American history

Age of imperialism

The late nineteenth century is the era which most historians consider to be that of imperialism. Starting as early as the 1870s the United States began to aggressively expand its influence overseas. The annexation of Hawaii and the fall-out from the Spanish-American War saw the United States very closely adopt the European imperial model.

The era also saw the first widespread protest against American imperialism. The population was divided between those that saw the economic and strategic benefits of colonies and those that felt it was countrary to America's founding ideology.

Noted Americans such as Mark Twain spoke out forcefully against these ventures. The same period saw other notables such as British author Rudyard Kipling advocating the idea of The White Man's Burden to "civilize" the rest of the world.

During this same period the American people continued to strongly chastise the European powers for their imperialism. The Boer War was especially unpopular in the United States and soured Anglo-American relations.

1. Causes

There are two major historical schools of thought as to this period of expansionism. Some historians, notably Samuel F. Bemis, concluded that the imperialism of the 1890s was "the great aberration", a very different form of territorial growth than that of earlier American history. Others, such as Walter LaFeber saw this expansionism not as an aberration but as a culmination of Western United States expansion.

In either case, a variety of factors coincided during this period to bring about an accelerated pace of U.S. expansionism:

• The industry and agriculture of the United States had grown beyond its need for consumption. Powerful business and political figures such as James G. Blaine believed that foreign markets were essential to further economic growth, promoting a more aggressive foreign policy.
  
  
• The prevalence of racism, notably Ernst Haeckel's "biogenic law," John Fiske's conception of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority, and Josiah Strong's call to "civilize and Christianize" - all manifestations of a growing Social Darwinism and racism in some schools of American political thought
  
  
• The development of Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis," which stated that the American frontier was the wellspring of its creativity and virility as a civilization. As the U.S. West was gradually becoming less of a frontier and more of a part of America, many believed that overseas expansion was vital to maintaining the American spirit
  
  
• The publication of Alfred T. Mahan's The Influence of Seapower on History in 1890, which advocated three factors crucial to The United States' ascension to the position of "world power": the construction of a canal in South America (later influencing the decision for the construction of the Panama Canal), expansion of the U.S. naval power, and the establishment of a trade/military post in the Pacific, so as to stimulate trade with China. This publication had a strong influence on the idea that a strong navy stimulated trade, and influenced policy makers such as Theodore Roosevelt and other proponents of a large navy.

2. Alaska

In 1867, President Andrew Johnson purchased the territory of Alaska from the Russian Empire for seven million dollars—approximately two cents per acre ($500/km²). It was the first-acquired piece of American territory not contiguous to the pre-existing territory of the United States. At the time, the purchase of Alaska was almost universally criticized, with such pejoratives as "Johnson's Polar Bear garden," "Seward's Icebox," or "Seward's Folly," for Secretary of State William H. Seward, who negotiated the deal.

3. Hawai`i

The Kingdom of Hawai`i was long an independent monarchy in the mid-Pacific Ocean. During the nineteenth century, the first American missionaries and then American business interests began to play major roles in the islands. Most notable were the powerful fruit and sugarcane corporations such as the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, founded by James Dole, and an oligarchy known as the Big Five, which included Castle & Cooke, Alexander & Baldwin, C. Brewer & Co., Amfac and Theo H. Davies & Co..

After a coup financed and directed by American interests overthrew the monarchy's last native Hawaiian leader, isolationist Queen Lili‘uokalani, the island became a republic in 1894. In 1898, the American president of the Republic of Hawai`i, Sanford Dole, James Dole's cousin, agreed to the Republic's annexation by the United States.

The republic was disolved in 1900 when the country became a territory of the US, the Territory of Hawaii, and on August 21, 1959, Hawai`i became the 50th state of the United States.

4. The Spanish-American War

With the Spanish-American War the United States greatly increased its international power.

US opponents of the war, including Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie, organized themselves into the American Anti-Imperialist League.

The Spanish-American War took place in 1898. The Treaty of Paris (1898), ended the Spanish-American war, giving the United States possession of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Cuba in exchange for $20 million.

5. The Philippines

The Philippine-American War (1899 to 1913) is often cited as another instance of United States imperialism. While many Filipinos were initially delighted to be rid of the Spanish rule of the Philippines, the guerrilla fighters soon found that the Americans were not prepared to grant them much more autonomy than Spain had. Thus for the next six years American forces engaged in a war in the jungles of the Philippines against the Filipino resistance. The war was expensive and quite unpopular in the United States, but eventually victory was attained.

6. Latin America

The early decades of the 20th century saw a great amount of intervention in Latin America by the U.S. government, often under the guise of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and most often openly in aid of U.S. corporate interests.

President William Howard Taft viewed "Dollar Diplomacy" as a way for American corporations to benefit while assisting in the national security goal of preventing European powers, above all the United Kingdom and Germany, from filling any possible financial or power vacuum. Many argue, however, that this situation amounted to the United States having a de facto empire in the Americas throughout this period.

• 1901: Platt Amendment effectively renders Cuba a protectorate of the United States, putting severe restrictions on the Cuban government's financial freedom, granting the U.S. its base at Guantanamo Bay, and reserving the right of the U.S. to intervene in Cuban affairs. Cuba is also pressured to write the provisions of the Platt Amendment into its constitution.
• 1903: US customs receivership in Haiti following collapse of Haitian government and threats by France and Italy to intervene to collect their debts.
• 1903: U.S. backed independence of Panama from Colombia in order to build the Panama Canal; Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty
• 1904: Theodore Roosevelt announces his "Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, stating that the United States would intervene to protect Washington's interests in the Western Hemisphere should Latin American governments prove incapable or unstable.
• 1909: forced resignation of President José Santos Zelaya after triumph of U.S.-backed rebels in Nicaragua
• 1912 to 1933: U.S. occupation of Nicaragua
• 1914 to 1916: Mexico conflict, including U.S. troops occupying northern portion of the country and port city of Veracru
• 1915 to 1934: U.S. occupation of Haiti

7. Asia

While American intervention had begun earlier with Matthew Perry forcibly opening Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854, this period saw the United States expand its presence in Asia. The U.S. pushed through the Open Door Policy that guaranteed its economic access to China. It also vigorously acquired small islands in the Pacific, mostly to be used as coaling stations.

Not long before the turn of the 20th century, China was divided into what some call "spheres of influence" - areas to which a European nation (some involved were Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia) had claimed exclusive trading rights, or even the territory itself.

The United States, having recently captured the Philippines and thereby becoming a power in Asia, was eager to reap its own benefits from China, but felt impeded by these "spheres of influence". In an effort to eliminate this hindrance, John Hay, Secretary of State at the time (under William McKinley), sent letters to European leaders suggesting an "open door" policy in China, one that would grant equivalent trading rights to all powers inside the spheres of influence.

The proposal was gently rejected. Following the Boxer rebellion, John Hay called again for an expanded "open door" policy effective throughout China, not just within "spheres of influence". The United States and the European powers agreed to preserve Chinese independence and government, but continued to use the country for monetary gain until World War II.

Critics contend that US policy was for open-trade and not imperialist.