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Additional Class Topics

For Further Interest: Additional Class Topics
Chapter 27: Empire and Expansion, 1890 - 1909

Examine Teddy Roosevelt as a central character in the events of the chapter: TR as imperialist advocate, assistant secretary of the navy, Rough Rider, legendary war hero, governor of New York, vice president, and then president.
Analyze the yellow press: what yellow journalism is, why it had such great appeal and popular impact in the late nineteenth century, how it sensationalized and distorted issues, how important it was (or was not) in really influencing President McKinley and others.
Focus on Cuba and America: why, from the preCivil War era forward, Americans were concerned with Cuba; how they viewed the Cuban rebels; what issues dominated American debates about Cuban readiness for independence (for example, the Teller and Platt amendments); and what links developed to the subsequent history of American-Cuban relations.
Consider the Philippines: where they are (point out that most Americans, even government officials, did not know their location in 1898), who the Filipino people were and are, why the islands have been viewed as strategically and commercially important (especially in relation to China). Discuss the nature of the Filipino rebellion against Spain, which became a rebellion against America. Perhaps tie in the subsequent history of American-Philippine relations.
Examine Roosevelts theory and practice of the big stick in foreign policy, especially in his relations with Latin America.
Examine the role of American missionaries in shaping U.S. foreign policy in this period, especially in China.
Take up the question of gender in relation to American foreign policy and American imperialism, particularly the idea that aggressive overseas action was one way for men (including Theodore Roosevelt) to assert their masculinity in an era of growing feminine influence in society and culture.
Conduct a class debate over the following topics: e.g., America Should Retain the Philippines; primary source readings will come from the following book Opposing Viewpoints in American History Volume II: From Reconstruction to the Present, San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Another good source of debate topics is Larry Madaras and James M. SoRelle, Taking Sides Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History, Volume II: Reconstruction to the Present, Connecticut: McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Show students the following video: The Century Americas Time (ABC Video in association with The History Channel), Volume I: The Beginning: Seeds of Change. In an era of innocence and prosperity, the American landscape is set in motion for a new century of unimaginable change a time when the promise of electricity, automobiles, moving pictures and air flight was just over the horizon.
Have the students read Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (1918). Use the book as an example of political and philosophical autobiography; Adams reflects on his search for order and unity in a world that is obsessed with self-destruction and complexity.