History Chapter 19 Seizing American Empire This Covers American Expansion And Foreign Policy

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CHAPTER 19

Seizing an American Empire

1865–1913

This chapter covers American expansion and foreign policy from the Civil War through the early twenti-

eth century, placing particular emphasis on the Spanish-American War and America’s acquisition of an

empire. The interventionist foreign policies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow

Wilson are discussed.

CORE OBJECTIVES

1. Describe the factors that motivated America’s new imperialism after the Civil War.

2. Explain why and how America expanded its influence in the Pacific before the Spanish-American War

(War of 1898).

3. Explain the causes of the Spanish-American War (War of 1898), and describe its major events.

4. Analyze the consequences of the Spanish-American War (War of 1898) for American foreign policy.

5. Describe the reasons for Theodore Roosevelt’s rapid rise to the presidency, and evaluate the main

elements of his foreign policies.

CHAPTER OUTLINE

1. Toward the New Imperialism

2. Expansion in the Pacific

3. The Spanish-American War (War of 1898)

A. “Free Cuba”

B. The Political Path to War

C. “A Splendid Little War”

D. The Cuban Campaign

E. Spanish Defeat and Concessions

4. Consequences of Victory

A. Taking the Philippines

B. The Philippine-American War

C. Organizing the Former Spanish Territories

D. Imperial Rivalries in East Asia

5. Theodore Roosevelt and “Big-Stick” Diplomacy

A. Rise to National Prominence

B. From Vice President to President

C. The Panama Canal

D. Relations with Japan

E. The Great White Fleet

F. Taft’s “Dollar Diplomacy”

G. Wilson’s Interventionism

H. The United States in Mexico

LECTURE IDEAS

1. A lecture on U.S. imperialism is essential. Discuss the origins of American imperialism, America’s

justification and implementation of this policy, and the political and economic causations and results.

You might review Chapters 1 and 8 of H. W. Brands’s The Reckless Decade (1995) in addition to the

following books:

2. Give a brief lecture outlining how America put itself into a position to build the Panama Canal. Then

have your class research the issue of the Panama Canal. Groups should look at how the United States

went about building it, how successful it was, and what the canal’s status is today. See the following:

3. A good follow-up lecture on American imperialism would be a discussion on American imperialism in

the Philippines. Useful references include the following:

4. A good way to end this chapter is with a discussion of the anti-imperialists. Be sure to include their

main philosophies, who they were, and if they had any impact on American imperialist policy. See

5. Theodore Roosevelt emerged as one of the United States’ most prominent political figures in the late

nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, aside from the Panama Canal and his tenure as presi-

dent, many students know little about “Teddy” Roosevelt. Because Roosevelt in many ways represent-

ed the spirit of this era, you might develop a lecture that both provides an overview of his life and ca-

reer and stresses how these events reflected the times in which he lived. Edmund Morris’s trilogy on

Roosevelt is a valuable resource. Also see:

6. A lecture on the Spanish-American War will be very helpful in reinforcing the concept of imperialism,

especially if you have lectured on the theory of imperialism previously. Cover all aspects of the con-

flict, from causes to conclusion. Focus on the home front as much as possible, including the use of

Buffalo Soldiers and the impact they had in the United States. See the following references:

IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES / FLIPPED CLASSROOM SUGGESTIONS

1. Outside of class, have students watch the History Channel documentary, Conquest of Hawaii (2003).

As they watch, students should compile a list of why Americans were interested in taking over the

Hawaiian Islands. In class, divide the students into groups of 5 or 7 individuals and instruct them to

discuss their lists with the members of their group. Each group should then work together to organize

2. Show your class a selection of political cartoons relating to U.S. foreign policy from the late nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries and ask your students to discuss how those cartoons conveyed the pre-

dominant racial ideologies of the era. A variety of history books that focus on the Spanish–American

3. Show your students a selection of front pages and headlines from the prominent newspapers of the era.

To help them get a better sense of the sensationalism that infused the “yellow journalism” of the era,

juxtapose the front pages and headlines from the New York Journal and New York World against those

that appeared on the same day in the New York Times. Have your students discuss the different ways

the papers presented the same events to their readers on any given day and what significance those dif-

4. The website of the Library of Congress provides access to some sixty-eight motion pictures produced

between 1898 and 1901 (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/sawhtml/). The films are organized into differ-

ent categories, including films of the beginning of war, films of military preparations, actualities of the

war in Cuba, actualities of events in the Philippines, Dewey’s homecoming, and many more. You can

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What were the various factors that influenced American foreign policy in the late nineteenth and early

twentieth centuries, and which was the most significant? How do the various factors relate to each oth-

er?

2. Who were the American Anti-Imperialists? What were their arguments against imperialism? Did some

of the Anti-Imperialists make arguments against overseas expansion based on racist views? What was

the basis of other arguments against American expansion in the Pacific?

3. Did the United States make the correct decision in going to war against Spain, or was it an unnecessary

war?

4. What were the causes of the Spanish-American War in 1898? How did American interest in the Pacific

contribute to the outbreak of war with Spain?

5. How would you assess how President Cleveland handled the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by

Americans? Do you think he handled it well, could have done more, or should have done less?

6. Did William Jennings Bryan make the correct decision to endorse the Treaty of Paris (1898)?

7. What were Theodore Roosevelt’s personal views on war? How did they determine his actions during

the Spanish-American War?

8. On a scale ranging from excellent to awful, how do you rate Theodore Roosevelt’s record as president?

What would you identify as his greatest achievement and most significant failure?

PRACTICING CITIZENSHIP

In this chapter, we read about the connections between the U.S. empire at the end of the nineteenth centu-

ry and the ideologies that both helped fuel passionate imperialism and spirited anti-imperialism. While

American missionaries worked to bring Christianity to “the little brown brother” in the Philippines,

American soldiers used the “water cure” to torture Filipino military and political resistors. A diverse array

of Americans from Andrew Carnegie to Jane Addams protested. In modern American history, the use of

waterboarding (similar to the “water cure”) on terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba created

quite a controversy for the Bush administration. Research the recent waterboarding controversy and see if

you can draw connections between various social and political groups’ broader ideologies and their stance