Chapter 20: Becoming a World Power: America and World Affairs, 1865-1913

1. The United States and World Affairs, 1865-1889
   1. Alaska, Canada, and the AlabamaClaims
      1. Secretary of State Seward agreed to buy Alaska from Russia for $7 million.
         1. The agreement extended full citizenship to the residents of Alaska but carried no promise of eventual statehood.
         2. This action was moving toward later patterns of colonial acquisition.
         3. Charles Sumner, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saw Alaska as the first step to the ultimate possession of Canada.
      2. The U.S. claimed that the British violated its neutrality by cooperating with the Confederacy and agreed to arbitration in the Treaty of Washington (1871).
         1. Great Britain was held responsible for the direct claims and set aside $15.5 million as damages to be paid to the United States.
   2. Testing the Monroe Doctrine: The United States and Latin America
      1. European nations sent military forces to Mexico to collect unpaid debts in late 1861.
         1. France remained in Mexico after Britain and Spain left.
         2. Archduke Maximilian was a puppet emperor for Napoleon III but apparently believed that the Mexican people genuinely wanted him.
         3. Resistance to Maximilian’s rule became a war, and only the French army kept him in power.
         4. Seward demanded that the French leave and sent 50,000 troops to the border. Napoleon III agreed to withdraw his army.
         5. Maximilian unwisely stayed behind and was executed.
         6. The withdrawal of French troops helped create new worldwide respect for the United States.
      2. Some Americans considered the Caribbean and Central America as areas for futureexpansion.
         1. One driving vision was a canal to shorten the coast-to-coast shipping route.
         2. President Grant proclaimed a corollary to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine stating that no territory in the Western hemisphere could ever be transferred to Europe.
      3. Rather than annexation of territory, Secretary of State Fish encouraged trade, which was also important to later Secretary of State James G. Blaine.
         1. This would create additional markets for American products.
   3. Eastern Asia and the Pacific
      1. Americans had long taken a strong commercial interest in the area, and American missionaries began to penetrate China in 1830.
         1. The first treaty with China in 1844 granted most favored nation status, which laid the basis for the Open Door policy.
         2. Trade prospects with eastern Asia fueled American interest in the Pacific.
      2. Hawaii attracted missionaries as early as 1819, and its location near the center of the Pacific made it an ideal supply depot.
         1. The Senate exempted Hawaiian sugar imports from tariffs in 1875, which led to rapid expansion of the Hawaiian sugar industry.
         2. Many Americans organized sugar plantations in Hawaii, and sugar soon tied the Hawaiian economy closely to the U.S.
         3. In 1887, the trade reciprocity treaties were extended and Hawaii granted the U.S. Navy Pearl Harbor.
2. Stepping Cautiously in World Affairs, 1889-1897
   1. Building a Navy
      1. The U.S. Navy was rapidly demobilized after the Civil War and then suffered from neglect.
      2. Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon History,which played a key role in the emergence of the modern navy.
         1. He argued that sea power had been the determining factor in European power struggles.
         2. Mahan identified three elements central to greatness on the seas: production of goods for foreign trade, shipping to carry on this commerce, and colonies to provide both markets and products.
         3. He also advocated a large modern navy centered on battleships and stressed a vision for empire.
         4. As a result, the U.S. began to create a modern, two-ocean navy.
   2. Revolution in Hawaii
      1. The McKinley Tariff (1890) put sugar on the free list, eliminating Hawaii’s advantage since its sugar now faced competition from Cuban sugar.
      2. Queen Liliuokalani came to power in 1891 and hoped to regain control from the U.S. She planned a new constitution returning political power to the monarchy.
         1. Sugar planters set out to overthrow the monarchy, and Liliuokalani surrendered in 1893.
         2. Hawaii became a republic, dominated by its planter community.
   3. Crises in Latin America
      1. Presidents Harrison and Cleveland extended American involvement in this region.
         1. Rebels in Chile won control in 1891, but were forced to apologize to the U.S.
         2. The Venezuelan boundary dispute (1895-96) was settled by American arbitration.
      2. Cleveland faced a very different situation in Cuba and was more restrained.
         1. Yellow journalism intensified American feelings about events in Cuba, but Cleveland was intent on avoiding American involvement.
         2. Cleveland feared intervention might lead to annexation by the U.S. against Cubans’ wishes and was forced to warn Spain of possible intervention.
3. Striding Boldly: War and Imperialism, 1897-1901
   1. McKinley and War
      1. McKinley became president amid increasing demands for action in Cuba (1897), but he moved cautiously.
         1. He stepped up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis, but two events in 1898 scuttled progress toward a negotiated solution.
         2. The de Lôme letter ridiculing McKinley was published in the New York Journal.
         3. A few days later, the Maineexploded in Havana Harbor, and those advocating intervention now cried, "Remember the Maine."
