7.2 & 7.3: Imperialism
7.2: Explain the similarities and differences in attitudes about the nation’s proper role in the world.
7.3: Explain the effects of the Spanish–American War.
With Unit 6 done, we are now two-thirds of the way through with the curriculum and now, we’re going to be entering Unit 7, which covers the years 1898 to 1945. So now, let’s start off our first set of notes for Unit 7 with an overview of American imperial expansion.
Definition of Imperialism
So what was imperialism? Imperialism, essentially, is a policy of expanding a country’s political, economic, and military influence over another country through either diplomacy or by force. And during this time, America expanded outside of its borders and did many things following an imperialist ideology. For example, in 1867, America purchased the territory of Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million dollars. This was done by William Seward, who was Lincoln and then Johnson’s secretary of state, and became known as Seward’s Folly because people believed that the territory was worthless and was just a frozen wasteland. But in 1898 though, gold was discovered in Alaska and many people began traveling to Alaska to mine for the precious metal.
Even after the frontier closed and America had finished expanding all the way west to the Pacific Ocean, America continued to desire expansion and this began the push for an American Empire. But as a result of this, a lot of debates emerged over whether or not America should expand and whether or not imperialism should be supported.
Arguments Against Imperialism
As for the anti-imperialists, some formed groups such as the Anti-Imperialist League and they had their own arguments:
The United States should not get itself involved with other nations because other nations should have the right to self-determination, which is the right to decide for itself who ruled it.
America became a country because they broke away from Britain, an empire, and so it would be hypocritical if America were to then start creating an empire for itself.
The Spanish-American War
But even as some Americans argued against imperialism, they couldn’t stop the nation from doing so either way and that leads us to the Spanish-American War. During this time, many industrialists, imperialists, and politicians wanted the United States to acquire the island of Cuba. At the time, Cuba was a Spanish colony and in 1895, the Spanish had just recently stopped a Cuban rebellion against Spain and forced many Cubans into camps where many died of unsanitary conditions, starvation, overcrowding, and disease. Why does this matter? Well, this leads us to the topic of yellow journalism.
Yellow Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were both owners of large newspaper publishing companies and they were both competing for readership against each other. As a result, their journalists began competing for the people’s attention by publishing increasingly shocking and sensational stories to get people to buy their papers. Basically, this was the newspaper version of clickbait. These papers favored attention and getting money rather than truth and responsible journalism. As a result, the journalists, which would become known as yellow journalists, began publishing greatly exaggerated stories about the terrible things that the Spanish were doing to the Cubans. As the people bought these papers and read them, they became convinced that America needed to do something to stop Spain and save the Cubans. So afterwards, to keep an eye on the Spanish, some of the US Navy was sent there. Soon after, in 1898, one of those battleships, the U.S.S. Maine, exploded in Havana Harbor, killing over 200 Americans. While it was an accident, yellow journalists began reporting on the incident and saying that it was caused by the Spanish. These falsified and exaggerated newspapers sold crazily and many Americans believed them. This forced President McKinley to issue an ultimatum to Spain to agree to a ceasefire in Cuba. Spain agreed but the public and Congress kept demanding war and so McKinley agreed, starting the short Spanish-American War, which ended in the United States’ victory and the independence of Cuba.
More Expansion
But shortly after, American politicians forced the Platt Amendment to be put in the new Cuban constitution, which gave the U.S. the right to intervene in Cuba if American economic interests were threatened. This made it difficult for Cuba to conduct foreign policy and do things in their own self-interest and as a result, America had extended their influence over Cuba.
Also as a result of the war, the Philippines were annexed from Spain. Theodore Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the navy, sent the navy to the Philippines to attack the Spanish fleet there and help Filipino nationals overthrow Spanish rule. After the war, the Philippines was ceded to the U.S. for $20 million. But the Philippines thought that America was helping in the war to help the Philippines gain independence, and when that didn’t happen, the Filipinos, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, fought the Philippine–American War from 1899 to 1902 to try and gain independence. But in the end, the U.S. kept control of the Philippines and this would last for the next few decades until after World War II.
In addition to Cuba and the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico were also taken from Spain. Also, earlier in 1898, the United States had annexed Hawaii. Just five years before that, in 1893, American businessmen and settlers had overthrown Queen Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian monarch. And so that’s how the United States spread its territorial influence over parts of the world during this period.
Other Imperialism
Now, onto economic imperialism. Once the United States had control over Hawaii, the Philippines, and Guam, American activity in Asia greatly increased. The U.S. helped put down the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1899. In addition, during this time, many European nations had essentially taken over China through events such as the Opium Wars and the cutting of China into spheres of influence. But none of this involved the United States and so, not wanting to let future opportunities in China disappear completely, John Hay, President McKinley’s secretary of state, negotiated the Open Door Policy in China so that the United States could have access to free trade and equal privileges in China without European interference.
Arguments For Imperialism
For those who supported imperialists, they used many arguments to support their stance.
America needed more raw materials and in order to get them, they needed to expand
Imperialists wanted to find new markets for their goods, meaning that the nation needed to expand its influence overseas in order to get access to these new markets.
They argued that there would be economic opportunities and benefits to conquering other islands and places.
They argued that the United States had been expanding ever since it gained independence from Britain and just because there was no land left on the North American continent didn’t mean they should stop expanding.
Imperialists also argued for an empire through the philosophy of Social Darwinism, which argued that strong nations, such as America, should expand their influence and dominate over smaller, weaker nations.
Lastly, another main argument was that the United States needed to expand to keep up with other European powers, because the European powers had been expanding and developing colonies all over the world for decades and centuries already.
Racism was also used to justify imperialism. Protestant minister Josiah Strong wrote a book titled “Our Country - Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis” in which he argued that the white race was the fittest and the pinnacle of evolution. He also said that because they were Christians, it was their duty to spread their influence overseas and bring the riches of Christianity and western civilization to less fortunate people. In 1890, Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote “The Influence of Sea Power on History”, which argued that any country that got rich and powerful got that way because they had a strong navy. Because of that, he argued that the nation needed to develop a strong navy in order to have access to foreign markets. As a result, Congress approved the construction of a new fleet of ships and this fleet of ships allowed the nation to begin traveling to and taking over many islands in the Pacific and the Caribbean.
After the Spanish-American War, the United States began to assert its influence over the Caribbean and Latin America much more strongly. For example, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President from 1901 to 1909, he established the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that Europeans should stay out of the Western Hemisphere. In 1912, the Lodge Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was established, which stated that non-European powers were excluded from owning any territory in the Western Hemisphere. This was established after a group of Japanese investors wanted to buy part of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
Up until this point, America had mostly kept itself in isolation and avoided interacting with other countries. Way back in the beginnings of the nation in George Washington’s Farewell Speech, Washington warned against getting involved with other foreign powers. Anti-imperialists agreed with this and argued that if America were to expand outside of its borders, the country would get itself dragged into many wars and economic disputes unrelated to them.
Some anti-imperialists argued that non-white people couldn’t be assimilated and wouldn’t be capable of living in the United States, so why should America take over their territory?
If America took over other territories, would the people in those territories become American citizens? They argued that it was a ridiculous idea to be making foreigners, especially people of other races, American citizens, so they might as well not attempt expansion at all.