Chapter 12: The Empire and The People

1. Chapter 12:The Empire and The People Monica Paz CHS 245 OL- 14004

2. Ideology of Expansion The panic of 1893 caused a major economic depression in 1893. people were desperate to sell their products and get back on their feet. The idea of expansion began to develop and spread across the United States. They thought that perhaps “overseas markets for American goods might relieve the problem of under consumption at home and prevent the economic crisis that in the 1890s brought class war” “In strict confidence….I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.”- Theodore Roosevelt

3. Ideology of Expansion • The idea of Expansion and trade over seas was nothing new to some Americans already. “Americans must now begin to look forward” The American armed forces had already made 108 intervention between 1798-1945 with other countries . Which include Argentina, Nicaragua, Japan and China. Captain A. T . Mahan of the U.S navy, helped with the progression of expanding their trade to other countries. He greatly influenced President Theodore Roosevelt and other powerful leaders.

4. “Poor Poetry, but good sense from the expansionist standpoint.” Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts was another huge supporter of expanding American markets to other countries. “It is a movement which makes for civilization and the advancement of the race. As one of the great nations of the world the United States must not fall out of line of march.” Although expansion did seem to have more gains than loses for the United States, Howard Zinn and a editorial from the Washington Post both wondered that perhaps this wasn’t about just about economic reasons but perhaps a “lust for aggression”. Was it just a way to become more powerful than other countries? “We are face to face with a strange destiny. The taste of Empire is in the mouth of the people even as the taste of blood in the jungle…”

5. Of course it was! • Cuban- The United States was in full support of the Cuban revolution , not because they wanted to help the rebels gain their independence but because they wanted to use Cuba for their own benefit. Another major reason for the intervention of the United States in Cuban was that if the Cuban rebels won of their own they feared another all Black republic would form. Teller Amendment • –the United states was allowed help Cuba gain independence but the needed to withdraw all its troops from the country. February 1898-Battleship Maine mysteriously exploded, 268 men were lost. President McKinley and rich business owners were desperate in getting Spain out of Cuba. The only way possible was war. They quickly used this event to trigger It by blaming the explosion on Spain.

6. Spanish-American War • “Many histories of the Spanish-American war have said that “public opinion” in the United States led McKinley to declare war on Spain and send forces to Cuba” • American labor unions felt sympathy for the Cubans, they were against any American expansionism. • Socialists were also against the war , they believed it was “a favorite method of rulers for keeping the people from redressing domestic wrongs.”

7. “This has been a poor man’s war-paid for by the poor man. The rich have profited by it, as they always do….” • Benefits of the war • iron and coal are at an all time high • More jobs are available • Higher wage • Downside of the war • The poor became poorer • The prices on products increased • The Spanish were defeated within three months • American Military ignored the presence of the Cuban rebels. • When the Spanish surrendered no Cuban was allowed to confer or sign on it • Old Spanish authorities were left in charge not the Cubans • The U.S. only cared about the business networking

8. American Takeover • Americans began to take over Cuban railroads, mines and sugar. • Within the next few years, $30 million of American capital was invested. • 1,900,000 acres of Cuban land was bought for merely 20 cents per acre. • United fruit moved in the Cuban sugar industry. • By 1901, 80 percent of Cuban exports was American. • American lumber industries planned on taking over the 1,9000,000 acres of forest • Cuba wanted to be fully independent and rule their own country. • Workers went on strike. “…the workers of Cuba will no longer tolerate remaining in total subjection” • Strikers were arrested, U.S. troops took over their jobs. • Police went through out the city of Havana breaking up meetings. • The Platt Amendment was a loop hole to the Teller Amendment. • The U.S. was not allowed to annex Cuba, but under the Platt Amendment, but the U.S. "the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty. . . . "

9. December 1898 -Peace treaty was signed with Spain. -Spain turned over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines , in return the U.S Paid $20 million dollars. -The United States did not know what to do with the Philippines. -President McKinley stated “The truth is I didn't want the Philippines…. And one night late it came to me this way -- I don't know how it was, but it came: 1) That we could not give them back to Spain -- that would be cowardly and dishonorable. 2) That we could not turn them over to France or Germany, our commercial rivals in the Orient -- that would be bad business and discreditable. 3) That we could not leave them to themselves -- they were unfit for self-government -- and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain's was; and 4) That there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died. And then I went to bed and went to sleep and slept soundly.”

