Part 7

American Imperialism (1865 – 1914)

*The Causes of American Imperialism*

- Between the Civil War and WWI, American foreign policy reflected a nation of expansionists and imperialists – cultural, economic, and otherwise. Of course, the US was not alone in this course of action: Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and other powers acted no differently. 
- So, what led the US to undertake its imperialist ventures? Generally, e/t foreign policy is determined by an elite group of leaders [instead of more directly by the people, as most people don’t give a crap], it really ends up reflecting the domestic climate of the country. So, the most relevant causes are as follows…
ECONOMICALLY there were three main factors:
Foreign Trade – The US reversed its unfavorable balance of trade for the first time in 1874 due increasing agricultural and manufacturing exports. Since the livelihood of Americans was subsequently connected to world conditions, the US needed to have a strong foothold as a world power to protect its trading interests. 
The Search for New Marketplaces – The era was one of economic expansion, and most of the leaders felt that expansion should know no borders, and that the gov’t should help American entrepreneurs abroad by using US power. 
Economic “Safety Valve” – In addition to the sheer profit motive from foreign sales, some feared [due to the crashes and such] that foreign commerce was needed as a safety valve to relieve economic woes like overproduction, etc. 
IDEOLOGICALLY & CULTURALLY there were several means of motivation/justification: 
American Exceptionalism/Manifest Destiny – Americans have special qualities that make them, well, SPECIAL and deserving of taking over the world. Our values, our ideas…everything about us should be spread! 
Racism ­– Other races aren’t capable of self-government! Only we are, so we should “help” them out. To heck w/diplomacy – they aren’t worthy. 
Social Darwinism – And who says we shouldn’t reign triumphant? Darwin always said the best race would win out. 
Obsession with Masculinity – Self-explanatory. 
Missionary/Civilizing Impulse – In other words, the “nice” version of American Exceptionalism (the idea that we’re special). The missionaries just made it all godly and altruistic and everything, as many really believed that they were benefiting the people they subjugated b/c they were giving them “liberty” and “prosperity.” 
- Enough of that. Now what the heck actually happened?

*US Ambitions Abroad: 1860 – 1880*

- The American empire grew slowly over time, prompted by leaders like William H. Seward [NY Senator, Secretary of State 1861 – 1869], who saw a huge US empire including Canada and surrounding islands. This empire, he thought, would come together naturally through gravitation towards the US and trade. 
- Some of Seward’s schemes included…
Virgin Islands – He tried to buy them from Denmark in 1867, but the Senate and a hurricane prevented the purchase. 
Samaná Bay Naval Base – Attempt to get a base in the Dominican Republic, didn’t work. 
Intervention in Mexico – Using the Monroe Doctrine, Seward sent troops to the Mexican border in 1866 and got Napoleon III to abandon its puppet regime there.
Alaska – In 1867 Seward bought resource-rich Alaska from Russia. 
A Worldwide Communication System - Due to the financier Cyrus Field, a transatlantic cable was built to link European and American telegraph networks. This network was then extended to Latin America as well. 
- Other important trends in foreign policy under Seward & Fish [his successor]:
Anglo-American Rapprochement – During this time GB and the US grew closer. Examples of this shocking new phenomenon include…
The Alabama claims – The Alabama and such ships were built for the Confederacy by GB. As they caused Union losses, the US demanded reparations, and the question was eventually resolved through a British tribunal that decided on the amount paid to the US.
Open Sea Sealing – Yeah, they made a treaty about seals. Wow.  
Samoa – In 1878 the US gained rights to a coaling station in the port of Pago Pago. So, when GB & Germany tried to get into the action, the US got mad and told them to stay out, which got the Germans pissed. Tension grew until a three-part protectorate was decided on in 1889 [w/o asking the Samoans though] dividing the country into American Samoa and Western Samoa [Germany]. GB got islands instead. 
Sino-American Problems – In addition to having problems w/Germany, the US soon had issues w/China due to their hatred of US missionaries and business leaders. Chinese dislike of America was compounded by riots against Chinese immigrants in the west and suspension of Chinese immigration starting in the 1880s. 
Increasing Influence in Latin America – We held Pan-American conferences, let people tour our factories and sign trade treaties, founded the Pan-American Union, and humiliated countries like Chile when our drunk sailors got into fights w/their citizens (1891). 
- Then there was the whole New Navy deal, as promoted by Capt. Alfred T. Mahan [The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890)], which went along the lines of: let’s get a huge navy and lots of bases to protect our foreign trade. 

*Crises in the 1890s*

- In the 1890s, expansionism expanded [very funny, right] due to the economic depression and the belief that the home frontier had closed. The main examples are…
Hawaii – By the 1880s, Hawaii was already largely part of the US system due to the fact that the American elite owned most of the country and subordinated the economy to the US through duty-free sugar exports. This control culminated in the 1887 constitution, which gave foreigners the right to vote and shifted authority to the legislature. When the McKinley Tariff of 1890 got rid of the duty-free sugar provision, the elite pressed for annexation – but Queen Lili’uokalani wanted to resist the power of the foreigners – so the elite formed the Annexation Club and took over by force in 1893. When Cleveland found out about what had occurred, he temporarily stopped the annexation process, but once Hawaii got attn. again during the SACFW [you’ll see] McKinley got it though as the Newlands Resolution [1898]. Hawaiians were given citizenship in 1900 and statehood in 1959. 
Venezuela – In 1895 Venezuela asked for US help regarding a border dispute w/GB. We gave the British a big lecture on leaving LA alone, and then in 1896 an Anglo-American board divided the territory up w/o consulting Venezuela. 
Cuba – Cuba had battled Spain for independence intermittently since 1868, and in 1895 another revolution led by Jose Marti broke out. As usual, the US had acquired strong economic interests in the region [one of the causes of the revolution was the Wilson-Gorman Tariff, which taxed their sugar, hurting the economy]. So when the revolution led to destruction of sugar fields and such, it killed trade, leading to US sympathy for Cuba (Spain’s brutal policies were another factor). Naturally the yellow journalists had a field day feeding war fever. The last straw was the accidental explosion of the US ship Maine, which journalists blamed on Spain, and a letter found by the NY Journal criticizing McKinley. McKinley then sent Spain an ultimatum – Spain made concessions – but McKinley went ahead and asked to use force anyway. So on April 19, 1897 Congress declared Cuba free and allowed the use of authority to remove Spain. Though the Teller Amendment claimed we weren’t interested in annexation, McKinley still didn’t let us recognize the rebel gov’t [they might need US tutoring first]. 
- That, of course, leads to the…

