American Diplomacy
Imperialist Vision
“THE WORK WHICH THE ENGLISH RACE
BEGAN WHEN IT COLONIZED NORTH
AMERICA IS DESTINED TO GO ON UNTIL
EVERY LAND…THAT IS NOT ALREADY THE
SEAT OF AN OLD CIVILIZATION SHALL
BECOME ENGLISH IN ITS LANGUAGE, IN
ITS RELIGION, IN POLITICAL HABITS AND
TRADITIONS, AND TO A PREDOMINANT
EXTENT IN THE BLOOD OF ITS PEOPLE.”
- John Fiske, 1898
Writer and Historian
Imperialist Vision
 As the U.S. moved toward
completion of the
settlement of the west in
1880’s, Americans began
to look outside of its
borders.
 Economic, military, and
political purposes
 Eg. Mahan
Reasons for Imperialism:
1.
Economic and military competition
2.
Social Darwinism- Feelings of cultural superiority
3.
Needed more raw materials
4.
Need for new markets to avoid high tariffs
5.
Anglo-Saxonism
Early Imperialism
 In 1852, Commodore Matthew C. Perry used
naval force to influence Japan
 Impressed by the technology and by force, Japan
signs agreement to trade
1898 -- Annexation of Hawaii
 1875 Treaty – opened
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


trade and gave the U.S.
naval harbors
Americans and other
foreigners developed
pineapple and sugar
plantations
1890 – McKinley Tariff
1893 – planters overthrew
Queen Liliuokalani
1898, Hawaii annexed to
the U.S.
1898-Spanish-American War
 Motivated by:




Sympathy for Cubans
Desire for markets and naval
influence in the Caribbean
Yellow journalism
Sinking of the Maine
 War marked America’s
emergence as world power
 U.S. gains Guam, Puerto
Rico and buys Philippines
for $20 million
Questions about Empire
 Anti-imperialism League
 Wm. Jennings Bryan; Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, Jane
Addams
 Imperialism was a “violation of the Constitution”
 Cheap foreign labor would compete with American workers
 1901-1903 – Insular Cases
 The U.S. can claim territory
 The “Constitution does not follow the flag”
Open Door
Policy
Proposal that all
countries would be
allowed to trade
with China, not
just a select few
Alternative to
spheres of
influence!
Open Door Policy
(John Hay)
 Goal: commerce, not conquest
 Open up “spheres of influence” to
Americans
 Boxer Rebellion – U.S. feared the
partitioning of China
 Hay reiterated Open Door Policy
Roosevelt – “Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick”
 Believed in imperialism
 Wanted to make U.S. into
a world power
 Believed to some extent in
Anglo-Saxonism
 Sought to protect
American interests in
Asia, Latin America
 Believed the U.S. military
should be used as
intimidation in diplomacy
“Big Stick” Diplomacy
 Panama Canal
 To allow easy movement o the American fleet
 Venezuela and Dominican crises led to
the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
Doctrine
“chronic wrongdoing ultimately
[will] require intervention by . . .
The United States”
Roosevelt: Sought a Balance of Power in the Pacific
 Roosevelt sought
to limit Japanese
expansion
Portsmouth
Peace Agreement
Great
Fleet
White
Taft -- Dollar Diplomacy
 Less emphasis on military
force and more on helping
Latin American industry
 Dollar Diplomacy
U.S. intervention for the
protection and
advancement of U.S.
commercial interests
 Nicaragua
Wilson – “Moral Diplomacy”
 “The force of America
is the force of moral
principle”
 The U.S. will never
again seek one
additional foot of
territory by conquest”
Wilson’s Interventionism
 Haiti and the Dominican Republic
-
occupied by U.S. marines
 - forced Haiti to write a pro-U.S. constitution
 Mexican Revolution
 Blockade
of Veracruz – to “teach South American
republics to elect good men”
 Invaded Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa