United States Foreign Policy, 1865 -1903

1. United States Foreign Policy, 1865 -1903

2. The United States Projects Its Influence in the Pacific and Asia

3. Commodore Matthew Perry, opening Japan by forcing them to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa The United States interest in the Pacific was not a new revelation at the turn of the century. Like other European nations, the US had sought to find a “Northwest Passage” and wanted to facilitate trade with Asia – particularly China, Japan, and India. For centuries, Japan had remained an isolationist society. They refused to trade with nations outside of their islands, and had no relationship with the United States. In order to gain economic markets, the United States sought to trade throughout Asia. Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to trade with others with the Treaty of Kanagawa in the early 1850s – by threat of armed intervention.

4. The Purchase of Alaska, 1867

5. Alaska Purchased from Russia, which claimed the territory as a colony and had fur trading outposts along the Western coast of present day Canada. US Secretary of State William Seward purchased the area in 1867 for $7.2 Million, or a little more than 2 cents an acre. The purchase was ridiculed as a waste of tax dollars at the time, and assigned nicknames like: “Seward’s Folly” “Seward’s Icebox” “Polar Bear Garden” Alaska, fortunately for William Seward, was found to be rich in natural resources including gold, oil, fishing, and lumber.The Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s was a huge migration through the Alaska Territory and the Yukon River valley.

6. ISOLATIONISM Isolationism is a national policy of non-involvement in world affairs. In other words, a nation decided to remain neutral and uninterested in affairs outside its own boundaries. They concentrate on their own concerns, their own economy, and their own society, but they do not interact with other nations through trade, military involvement, treaties, or alliances. To categorize the United States foreign policy as “isolationist” during the 18th and 19th Centuries would be to willfully misinterpret history. The United States was both expansionist and imperialist throughout the period, taking over Native American lands, fighting a war of aggression against Mexico, and posturing towards war with England on several occasions in order to secure territorial rights. That the nation was isolationist in its interactions with Europe is a much more readily supported claim!

7. IMPERIALISM When a larger, stronger nation attempts to take over a smaller, weaker nation, either economically, or politically. Anytime a nation goes to war to gain land, it can be called “expansionist imperialism.” Economic imperialism can take place as well. For example, if a wealthy, powerful nation forces the citizens of a smaller, weaker nation to work for them, or attempts to take over all of the smaller nation’s natural resources (like oil, or staple crops) then it called economic imperialism. The more transparent examples of imperialism in American history would be the Mexican Cession or the colonization of the Philippines; the more subtle “economic” imperialism is reflected in the takeover of Cuba’s economy following the Spanish-American War or the proposed “Open Door Policy” in China.

8. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that the future economic and military strength of the United States would be dependent upon building overseas trade and protecting American interests across the globe with a strong Navy. In order to accomplish this, Americans would need to have ports and naval bases across the world. Mahan encouraged the United States to acquire ports like: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pago-Pago, American Samoa Midway Islands Puerto Rico Guantanamo Bay, Cuba In his book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, Mahan concluded that a strong navy was essential for protection, the acquisition of natural resources during times of need, and in order to protect economic interests.

9. Spreading American Values In the late 1800s, many Americans believed that Americans of the “Anglo-Saxon” race were superior to “lesser races” in other nations. Therefore, the argument went, Americans had a divine duty to spread Christian values and western civilization around the world. The core of this belief was the racist thought that white Europeans were superior to all other types of people world wide. The notion that Christianity was the one true faith also colored American’s behavior – and proselytizing groups like Christian missionaries therefore played an important role in the expansion of American trade in the Pacific in places like Hawaii, China, and the Philippines. The perverse and arbitrary rating scales which were used to evaluate cultures promoted an entire pseudo-science in Eugenics, which was used to promote racist agendas like the Nazis anti-Semitic campaigns during World War II. The racist beliefs were not exclusively promoted by Europeans, though. Indeed, the Japanese proclaimed themselves biologically suited to control Asia, and used eugenics to justify invading Manchuria and China

10. Hawaii’s Early History The Hawaiian islands were settled by Polynesian islanders during the early 600s AD. They lived on the islands undisturbed by anyone until around the year 1778, when they were discovered by Captain James Cook, an Englishmen. He named the islands the “Sandwich” Islands, in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. When American missionaries arrived in the early 1820s, they began to change the islands both culturally and economically – investing in sugar and plantations. They also brought pandemic disease to the islands – as all Europeans had – causing outbreaks of communicable illnesses that wiped out the population and broke down the social structure of the islands.

11. The Acquisition of Pearl Harbor, 1887 As a part of the United States grand strategy of acquiring ports suitable for both trade and military bases, the United States began to pressure King Kalakaua of Hawaii for the right to establish a naval base a Pearl Harbor. This was granted – grudgingly – in 1887, changing the nature of American participation in economic and political activities in the Pacific forever. Today, Pearl Harbor is one of the largest and most active naval bases in the nation – close in size to the bases in Norfolk, Jacksonville, and San Diego. But in the 1880s, the size of the United States navy was extremely small, and there was more interest in using Hawaii in order to facilitate trade with Asia than establishing a military outpost. The presence of a harbor suitable for exporting the sugar, pineapple, and other resources of the islands, coupled with the military potential of the site, made Hawaii an obvious target for US Expansion.