*The Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War [SACFW] and its Aftermath*

- E/t Spain seemed somewhat ready to compromise, it pretty much wasn’t going to work out b/c the Cubans only wanted full independence, which Spain wasn’t going to give them at all and the US didn’t want so much either b/c the new gov’t might try to reduce our interests there. 
- Just to quickly recap – why were we interested in war? There were the humanitarian concerns about the Spanish policies, business concerns about commerce and US interests, general imperialistic drives, idealistic social gospel type ideas about saving others, and sensationalism. 
- Anyhow, the Spanish fleet was quickly destroyed by Dewey in the Philippines, and Spain suffered further problems due to the US blockade of the Cuban ports and the US attack on Puerto Rico. As a result, an armistice was signed on August 12, 1898. 
- The peace terms were then worked out in Paris [where else] in December: an independent Cuba, cession of the Philippines, PR & Guam to the US, and US payment in return. Imperialists rejoiced, of course, but there still was a very significant opposition. 
- Anti-imperialists included Mark Twain, Bryan, Jane Addams, Carnegie, and many more – some mentioned principles [like self-determination], others advocated the peaceful acquisition of markets, others pointed out the potential costs of maintaining empires, others felt it would undermine American racial purity, and union leaders worried the new immigrants could undercut American labor. 
- But the Anti-Imperialist League [launched November 1898] was ultimately unsuccessful due to domestic policy divisions between the participants, and the fact that the US had already annexed the islands. Still, imperialists responded w/the usual patriotic and economic arguments. And once the Filipinos started to resist, of course, we couldn’t pull back at the risk of looking cowardly. 
- The rebellion, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, broke out in January 1899 when Aguinaldo responded to his isolation from power by proclaiming an independent republic. The war was vicious on both sides and finally ended in 1906 – leaving the coast clear for an “Americanization” of the area.  
- In other words, the US subjugated the Philippine economy, passed a sedition act, and then vaguely promised independence once a “stable gov’t” was established [Jones Act, 1916]. Rule was finally ended following WWII. 

*American Involvement in Asia*

- 1895 also brought the Sino-Japanese War, which the Japanese won, intensifying the general obsession w/carving China up into spheres of influence. The US, however, wanted to keep them out as much as possible to protect US commerce and missionaries. 
- Hence the Open Door policy – equal trade opportunity. The other powers weren’t too thrilled; even after the Boxer Rebellion, which the US helped put down, a second Open Door policy note went for the most part unnoticed. For the US, though, the use of the policy was a big deal b/c it was to stay a major part of FP for years to come as an instrument for opening, and then dominating, markets. 
- Anyhow, the new power in Asia was Japan, esp. following the Russo-Japanese War. Concessions were made in the Taft-Katsura Agreement [Japanese hegemony over Korea in return for US Philippines] and the Root-Takahira Agreement [Japan Manchuria for US Open Door]. 
- Taft believed he could stop the Japanese by using dollar diplomacy, which required the use of private funds for investment in order to further diplomatic goals – so he built a RRD in China, but that didn’t help, esp. due to the bad treatment of Japanese citizens living in the US [segregation, discrimination, restrictions on immigration]. The Japanese insisted on power over all China d. WWI, and the US couldn’t do anything…

*Latin America Redux*

- After the SACFW, the US continued to assert its hegemony throughout Latin America. For instance:
Cuba [again] – Soon enough, the “pacification” part of the Teller Amendment was used to justify US control, and troops stayed until 1902. The US also imposed the Platt Amendment (1903 – 1934) on Cuba, which forced all treaties to go through the US first and granted the US the right to intervene to preserve independence and domestic order. Troops returned intermittently as a result of protests of the PA, which gave Cuba no independence at all. 
Puerto Rico – Taken under the Treaty of Paris [SACFW], PR was quickly disillusioned about their new rulers, as the US was condescending and obnoxious. 
Panama – Inspired by the Suez canal, US businessmen, politicians, diplomats, and navy guys all decided they wanted one too. Although the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) provided joint control w/GB, the British pulled out in the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (1901). To get the canal built, TR then incited a rebellion to form Panama in 1903 – Panama gave the US a canal zone w/LT rights [Columbia eventually got $ b/c the US screwed it over] – so the canal was begun, to be completed in 1914. 
- Roosevelt Corollary [to Monroe Doctrine] – Added in 1904, this section warned LA to stabilize politics and finances, and made the US “an international police power.” This allowed for frequent US interventions [troops, etc.] in LA up to 1917. 
- US-Mexico Relations – Up until 1910, dictator Diaz recruited US investors and so on, but once he was kicked out, the revolutionaries attempted to end Mexico’s economic dependency on the US. 
- One last point: As for Europe – the US stayed out of their entanglements, and they stayed out of Latin America, for the most part. Until WWI…