American Imperialism and Expansionism

 Imperialism

…refers to the creation of an empire with one central governing body as head, where benefits derive for the lead nation (may be physical, economic, political control).

1. 1. Roots of imperialism: several arguments
      1. Ideology
         1. racism: expression of white supremacy and superiority, similar to belief that can “whiten” or civilize other races
            1. strong nativism and racism in US, legal segregation and disfranchisement, violence, people like Tom Watson teaching racial hatred through political means
            2. Chicago World’s Fair: showed breadth of new markets and exposure to world’s races, stark contrast between Anglo-Saxons and ‘savage’ people of color
         2. Social Darwinism:
            1. belief in evolutionary natural selection, that the best people survive by conquering or evolving beyond their origins
            2. take ideas into religious zealotry
         3. Missionary impulse:
            1. should Christianize and civilize the world, take up the “White Man’s Burden”
            2. urged on by clergymen like Josiah Strong: social Gospeler and Congregational minister who argued that as the US was the most economically advanced and most Christian nation in the world (at that time) that the US had a “divine commission to act as brother’s keeper and advocated an”imperialism of righteousness”—American ideals of civil liberty and pure spiritual Christianity supported this belief
            3. popular literature: fiction, non-fiction encouraged the civilization of the “heathen”
            4. post-Civil War had seen missions into non-western territories which generated interest in foreign lands and laid groundwork for economic expansion
      2. Economic designs
         1. need for new markets as west closing and, with Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis that Americans thrived because of their ability to expand, many feared that the close of the frontier would spell the end of democracy and prosperity
         2. new markets would provide a further global connection and dumping ground for surpluses in industry and agriculture, idea that would stabilize the US economy by equalizing prices and supply
         3. belief in superiority of American goods
         4. Patriotism and national pride
      3. Strategic Concerns
         1. securing one’s borders and providing defenses where necessary, in late 1860s US had begun overseas expansion
         2. Secretary of State William Henry Seward acquired Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million (1867), people thought he was stupid to spend so much for such a barren region–why do it? Wanted naval bases in Aleutian islands in the Pacific, could station men and weapons there to support expansion (later, oil industry more than proves Alaska’s worth)
         3. Secretary of State James G. Blaine sought a Pan-American alliance through Caribbean and Central/Southern America
            1. revived interest in the Good Neighbor Policy(a phrase coined by Henry Clay in 1820) which would allow most products and cash to flow in Western Hemisphere and not to Europe, would allow US domination of local markets/economies, import raw materials at low prices, and flood those markets with US manufacturers goods
            2. many American businessmen simply took over the principal industries of small nations (along with other European raiders) to undercut national business classes
            3. first Pan-American Conference was held in 1889-90which marked a turning point in hemispheric relations and a shift to US domination
            4. success of policy depended on peace and order in Latin American states so US said Europeans were hands-off
            5. problems: US meddles where their interests lie, US Navy to intervene and reinstate American allies in power when threatened
         4. Alfred Thayer Mahan: President of the Naval War College established in 1884 to train an officer corps for the Navy, wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon American History, 1660-1873(1890)
            1. Defined American foreign policy, insisted that international strength rested not only on open markets but on control of colonies, advocated annexation of bases in the Caribbean and the Pacific to enhance the navy’s ability to threaten or wage warfare
            2. pushed for navy expansion, drive for professionalization and technological developments–his idea later (during the 20th century) that aircraft carriers and destroyers would one day dominate the sea
         5. US also encourages takeover strategy by setting up a protectorate in the Samoan Islands (along with Britain and Germany) and American planters to move to Hawaii to dominate sugar industry
            1. 1887 treaty enforced by US allowed American-controlled Pearl Harbor to be built near Honolulu
            2. 1891 Queen Liliuokalani assumes the Hawaiian throne with help of American planters but is hostile to Americans
               1. negative impact of the McKinley Tariff forces economic depression in Hawaii in 1893 so planters deposed the Queen with help of US sailors called for by pineapple magnate Sanford B. Dole
               2. “rebels” proclaimed the independent Republic of Hawaii and sought annexation by the US
               3. President GroverCleveland felt that residents did not want annexation so he blocked the acquisition, but his successor President William McKinley brought Hawaii in as a territory in 1898 (last state to join US in 1959)
         6. further naval expansion, Secretary of the Navy William Hunt begins construction of a modern navy in 1880s
            1. navy grew after 1883 to be called the “Great White Fleet”
            2. 1898 Secretary of Navy Benjamin Tracy emphasized sea power and determined to dominate the sea through battleships, started massive building project to create a modernized naval fleet

