The Roots of Imperialism

1. The Roots of Imperialism 18.1

2. Objectives • Identify the key factors that prodded America to expand. • Explain how the United States took its first steps toward increased global power. • Summarize the chain of events leading up to the U.S. annexation of Hawaii.

3. Key Parts • The Causes of Imperialism • America’s First Steps Toward World Power • The United States Acquires Hawaii

4. Introduction • Read section 18.1 • Answer Questions critical thinking questions 4&5.

5. The Causes of Imperialism • America played a small role in world affairs until the late 1800s. • During the Age of Imperialism from the mid-1800s through the early 1900s powerful nations engaged in a mad dash to extend their influence across much of the world. • The main reason for the rush to grab colonies was the desire for raw materials and natural resources.

6. Cont. • These colonial economies were examples of extractive economies. • The imperial country extracted or removed raw material from the colony and shipped them to the home country. • Possession of colonies gave nations and edge in the competition for global resources.

7. Cont.. • During the Imperial Age the United States wasn’t dealing with running out of resources like other countries. • We were producing more than we could consume. This caused our prices to drop for our goods because there was a surplus. • The United States needed to expand our market to overseas markets.

8. Cont… • To expand and protect their interests around the world, imperialist nations built up their military strength. • Alfred T. Mahan, an officer in the United States Navy played a key role in transforming America into a naval power. • By 1900 the United States had the third largest navy in the world.

9. Cont…. • Imperialists around the world used ideas of racial, national, and cultural superiority to justify imperialism. • One the main ideas was Social Darwinism, the belief that life consists of competitive struggles in which only the fittest survive. • Social Darwinists felt certain nations and races were superior to other s and therefore were destined to rule over inferior peoples and cultures.

10. Cont….. • Americans often embraced Social Darwinism because they had long believed that God had granted them the right and responsibility to settle the frontier. • They spoke of America’s “Manifest Destiny” to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. • Josiah Strong a religious missionary said that strong Americans had a responsibility to spread their Western values, “God is training the Anglo-Saxon race for its mission to civilize weaker races.”

11. America’s First Steps Toward World Power • U.S. Power begins to grow in the Pacific. • In 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry sailed a fleet of American warships into present-day Tokyo Bay, Japan. • His goal was to gain trading rights and access to Japanese ports that were previously shut off to trade with the rest of the word. • The Japanese were afraid of the warships because they had never seen anything like it.

12. Cont. • After a year Perry was able to negotiate a treaty that opened Japan to trade with America. • Perry’s journey led to further expansion across the Pacific Ocean. • In 1867 the United States took possession of the Midway Islands. • In 1887 The United States built a naval base at Pearl Harbor Hawaii.

13. Cont.. • In 1867 Secretary of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia for 7.2 million. • He was scoffed at by many people for making the purchase, however; this turned out to be the key milestone in America’s road to power. • Alaska turned out to be rich in timer, oil, and other natural resources, and greatly expanded America’s reach across the Pacific.

14. The United State Acquires Hawaii • The Hawaiian Islands had been economically linked to the United States for almost a century. • From the 1790’s on the American merchant ships had stopped at Hawaii on their way to East Asia. • American planters had become powerful in Hawaii due to their successful sugar plantations.

15. Cont. • King Kalakaua allowed the planters to gain this power. • However in 1891 King Kalakaua died and his sister, Liliuokalani took over as Queen and she was against the Planters and tried to push them out. • The U.S. quickly stepped in and overthrew the Queen. However; Hawaii was not annexed until 1898 under the Presidency of William McKinley.