      2. McKinley now extended his demands on Spain and Spain promised reforms but would not agree to mediate Cuban independence.
         1. McKinley asked Congress for authority to act to stop the war in Cuba, and it passed four resolutions in April 1898 in effect declaring war.
         2. The Teller Amendment disavowed any intention to annex Cuba.
         3. In response to American actions, Spain declared war.
   2. The "Splendid Little War"
      1. Surprising many Americans, the first engagement occurred in the Philippines.
         1. Dewey’s victory in Manila focused public attention on the Pacific, and there was a renewed interest in annexing the Hawaiian Islands as a naval base.
         2. Hawaii was annexed on July 7, 1893.
         3. Dewey’s victories demonstrated that the American navy was superior to Spain’s.
      2. The Spanish-American War lasted only sixteen weeks.
   3. The Treaty of Paris
      1. Spain surrendered all claims to Cuba; ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the U.S.; and sold the Philippines to the U.S. for $20 million.
      2. It was the first time a U.S. treaty failed to confer U.S. citizenship on a conquered territory’s residents, and the treaty also failed to mention future statehood for the Philippines.
      3. America had become a colonial power now that it owned territories with no prospect for statehood and the residents of these territories lacked citizenship.
      4. The terms of the treaty were controversial and launched a debate over imperialism.
         1. An active anti-imperialist movement quickly formed which included William Jennings Bryan, Andrew Carnegie, and Jane Addams.
         2. Anti-imperialists argued that denial of self-government violated the Declaration of Independence and holding colonies threatened the very concept of democracy.
         3. Others worried about the perversion of American values, while some racists argued that the Filipinos were incapable of self-government.
         4. Imperialists, on the other hand, argued that we needed new markets as well as naval bases and a larger military presence.
   4. Republic or Empire? The Election of 1900
      1. William Jennings Bryan easily won the Democratic nomination again with a platform that condemned the imperialism of the McKinley administration.
      2. The Republicans renominated McKinley and chose Theodore Roosevelt for vice president on a platform defending expansion.
         1. McKinley easily won a second term.
   5. Organizing an Insular Empire
      1. The U.S. Army took over running Cuba when the Spanish left.
         1. A constitutional convention was held in late 1900, and Cuba became a protectorate of the United States.
      2. The Foraker Act made Puerto Ricans citizens of Puerto Rico but not the U.S.
         1. The 1901 Insular Cases confirmed the colonial status of Puerto Rico and other possessions.
   6. The Open Door and the Boxer Rebellion in China
      1. New Pacific acquisitions were endowed with excellent harbors and sites for naval bases, and they also strengthened the ability of the U.S. to protect access to commercial markets in Asia.
      2. Britain, Germany, Russia, and France had carved out spheres of influence in China.
         1. The 1900 Boxer Rebellion tried to rid China of foreigners, but U.S. troops were sent in to "protect" the Open Door.
4. "Carry a Big Stick": The United States and World Affairs, 1901 - 1913
   1. Taking Panama
      1. U.S. diplomats had pursued efforts to build, control, and protect a canal and considered Nicaragua and Panama (part of Colombia) as possible sites.
         1. Negotiations with Colombia bogged down, and Roosevelt supported the Panamanian Revolution against Colombia.
         2. The revolution quickly succeeded, Panama declared its independence, and the U.S. immediately extended diplomatic recognition.
      2. The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1904) granted the U.S. perpetual control over a strip of territory ten miles wide and paid Panama $10 million and an annual rent of $250,000.
         1. Building a canal proved difficult, and it was not completed until 1914.
   2. Making the Caribbean an American Lake
      1. Roosevelt was determined to establish American dominance in Central America and issued the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
         1. This corollary warned European nations against any intervention in the Western hemisphere.
      2. Roosevelt acted forcefully to establish his new policy.
         1. U.S. troops were sent to the Dominican Republic in 1905 to oversee the custom-houses and duties collections, making it the third American protectorate.
         2. Taft and Wilson continued and expanded Roosevelt’s policy.
   3. Roosevelt and Eastern Asia
      1. Roosevelt built on the Open Door notes and American participation against the Boxers.
      2. Roosevelt helped negotiate the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905), which recognized Japan’s dominance in Korea and gave Japan Russian concessions in southern Manchuria.
      3. His Gentleman’s Agreement (1907) limited Japanese immigration to the U.S.
   4. The United States and the World: 1901 - 1913
      1. Before the 1890s, the U.S. had no clear or consistent foreign policy.
      2. By the turn of the century, U.S. commitments were obvious to all.
         1. Its modern navy was central to the concept of the U.S. as a world power since, without it, other commitments lacked anything more than moral force.
         2. The nation’s new vision divided the world into "civilized" and "barbarous."
         3. U.S. relations with Britain improved, primarily because of British policy choices.