10. Filipinos fight back • “The Filipinos did not get the same message from God” • February 1899, rebelled against American rule just like how they rebelled against Spanish Rule. • Emilio Aguinaldo , Filipino leader • First brought from China to lead soldiers into Spain. • Became leader of the insurrectos, aided the fight against the • United States. • proposed Filipino independence under U.S. protectorate, but • his proposal was rejected. Philippine American war ended in 1902, it took three years for the United States to crush the rebels. -four times as many troops were used than in Cuba - Filipino death right was enormous.

11. “The taste of empire was on the lips of politicians and business interests throughout the country now” • Albert Beveridge of the senate , stated on January 9,1900,”the Philippines are ours forever...” that it was the United States destiny to take advantage of the land, and use it in the name of freedom. • The Philippines was there entrance into trade with the Chinese markets. • Imperialism: "an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of dominance, and involving the extension of authority and control of one state or people over another.”(Dictionary of Human Geography) • It became very clear to the Filipinos and some Americans, that the United States was going to take full advantage of the Philippines, and get rid of anyone who got in their way .

12. William James Harvard philosopher, wrote a letter to the Boston Transcript saying that the “Philippine operation ‘reeked of the infernal adroitness of the great department store, which has reached perfect expertness in the art of killing silently, and with no public squalling or commotion, the neighboring small concerns’” Anti-imperialist League • Formed of American businessmen, politicians and intellectuals. • Wanted to educate the American people of the “horrors of the Philippine war and the evils of Imperialism.” • Everyone in the group had different opinions, but they all agreed to the statement made by William James ,”God damn the U.S. for its vile conduct in the Philippines Isle.” • Racism increased during this time, the soldiers stationed in the Philippines were careless about what happen to the Filipino people.

13. Racism at an all time high! • Between the years 1889 and 1903, racism in the United States was intense. • African Americans suffered greatly during this time, “on average , every week, two negroes were lynched by mobs—hanged, burned, mutilated.” • Filipinos were also a target for their distinct characteristic differences to those of the White people. In 1901,the Manila correspondent of Philadelphia Ledger reported what was really going on in the Philippines, innocent people were being killed by the hundreds. However the United States military showed no remorse for their actions. Instead they would come up with excuses for their actions. That they only shot in self defense.

14. Philippines had no chance • The Americans had more advanced firepower than the Filipinos. • “Dead Filipinos were piled so high that the Americans used their bodies for breastwork” • Although there was no denying the brutality that went on during the Philippine American war and the accusations made by the anti-imperialism league, some trade unions were in full support of the crimes committed in the Philippines. • If it meant they could sell their products to other countries and make big money, it was all worth it. • Annexation of the Philippines was completely out the question. • Although the Anti-imperialist league provided arguments against taking the Philippines, most of the members were working class, women and Blacks. Giving people at the time even less reason to listen to them .

15. Blacks in the military • Some theories on why African Americans joined the army are: • To get ahead in society, the military offered opportunities to them they couldn’t get anywhere else. • Race pride, “the need to show that blacks were courageous, as patriotic as anyone else” • Black soldiers still had to deal with racism outside the United States. • Their White comrades were just as brutal to them as they were in the States. • “The Filipino rebels often addressed themselves to ‘the Colored American soldier’ in posters, reminding them of lynching back home, asking them not to serve the white imperialist against other colored people.” • Many Black soldiers joined the Filipino rebels.

16. Home sweet home? • Back in the United States a groups of African Americans sent a message to President McKinley, basically saying they were tried of his ignorance of their suffering. How he was just as bad as the people who slaughter innocent Blacks for no reason. • And how when he did go visit them in the south he would almost commend the murders for their crimes, and turn the other cheek for the victims who actually needed him. • “In the first few years of the twentieth century ,despite all the demonstrated power of the state, large numbers of Blacks, Whites, men, women became impatient, immoderate, unpatriotic.”

17. Reference page • Slide #2 :Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg297) • Slide #3:Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg299,300) • Slide#5: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg306) • Slide #6: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg308) • Slide #7: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg310,311) • Slide #8: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg312,315)

18. Reference page • Slide #9: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg313) • Slide #10: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg313) • Slide #11: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg314,315) • Slide #12: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg315) • Slide #13: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg316) • Slide #14: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg318) • Slide #15: Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Print.(pg320)