Chapter 6- Rise to World Power (1865-1917)
Lesson 1- Seeking New Frontiers
Changing Foreign Policy

• Washington warned against permanent alliances
  • Guided US foreign policy for about 100 years
• Disagreement about what Washington meant
  • Isolationism (the belief that a nation should stay out of the affairs of other nations) or trade with other countries
• Expansionism (the practice of spreading a nation’s territorial or economic control beyond its borders) after Washington
  • Settled most of the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific
    • Americans looked beyond the nation’s borders
• Trade with China
• Japan had been isolated from the West
  • Commodore Matthew Perry went to Japan in 1853
  • Treaty of Kanagawa (1854)- Japan opened two ports to American ships

 
An Age of Imperialism

• Imperialism- the policy of extending a nation’s rule over other territories and countries
• European nations competed for influence in Asia and Africa
  • Helped lead to World War I

 
Visions of American Empire

• Some Americans wanted the US to build an empire to become a great power
• Secretary of State William H. Seward wanted an American empire that dominated the Caribbean, Central America, and the Pacific
  • Canal across Central America
  • Communication by telegraph

 
The Purchase of Alaska

• Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million in 1867
  • Mocked at first (Seward’s folly)
  • Gold discovered there in the 1890s
• Alaska became a US territory in 1912

 
“Lifting Up” the World

• Josiah Strong proposed an “imperialism of righteousness”
  • Americans would bring their religion and culture to Africa, Asia, and Latin America

 
American Interest in Latin America

• Strong trading relationship with Latin America
• Pan-American Union created in 1889- promoted cooperation among members

 
A Stronger Navy

• Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan wanted to improve the navy
  • Colonies to use as bases to refuel ships
• Shift from sails to steam power and from wooden to steel hulls

 
Lesson 2- Imperialism in the Pacific
Hawaii and the United States

• William H. Seward acquired the islands of Midway in 1867
  • Stopping place for American ships en route to China

 
A Growing American Presence

• Americans and Hawaiians began trading in the 1790s
• Christian missionaries went to Hawaii
• American merchants in the whaling trade went to settle in Hawaii
• Americans started growing sugarcane in Hawaii in the 1830s
  • Missionaries and traders began buying land and setting up sugar plantations
• Americans took control of most of the land and businesses

 
American Planters’ Revolt

• Queen Liliuokalani wanted Hawaiians to regain control of the islands
  • American planters forced her out of power
    • Set up their own provisional government (temporary government) in 1893

 
The United States Annexes Hawaii

• Provisional government asked the US to annex Hawaii
  • Most Hawaiians opposed annexation
• President Benjamin Harrison signed an annexation treaty
  • Not ratified by the Senate before Harrison left office and withdrawn by Grover Cleveland
• Annexation approved after William McKinley became president
  • Hawaii became a US territory in 1900

 
Samoa

• About 3,000 miles south of Hawaii
• Allowed the US to build a naval station and gave special trading rights to the US
  • Great Britain and Germany also given trading rights
• US, Britain, and Germany divided Samoa
  • US annexed its portion, Britain withdrew in return for rights in other islands

 
An Open Door to China

• War and lack of industry made China too weak to resist foreign powers

 
Rivalries in China

• Japan and European nations had spheres of influence (sections of a country in which foreign nations enjoy special rights and powers) in China
  • Caused tension between the countries

 
Hay’s “Open Door”

• Secretary of State John Hay proposed an Open Door policy
  • Each foreign nation in China could trade freely in the other nations’ spheres of influence
    • Opposed by other nations

 
The Boxer Rebellion

• Chinese society (the Boxers) rose up against foreigners in 1899
  • Put by foreign troops in 1900
  • Open Door policy accepted after the rebellion

 
Relations with Japan

• Japan ignored the Open Door policy
  • Japan and Russia fought over Manchuria
  • Led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904

 
Treaty of Portsmouth

• President Roosevelt met with Russian and Japanese leaders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Treaty of Portsmouth ended the conflict in 1905
• Japan built up its naval power and challenged the US in Asia

 
Strained Relations

• Japanese in the US faced discrimination
  • Separate schools from white students in San Francisco
    • Roosevelt got them to change this policy
• Gentlemen’s Agreement resented by the Japanese
  • Some Americans called for war
• Roosevelt sent 16 battleships (“Great White Fleet”) on a cruise around the world
• US and Japan resolved many of their differences by 1909

 
Lesson 3- War With Spain
“A Splendid Little War”

• People in Cuba rebelled against Spain in the late 1800s
• Thousands of Cubans died of starvation and disease

 
Yellow Journalism

• Americans worried about the rebellion in Cuba and were horrified by Spain’s treatment of the Cubans
• American newspapers published shocking reports about the revolution (yellow journalism)
  • Made Americans eager for war

 
“Remember the Maine”

• McKinley sent the Maine to Havana to protect American citizens and property
• 260 Americans killed when the Maine exploded on February 15, 1898
  • American newspapers blamed Spain, but it was probably an accident
• McKinley demanded an end to Spanish brutality against the Cubans
  • Spanish agreed to some demands, but Congress declared war on April 25, 1898