 Challenges to the “Mission”and American Ambitions

1. 1. Spanish-American War (1898): 319 KIA, 5383 dead from other causes (disease–malaria run rampant), weighted heavily in American favor but Spanish could have caused more grief if maintained aggression
      1. American sympathies (egged on by yellow journalists and muckrakers) pushed for aid of Cuban revolutionaries fighting Spain for independence
      2. American army is disorganized–plagued with logistical problems, confused leadership, new recruits, petty squabbles between commanders
      3. Spanish signed capitulation after salvo to honor their pride: salutary fighting to honor each fighting force, limited real fighting to insurgent guerillas in Cuba so American military action was cursory on the whole
         1. Secretary of State John Hay called it a “Splendid Little War” and victory for US interests
         2. Led to further territories acquired from Spain in Treaty of Paris(Dec 1898)–Spain recognized Cuban independence and ceded the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam (in the Pacific) to US for $20 million
         3. US occupied Cuba until 1902, when withdrew with Platt Amendment which reserved the right of the US to intervene in Cuba as saw fit and to maintain a naval base (Guantanamo Bay)
   2. Filipino Insurrection (1899-1902):
      1. Admiral Dewey achieves victory over the Spanish with help from the Filipinos and caused collapse of political authority in Philippines (Spain granted its territory, the Philippines, to US in the peace treaty)
      2. Problem occurs when Spanish try to compel Filipinos to accept American rule, thus creating an accidental conquest (instead of liberation) by America which had not been part of President McKinley’s plans
         1. Filipinos wanted native rule, so many felt they had exchanged one oppressor for another
         2. 1 of every 5 Filipinos died as a result of the conflict (20% of the total population): willing to fight to the point of annihilation, led by guerilla leaders and Aguinaldo
         3. American support rallied by notion of civilizing influence but critics raised issue of self-determination (tenet of democracy of which US was supposed to be best example) and nativism against dark-skinned people as American citizens (this latter opinion would have been an issue if Filipinos had been granted statehood instead of territorial status)
         4. Reactions to Filipino Insurrection: (1) Stimulated founding of the Anti-Imperialist League (AIL) which denounced the War and territorial annexation in no uncertain terms, felt it violated the basic principles of human equality and the right of self-government (2) most set aside doubts and fully supported new era of aggressive nationalism to support and maintain American interests and security abroad
      3. ushers in true guerilla warfare of the twentieth century: brutal, prolonged, bitter (certainly not a “splendid little war” with few casualties as it had been considered in the Spanish-American War)
         1. crushed Filipino insurrection both militarily and politically–snuff out rebellion, convert to ideal democracy
         2. no media exposure, no outside support, isolated theater allow US to triumph (had atrocities on both sides been common knowledge there would have been a public outcry)
   3. Consequences for the American military and the navy specifically
      1. larger navy needed to provide assistance and protection on bases half a world away, improved battleship technology and rush to produce as many ships as possible
      2. huge increase in military spending, training and promotion of admirals, and Congress built many battleships (although most of the technology would be obsolete by the time they were finished)
         1. failed to consider auxiliary ships to protect slower moving and heavily armored battleships with lightweight and maneuverable destroyers–must play catch up by the outbreak of WWI
         2. also big push to build bases on US coasts and less in Pacific (other than those already acquired—i.e. Hawaii, Guam, Canary Islands, Aleutian Islands) creates imbalance of bases overseas to protect interests
   4. Theodore Roosevelt (TR) makes the Presidency international
      1. First American president to leave the US during his presidency, went to inspect the Panama Canal which became a huge international effort of which the US was a main sponsor
      2. How did America get access to start the canal?
         1. US had asked Colombia to give permission for canal to be built across their northern territory, but the US was denied access so another means had to be sought
