Unit 8 part I the american empire

Until the 1880's and 1890's the American people paid attention mostly to what was going on at home and showed little interest in other lands. With the exception of the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, American territorial expansion had come to a virtual standstill in 1848, when the USA gained control of California and the Southwest in the Mexican War. But by the end of the 1800's Americans were looking overseas. As many European nations were expanding their colonial empires, a new spirit entered American foreign policy. Some Americans were eager to build an empire to sell their goods around the world. Others had money they wanted to invest in factories, railroads, mines, and farms in other lands. Others believed it was their duty to bring Christianity to the people of other parts of the world. Politicians, businessmen, newspapers and missionaries joined together to claim that “the Anglo-Saxon race” – by which they meant Americans and North Europeans – had a right and duty to bring western civilization to the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

American and European interests turned to the islands of the Pacific. The United States and European countries hoped to set up bases there for their warships. The Americans also wanted to use certain islands as stopovers where steamships would take on coal for the long voyage from the United States to Asia and Australia. From 1895 onwards, much of Americans’ attention was focused upon Cuba, which lay only 90 miles from the American coast. By the late 1800's, Cuba and Puerto Rico were all that was left of the Spanish empire in the Western Hemisphere. Many Americans had investments in Cuba and followed events there closely. The Cubans, eager to be independent, had revolted in 1868. The war went on for ten years before the Spaniards won it. In 1895 the Cubans revolted again. The rebels raided and burned villages, sugar plantations and railroad depots. The Spanish in Cuba made all Cubans who lived in the countryside move to certain towns, which they could not leave. Conditions in these towns were terrible. As many as 200,000 Cubans died from disease and starvation. Most Americans sympathized with the Cuban rebels. The newspaper reports about such conditions shocked many Americans and turned them more against the Spaniards.

The United States had by now built a modern navy, and in January 1898 the battleship Maine was sent to Havana as demonstration of American power. On February 15, a mysterious explosion sank the Maine in Havana harbor. More than 250 crew members died. It is not clear who or what caused the disaster, but American newspaper headlines and many American politicians blamed the Spaniards. The cry "Remember the Maine" was heard everywhere. The US demanded that Spain withdraw from Cuba and started mobilizing volunteer troops. On April 24, 1898 Spain responded by declaring war on the United States.

The Spanish-American War was fought in two parts of the world. One was Cuba, the other was the Philippines. The Philippines was another big Spanish colony near the coast of Southeast Asia. It was said that President McKinley had to search a globe to find out exactly where it was. But he saw that the island would be useful for the United States to control. From bases in the Philippines American soldiers and sailors would be able to protect the growing number of American traders in China.

The first battle of the Spanish-American War was fought in the Philippines. American warships sank a Spanish fleet that was anchored there. A few weeks later American soldiers occupied Manila, the chief city in the Philippines, and Spanish resistance came to an end.

American soldiers also landed in Cuba. In less than two weeks of fighting, the Spanish were again defeated. Other American soldiers occupied Puerto Rico, another Spanish-owned island close to Cuba. In July the Spanish government saw it was beaten. When peace was signed, Spain gave most of its overseas empire to the United States – Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and a small Pacific island called Guam. At the same time the US also annexed Hawaii, a group of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Before this, it had been independent, but Americans owned profitable sugar and pineapple plantations there.

The Spanish-American War greatly changed the position of the United States in foreign affairs. In less than a year, the United States had become a colonial power with millions of non-Americans under its rule. Some Americans were worried by this. After all, they too had once been a colonial people. In rebelling against British rule they claimed that colonial peoples should be free to rule themselves. The principle of self-determination was written in the Declaration of Independence. Filipinos who had fought for independence from Spain were soon fighting against American occupation troops. How could Americans fight against such people without being unfaithful to the most important traditions and values of their own country? Most Americans answered this question by claiming that they were preparing undeveloped nations for civilization and democracy. They built schools and hospitals, constructed roads, provided pure water supplies and put an end to killer diseases like malaria and yellow fever in the lands they now ruled. They continued to rule most of them until the middle years of the century. The Philippines became independent in 1946. In 1953 Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth within the United States. In 1959 Hawaii was admitted as the 50^th state of the Union.

Cuba was treated differently. American troops left it in 1902, but the new republic was required to grant naval bases to the United States. The Cubans also had to accept a condition called the Platt Amendment, this said that the USA could sent troops to take control of Cuba any time it believed that American interest were in danger. And it happened many times. In 1906, for example, President Roosevelt set up an American military government in Cuba to stop the revolution. In 1912, 1917 and 1921 American marines were again sent to stop revolution in Cuba. So for years Cuba’s independence was just a pretense.

During the Spanish-American War, the Americans found out how useful it would be to have a canal that cut across Central America, joining the Caribbean with the Pacific Ocean. Such a canal would allow navy ships to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific without going all the way around South America. With naval bases in Cuba and other Caribbean islands, the United States felt it could protect a canal in Central America. At the time, Panama was part of Colombia. The United States wanted a treaty with Colombia to build the canal. They also wanted Colombia to give it a strip of land along both sides of the canal. The US offered Colombia $10 million. But the Colombian government thought the price was too low, they also feared that if they gave up a strip of land along the canal route, they might lose control over Panama. In November 1903, a group of people in Panama who wanted the United States to build the canal staged a revolt. American warships were sent to the area by President Roosevelt. They kept Colombian soldiers from landing in Panama and stopping the revolt. The Republic of Panama was declared and was recognized by the United States. Panama and the United States signed the treaty that gave the United States the right to build a canal for $10 million. It also gave the United States a lease on a strip of land ten miles (16 kilometers) wide along the canal route. The treaty gave the United States sole control of the canal area "forever." The way was clear for the Americans to build their canal and in 1904 they began digging. The canal opened in 1914. Although it was under the control of the United States, ships of all countries were allowed to use it.

Getting the right to build the Panama Canal was part of President Roosevelt's big stick diplomacy. Roosevelt liked to quote a West African saying: "Speak softly, and carry a big stick, you will go far." The saying was applied to his foreign policy. Roosevelt believed that the United States should be willing to use force (a "big stick") to protect American interests.

In March 1909, William Howard Taft took office as President. He went along with Roosevelt's policy of bringing the United States into the affairs of other countries to protect American interests. He did, however, change the policy in some ways. He encouraged American business people to invest more in areas that were strategically important to the United States, such as Latin America. To prevent European control in Latin America, President Taft wanted American banks to guarantee the debts of Latin American countries. Taft's foreign policy was called dollar diplomacy. He tried to use it both in Latin America and in China. It also put Americans in key economic positions in other countries. In this way, Americans would have a say in other countries without using force.

American firms which established themselves in other countries often received a mixed welcome. Their critics accused them of using their economic power to influence foreign governments to follow policies that serve the interests of the US rather than those of the country in which they are working. But foreign leaders often welcomed American investment as a way of obtaining new jobs and technology, and so of improving their country’s living standards.

DISCUSSION

1. Why did many Americans think that they should build an empire in the late 19^th century?

2. Why did both American and European interests turn to the Pacific islands?

3. How did Spanish rulers treat Cubans?

4. What happened to the Maine warship?

5. When did Spain declare war on the US? What was the reason for it?

6. How did Spanish rule in the Pacific come to an end?

7. What were the provisions of Peace treaty between Spain and the United States?

8. Why did many Americans see the rule of their country over other as the betrayal of American values?

9. How did the US gain control of the area for building the Panama Canal?

10. What is “Dollar diplomacy”?