 
Fighting in the Philippines

• Commodore George Dewey attacked the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay
• American troops and Filipino rebels captured Manila in July 1898
  • Filipinos wanted independence

 
The War in Cuba

• Spanish fleet trapped by American ships in the harbor of Santiago
• Theodore Roosevelt- leader of the Rough Riders in Cuba
• Rough Riders and African American soldiers won the Battle of San Juan Hill in July
• Spanish fleet defeated in Santiago
  • End of Spanish resistance in Cuba
• American troops took control of Puerto Rico
  • Spain signed an armistice (an agreement to end fighting) on August 12, 1898

 
Impact of the War

• War lasted less than four months
  • About 400 Americans killed in battle or from wounds
• More than 2,000 Americans died from diseases (yellow fever, malaria, etc.)
• African American soldiers faced discrimination
• US recognized as a major military power

 
Acquiring New Lands

• Treaty of Paris officially ended the war on December 10, 1898
  • Broke up most of the Spanish empire
  • Cuba became an American protectorate (a country under the control of a different country)
  • Puerto Rico and Guam became US territories (areas completely controlled by a country)
  • Spain gave the Philippines to the US for $20 million

 
Cuban Protectorate

• US debated what to do with Cuba
• US granted full independence in 1901, but Congress adopted the Platt Amendment
  • US naval base at Guantanamo Bay
  • US had the right to take action if Cuba’s independence was threatened

 
New Government for Puerto Rico

• US set up a new government for Puerto Rico in 1900
• Jones Act in 1917 made Puerto Rico a US territory
  • American citizenship for all Puerto Ricans

 
Debate Over the Philippines

• Anti-imperialists argued that rule of the Philippines went against democratic principles
• Imperialists argued that the Philippines would give the US another Pacific naval base
• Treaty of Paris made the Philippines a US territory

 
Filipinos Rebel

• Filipinos fought for independence starting in 1899
  • Led by Emilio Aguinaldo
  • More than 4,000 US soldiers and about 220,000 Filipinos dead
• Aguinaldo captured in 1901
• William Howard Taft led a new government
  • Prepared the Philippines for eventual self-rule
• Independence in 1946

 
Lesson 4- Latin American Policies
The United States in Panama

• France attempted to build a canal in Panama but failed
• Panama is an isthmus (a narrow strip of land connecting two larger bodies of land)
• US wanted a canal

 
Revolution in Panama

• John Hay negotiated with Colombia for a 99-year lease on a strip of land across Panama
  • US would pay $10 million and an annual rent of $250,000
  • Colombian senate rejected the treaty
• US supported a Panamanian revolt against Colombia in 1903

 
The Panama Canal

• US recognized Panama’s independence
• Hay signed a treaty with Panama (same as before)
• Many Latin Americans and some Americans were angry with Roosevelt
• Difficult to build the canal
  • Damp, tropical jungle
  • Mosquitoes carried yellow fever and malaria
• Colonel William Gorgas developed mosquito control measures

 
Opening the Canal

• Panama Canal opened on August 15, 1914
• Reduced shipping costs
• Helped extend US naval power
• Canal turned over to Panama at the end of 1999

 
Policing the Western Hemisphere

• Roosevelt believed the US should deal with foreign crises with military action (“big stick”)
• US as “international police power” to preserve order and prevent anarchy (disorder and lawlessness caused by lack of effective government)

 
Roosevelt Corollary

• Monroe Doctrine- aimed to keep European powers from getting involved in Latin America
  • Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary in 1904- US had the right to get involved in the affairs of Latin American nations whenever they seemed unstable
    • US would act as a “police power” in Latin America
    • First used when the US took control of the Dominican Republic’s finances following a revolution in 1905
    • Used again when troops were sent to Cuba to stop a revolution in 1906

 
Dollar Diplomacy

• Taft wanted to substitute “dollars for bullets” in American foreign policy
• Dollar diplomacy- the policy of using economic investment to protect US interests abroad
• American investments in Latin America grew
• Built roads and harbors; increased trade
• Increased anti-US feelings

 
Relations with Mexico

• Rich landowners and US investors controlled Mexico
• Francisco Madero led a successful revolution in 1911
  • Madero killed two years later by General Victoriano Huerta
• Huerta favored the wealthy and foreign interests
  • Wilson refused to recognize Huerta’s government

 
Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”

• Woodrow Wilson wanted to promote democracy in other nations to prevent war and revolution
• Wilson wanted a foreign policy based on moral principles
• Civil war broke out in Mexico after Huerta took power
  • Wilson hoped Huerta’s government would fall
  • Wilson authorized arms sales to Venustiano Carranza (Huerta’s rival)
  • Wilson ordered US troops to seize the port of Veracruz after US sailors were arrested in April 1914
  • Carranza took power

 
Francisco “Pancho” Villa

• Pancho Villa led an uprising against Carranza
• Villa shot 16 Americans in January 1916
• Villa’s rebels burned a town in New Mexico, killing 18 Americans
• General John J. Pershing sent to Mexico to capture Pancho Villa
• American troops left Mexico in 1917 because of World War I
• Resentment against the US in Mexico