12. Queen Liliuokalani She was the last reigning monarch of Hawaii, and a strong opponent of annexation by the United States of America. During her time in power, she refused to accept the 1887 Constitution which had been imposed on King Kalakaua. Although she wanted to restore the Hawaiian Islands to Hawaiian people, she was eventually overthrown by a combination of Christian Missionaries, plantation owners, and United States Marines. The overthrow took place in 1893, and American business leaders immediately applied to the United States government for annexation. But the legitimacy of the men who had taken power was very much in doubt, and President Grover Cleveland refused condone the overthrow. Liliuokalani would protest the annexation of her islands to the bitter end. In protest, she wrote to Congress: “I, Liliuokalani of Hawaii, by the will of God named heir apparent on the tenth day of April, A.D. 1877, and by the grace of God Queen of the Hawaiian Islands on the seventeenth day of January, A.D. 1893, do hereby protest against the ratification of a certain treaty, which, so I am informed, has been signed at Washington by Messrs. Hatch, Thurston, and Kinney, purporting to cede those Islands to the territory and dominion of the United States. I declare such a treaty to be an act of wrong toward the native and part-native people of Hawaii, an invasion of the rights of the ruling chiefs, in violation of international rights both toward my people and toward friendly nations with whom they have made treaties, the perpetuation of the fraud whereby the constitutional government was overthrown, and, finally, an act of gross injustice to me.”

13. President Grover Cleveland President Cleveland refused to annex Hawaii in 1893, mostly because he was so disgusted by the role Americans had played in overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy. He felt that Americans had imposed a constitution on Hawaiians unwillingly, and did not consider the new government representative of the true values of Hawaiian people. Anti-Imperialists were often quite outspoken in protest of American ventures into the Pacific. Men like Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, and William Jennings Bryan opposed imperialist endeavors both because they felt this violated the principles of the Declaration of Independence and because they were pacifists. When William McKinley, an imperialist president who wanted to convert all Hawaiians to Christianity, took office in 1897, he moved forward with the American annexation o f Hawaii. Hawaii became a US Territory in 1898 and a state in 1959.

14. Spheres of Influence Where the takeover of a nation was physically impossible, economic imperialism was often a more realistic policy. Areas within one nation, in this case, China, where other nations maintained economic and political control were called spheres of influence. The United States, Germany, Russia, England, France, and Japan all sought to have “spheres of influence” in China during the late 19th Century – much to the displeasure of Chinese people. The United States – which had not been involved with imperialist claims in Africa or Asia before the turn of the 20th Century – was a little late to the game. Nevertheless, expansionist policies put forth under McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt in particular made the United States a force to be reckoned with in international affairs. McKinley’s aggressive imperialist policies resulted in the acquisition of colonial possessions across the globe. TR would invest heavily in the United States Navy – building the so-called “Great White Fleet” to project American influence around the globe.

15. The Open Door Policy US Secretary of State John Hay claimed that all of the nation which had created “Spheres of Influence in China should be able to trade on an equal basis in China – without regard for which nations Sphere of Influence they were in.” Essentially, the United States wanted access to Chinese markets that were already dominated by other European or Asian powers. Not only were European nations unwilling to go along with this, but also, Chinese nationals were agitated to the point of violent rebellion. Hay’s “Open Door Policy” seemed more like kicking the door down from the perspective of Chinese citizens.

16. THE BOXER REBELLION OF 1900 Chinese martial artists and “boxers” fought during this unsuccessful war in order to kick out of China all foreign influence. The uprising lasted for months and was partially successful – before being crushed by combined imperialist forces. After the “Boxer Rebellion,” Secretary of State John Hay’s Open Door Policy was more commonly accepted by other imperialist powers. The United States took an increasing interest in the economy of Eastern Asia as a result of the change.

17. The Spanish American War, 1898: “A Splendid Little War” The US as an Imperialist Power in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.

18. Spain: Colonial Rulers of Cuba

19. Spanish “Reconcentration” Camps The Revolutionary Jose Marti Cubans Demanded Independence from Spanish Colonial Rule.

20. Americans wanted to help Cubans win their independence, and were opposed to the cruel methods used by Spaniards to control the Cuban people. But in addition, Americans had over $50 Million invested in Cuban industries like sugar cane, rice, railroads, oil, or iron mines. Sugar Cane Plantations

21. American plans to annex and colonize Cuba had been in the works since the early 1800s. Southerners eager to expand the United States territory to regions which might be conducive to the slave labor system with plantation agriculture had eyed Cuba for years. Later, Castro and his regime used anti-American sentiment to reinforce their control over the island. In this political cartoon, the Monroe Doctrine, “Big Stick Diplomacy, and Roosevelt Corollary (later, 1907) were interpreted by Caribbean nations as imperialist policies.

