Unit 4 - 1
American Imperialism and The
Spanish American War
READ Pages 342-345 Answer A-C
AND
READ Pages 346-351 Answer A-D
I.
The Debate over Imperial Expansion:
A. Many Americans opposed imperialism on principle.
B. Some would argue this began with the Mexican
American war before the U.S. Civil War and continued
through Westward Expansion and the taking of land
from the native Americans.
B. Arguments of the Imperialists
1. Colonies provided both raw materials and
a market for American made goods.
2. Colonies would give American’s a chance
to spread Christianity and American
institutions.
a. Claimed it was an extensions of our
“Manifest Destiny”
3. Americans should grab remaining
territories as colonies before European
powers did.
4. Alfred Thayer Mahan
a. Argued that colonies would provide strategic naval
bases, strengthen our navy, and encourage trade
b. Increased naval power would bring wealth and power.
5. Between 1907 and 1909, the Great White Fleet sailed
around the world as a sign of America’s growing military
power.
C. Arguments of the Antiimperialists
1. Americans had fought British
imperialism and should not
become imperialists
themselves.
2. Imperialism was antidemocratic.
3. Colonies created a danger of
being pulled into future global
conflicts.
4. The American Anti-Imperialist
League included prominent
members such as Mark Twain
and Andrew Carnegie.
I am an anti-imperialist. I
am opposed to having the
eagle put its talons on any
other land.
- Quoted in A Pen
Warmed Up in Hell
II. The Spanish-American War (1898)
A. Cuba was a Spanish colony.
B. Cubans wanted their independence and rebelled in
1895.
C. Spain suppressed the Cuban patriots with brutal force.
Richard Outcault's
"Yellow Kid" inspired
the term "yellow
journalism," the
outrageous competition
for readership that
fanned the flames of
anti-Spanish feelings in
the U.S. and helped lead
to war in 1898.
Newspaper publishers, Pulitzer and Hearst, dressed as the “Yellow Kid”
fighting over who started the Spanish American War.
E. Immediate Causes
1. Spanish ambassador de Lome’s letter was leaked to the
press.
a. de Lome criticized President McKinley as
incompetent.
Enrique Dupuy de Lôme
President McKinley
2. U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. Yellow
journalists blamed Spain.
3. #1 & 2 above caused President McKinley to give
into popular pressure and asked Congress for a
declaration of war on Spain.
F. Course of War
1. U.S. quickly
defeated Spain
with the aid of
Theodore
Roosevelt’s “Rough
Riders” in Cuba.
2. Commodore Dewey quickly
defeated the Spanish navy
in the Philippines.
G. Consequences
1. U.S. annexed the former Spanish colonies: Philippines,
Puerto Rico and Guam
2. Based on Teller Amendment, Cuba remained
independent but came under indirect U.S. control