         2. Thus, in 1903, the US aided Panamanian rebels to overthrow northern Colombia by presence of US warships and Panama declared its independence from Colombia
         3. The Panamanian Revolution was a bloodless war and, two weeks after the “war” ended and the US helped set up the Republic of Panama, the new government of Panama granted US full sovereignty in perpetuity over a 10-mile wide canal zone. IN return, the US guaranteed Panama’s independence and agreed to pay $10 million initially and then an additional $250,000 per year for the canal zone (years later US voted $25 million in compensation to be paid toColombia for American interference in their internal politics)
      3. From this point forward, the federal government actively pursued the idea of US, in the guise of the most civilized nation, as the “Policeman of the World”
         1. Supported the Monroe Doctrine by asserting US role in the Western Hemisphere, Roosevelt’s approach to “Speak softly but carry a big stick” was meant to reinforce America’s authority and dominant role (A subtle irony here—this quote was actually a translation of a West African proverb“Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far”)
         2. Roosevelt Corollary(1904): According to this document, “Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society” justified the exercise of an international police power anywhere in the hemisphere. This American dogma was used to justify US intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean, even the use of armed force to meddle with internal affairs of the country in question as the US saw fit.
   5. The Asian Question and Open Door Policy
      1. In China, the US sought the protection of its commercial interests rather than territorial expansion or acquisition of bases.
         1. Secretary of State John Hay announced America’s “Open Door ” policy in 1899, which expressed that instead of acquiring overseas colonies Washington would aid economic expansion by supporting private enterprise, specifically negotiating approval to give all nations equal access to trading and development rights in China (caused huge upheaval, other Europeannations and Japan had divided China into districts that they controlled, this was US bid to get in on it)
         2. Russo-Japanese War (1905) threatened this economic security, the balance of political power in the region, and US business interests
            1. President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated a settlement between Russia and Japan in 1905 (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906). As part of the agreement, Japan was recognized as dominant in Korea and consolidated their control over Manchuria (main part of China)—this would return to haunt SE Asia and the US during World War II.
            2. In reaction to the settlement, anti-Japanese racism in California led to segregation of all Japanese, Chinese, and Korean exchange students in the area, which Japan protested. In 1907, both sides reached an agreement to limit male Japanese passports to reduce the numbers arriving in the US and TR required California’s legislature to pass anti-discrimination versus Japanese persons within the state of CA)
            3. To further counter animosity and potential Japanese encroachments, TR built up Pacific defenses and naval strength, sent battleships on a worldwide tour in 1908 to display strength to Japan (the seeds of conflict with Japan date mainly to this period and reached a boiling point during the world wars)
   6. America as an Imperialist Nation
      1. By end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, the US achieved a coveted status as a world power in the economy, politics, and moving toward military strength.
      2. New imperialist ambitions caused the first serious break fromAmerica’s isolationist policy, a necessary gambit for the US to emerge on the world scene as an international leader but also forced the redefinition of America’s role around the globe
         1. TR added two new and very important aspectsin America’s foreign policy:(1) British alliance as cornerstone(this is still largely true today)(2) summit diplomacy(political and diplomatic wrangling to prevent warfare in Europe and elsewhere in which the US might be called to intervene, war as the last resort)
         2. End of territorial expansion by 1910s, move to economic only (as reinforced by military and political means)
      3. International recognition of US as major world player by 1910s, inclusion in global decision-making catapulted American interests and responsibilities into the international arena.