22. President William McKinley President McKinley was opposed to war with Spain, claiming that “there seems to be an epidemic of insanity in the country” when he heard Americans clamoring for war. But a combination of jingoists in his party and yellow journalism was wearing down his efforts for peace. He was personally insulted by a Spanish diplomat in the illegally obtained de Lome letters – which were published in January of 1898, and growing wary.

23. Yellow Journalism Yellow Journalism is a style of reporting and displaying news using sensational, exaggerated, and frequentlyuntrue ways which distort reality and mislead readers or viewers of a news program. The name comes from a newspaper comic strip, “The Yellow Kid.” (LEFT)

24. Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World

25. William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal

26. The USS Maine The USS Maine was sent to Havana Harbor in Cuba in January of 1898, in order to protect the property and interests of American businessmen and visitors there. On February 15th, 1898, the ship mysteriously exploded.

27. Although no one really knows what happened to cause the explosion of the USS Maine, Americans blamed the Spanish – especially after reading newspaper headlines like this one, from Hearst’s New York Journal. Historians and scientists who have studied the wreckage to the ship generally agree that the ship exploded from the inside out – indicating the explosion was probably caused below decks, accidentally.

28. The Spanish-American war The battle cry of the United States of America once the war with Spain began in April of 1898: “Remember the Maine!”

29. The Battle of Manila Bay, The Philippines

30. The Battle of Manila Bay • The Battle of Manila Bay was the first major event during the Spanish-American War – in May of 1898. • Commodore George Dewey and his men launched a surprise attack against the Spanish ships at anchor in Manila Bay. • The United States Navy sank the entire Spanish Armada, and not a single American life was lost. • Theodore Roosevelt, the Asst. Sec. of the Navy in 1898, had ordered the invasion.

31. Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of Filipino forces seeking independence from Spain, helped the United States to defeat the Spanish on the Philippine Islands. When the US decided to claim the Philippines as a colonial possession later, Aguinaldo fought the US Army. Although usually portrayed as a primitive militant by the United States, he was actually a well-educated doctor. Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader of Filipino troops who fought with the United States against Spain – then against the United States from 1898 to 1901.

32. The Rough Riders Before Theodore Roosevelt was ever president of the United States, he quit his job as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and organized his own volunteer cavalry unit – the Rough Riders – to fight in Cuba.

33. At the Battle of San Juan Hill, Buffalo Soldiers played a major role in the fighting against Spanish troops.

34. The Rough Riders at San Juan Hill The Rough Riders did successfully lead an assault on Spanish troops in Cuba. Theodore Roosevelt’s egocentric version of the events which took place at San Juan Hill (they called it that although the fighting actually took place at the less exotic sounding Kettle Hill) was ridiculed by one humorist of his day, who suggested the TR should have called his memoirs, “Alone in Cuba.”

35. Colonies Acquired by the United States in the Treaty of Paris of 1898 The United States acquired several of Spain’s colonial possessions following the Spanish-American War – and they were forced to liberate the island nation of Cuba, which became an American protectorate. The US also acquired Puerto Rico, the Philippines (for $20 Million), Guam, and Wake Island.

36. Cuba Cuba was liberated, but the United States kept control of a naval base at Guantanamo Bay – which we still control today.

37. Puerto Rico

38. Guam

39. Wake Island

40. The Philippine Islands

41. The US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba • The Platt Amendment, an addition to Cuba’s new constitution, allowed the United States to take control over certain Cuban affairs. • Cuba could not borrow money or create treaties of its own without American permission. • Most importantly the United States was allowed a naval base at Guantanamo.

42. The Filipino War for Independence, 1898 - 1901 • After fighting with the United States to win its liberation from Spain, Filipinos were surprised and felt betrayed to learn that the United States intended to keep the Philippines as a colony of its own. • Starting in 1898, a three year war began between Americans and Filipinos led by Emilio Aguinaldo. According to your text, “about 4,000 Americans and 20,000 Filipinos were killed.” But other sources believe the casualties in the Philippines were much higher.

43. The Filipino War, 1898 In his book, The Imperial Cruise, author James Bradley claims, “Most American history books claim that U.S. Forces killed about twenty thousand freedom fighters and two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand Filipino civilians; other sources estimate that the U.S. military sent one million to three million to their early graves.” (Bradley, James. The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2009, p. 127)

44. Waterboarding during the Philippine War, 1898 - 1901 Waterboarding, a controversial torture technique which was used to interrogate terrorist suspects during the Bush administration’s War on Terror, was first practiced by American soldiers during the Philippine War.

45. The Philippines were granted Independence only after World War II came to an end. Even after the Second World War, American influence over the Philippines remained strong, with financial support for the corrupt government of Ferdinand Marcos and a strong military presence on the islands. The reforms of Corozan Aquino during the late 1980s began to reverse some of the controlling influence of the United States on the islands. The flag of the Philippines, which gained its independence in 1946, following World War II.

46. American Foreign Policy in an Age of Imperialism To what extent is the interpretation of the events of the Spanish American War and US imperialism in the Pacific and accurate representation? Were the actions of the United States and its people to proselytize, industrialize, and change the style of government in regions of the Pacific and Caribbean carried out for altruistic reasons? Or were self-interested economic motives at work instead?