentially made
00:32:28
Cuba an American
00:32:31
protectorate and specified the changes
00:32:33
to the Cuban
00:32:35
constitution. Cuba ratified the changed
00:32:38
constitution. It also became part of a
00:32:40
Cuban-American treaty in
00:32:44
1903. Now, US forces did improve Cuba's
00:32:47
infrastructure. They built schools,
00:32:50
roads, and
00:32:52
hospitals. and they stayed two years
00:32:54
until a pro- US regime was elected in
00:32:58
1903. But after 1906, when a new regime
00:33:01
was elected that was critical of US
00:33:03
policy, Teddy Roosevelt sent in troops
00:33:06
under the Platt Amendment and governed
00:33:08
Cuba until
00:33:10
1909. They were brought home after
00:33:12
another election was supervised by the
00:33:14
United States, but troops returned in
00:33:17
1911, sent there by President William
00:33:19
Howard Taft. and in 1917 sent by
00:33:23
President Woodro
00:33:27
Wilson. What all this meant was what the
00:33:29
Plat amendment meant was is that Cuba
00:33:31
was really a United States
00:33:34
protectorate. That it was only allowed
00:33:36
its independence if the leaders it chose
00:33:39
pleased the United States.
00:33:44
Also in
00:33:46
1898 you have the annexation of
00:33:51
Hawaii. The United States had been
00:33:53
interested in Hawaii for a long
00:33:56
time. The lead was taken by New England
00:33:59
missionaries. They had huge outreach
00:34:01
programs in the 1820s all the way
00:34:03
through the
00:34:05
1870s in the American West and in China
00:34:07
and in Hawaii.
00:34:10
So it was these missionaries that
00:34:11
established a US
00:34:13
presence in
00:34:15
Hawaii. The missionaries became close to
00:34:18
the ruling
00:34:20
families and children in the ruling
00:34:22
families used their position of
00:34:23
influence to gain 90% of Hawaii's
00:34:28
land which they then sold to planters or
00:34:31
became planters themselves. They were
00:34:33
known as the missionary boys.
00:34:37
They cultivated pineapple, sugarcane,
00:34:40
and other lucrative
00:34:43
crops. At the same time, Hawaii's native
00:34:46
population began dying off at an
00:34:48
alarming rate because they had no
00:34:50
tolerance for European diseases, similar
00:34:53
to the Native Americans.
00:34:58
In January
00:35:01
1893, US leaders in Hawaii staged a
00:35:04
coup, overthrowing the ruling family of
00:35:06
Hawaii. They used troops,
00:35:10
marines. They jailed the ruling family,
00:35:13
the queen, in a royal palace. And they
00:35:17
replaced the ruling
00:35:19
family with an American supervised
00:35:21
government.
00:35:24
This government want wanted annexation
00:35:26
by the United States immediately after
00:35:28
taking
00:35:30
control. The treaty of annexation was
00:35:34
prepared. The queen was forced to sign
00:35:37
it. It was sent to the Senate for
00:35:40
ratification. In fact, President
00:35:41
Harrison pushed hard for its adoption.
00:35:44
But before the Senate could act, Grover
00:35:47
Cleveland was installed.
00:35:54
The new president, Grover Cleveland, was
00:35:57
uneasy about US actions in Hawaii. So he
00:36:00
withdrew the treaty from the Senate and
00:36:02
he sent emissaries to Hawaii to
00:36:05
investigate. Those emissaries composed a
00:36:08
special report which revealed the extent
00:36:11
of the United States involvement in
00:36:12
overthrowing the regime.
00:36:16
Cleveland felt that this was not the way
00:36:18
to go to
00:36:20
acquire a territory, not the way to go
00:36:23
about
00:36:24
it. So Cleveland refused to press for
00:36:28
annexation. So the matter sat there for
00:36:31
four
00:36:32
years. When William McKinley replaced
00:36:35
Cleveland in
00:36:36
1896, he had trouble building boats to
00:36:39
enex Hawaii. There was resistance by
00:36:42
Democrats, especially the followers of
00:36:44
William Jennings
00:36:46
Brian. He was not able to get the
00:36:49
twothirds needed to
00:36:51
ratify. But in the middle of the war
00:36:53
with Spain in July, McKinley had enough
00:36:57
votes and the treaty was resubmitted and
00:37:02
approved. That is the annexation of
00:37:05
Hawaii.
00:37:08
That ends the lecture on the late 19th
00:37:12
century American
00:37:14
imperialism. Your corresponding quiz
00:37:18
will cover this lecture and some primary
00:37:21
sources that I've linked you to in the
00:37:24
course materials folder. Thank you.
