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CHAPTER 20
Seizing an American Empire, 1865–
1913
This chapter covers American expansion and foreign policy from the Civil War through the administration
of Theodore Roosevelt. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s book titled The Influence of Sea Power offered a new way of
thinking about America’s place in the world. The nation acquired a naval base in Samoa, and powerful
American planters intervened in domestic Hawaiian affairs that ultimately resulted in the annexation of
the islands. The chapter places a particular emphasis on Spanish-American War and the tensions in Cuba
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Toward the New Imperialism
II. Expansion in the Pacific
A. Samoa
B. Hawaii
III. The Spanish-American War (The War of 1898)
B. Organizing the New Colonies
C. Imperial Rivalries in East Asia
i. The Boxers
V. Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” Diplomacy
A. A “Rocket” Rise to Prominence
B. From Vice President to President
i. The Panama Canal
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.
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
3. 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 conflict,
4. A good follow-up lecture on American imperialism would be a discussion on American imperialism in
the Philippines. See the following sources:
(2003)
5. A good way to end this chapter is with a discussion of the Anti-Imperialists. Be sure to include their
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
1. 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
2. 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 and its presentation of the problems with Spain, 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
3. The website of the Library of Congress provides access to some sixty-eight motion pictures on the
Spanish-American War produced between 1898 and 1901
(http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/sawhtml/). The films are organized into different categories,
including films of the beginning of war, films of military preparations, actualities of the war in Cuba,
4. Have your students go to Google.com/mymaps and work together to create an interactive map of
American imperial outreach at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Plot out the
5. The Philippine American War is unfamiliar to most students but was very real for Filipinos. Divide
students into small groups and assign each a relevant treaty, proclamation, or manifesto from the war
to read and present to the class. (For example, see http://www.msc.edu.ph/centennial/philam-
6. Stage a class debate between the imperialists and anti-imperialists. Have each side clearly outline
their points of argument before the debate. Students might represent specific individuals who
contributed to the debate over America’s expanding role in the world and the Treaty of Paris ending
7. 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
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
other?
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?
6. On a scale ranging from excellent to awful, how do you rate Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy
record as president? What would you identify as his greatest achievement and most significant
failure?
7. What was the Open Door policy in China? How was the policy met by other countries involved, such as
Britain, France, and Germany?
8. Why did President Wilson send U.S. warships and soldiers into Mexico?
Practicing Citizenship
In this chapter, we read about the connections between the U.S. empire at the end of the nineteenth
century and the ideologies that helped fuel both passionate imperialism and spirited anti-imperialism.
While American missionaries worked to take 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
