Introduction to Imperialism

Prevention of European expansion fueled the Imperialists platform. The notion of Manifest Destiny was rejuvenated by Republicans to spread republican democracy.

This quest to influence the world to be like the United States was at the heart of Imperialism. Though it was debated by the Anti-Imperialists that the ulterior motive was to claim the wealth and govern foreign lands without permission. The battles, uprisings, journalism techniques and dollar diplomacy furthered the extension of Manifest Destiny from ‘sea to shining sea’ to acquisition across the Pacific Ocean. (Wikipedia, 2009)


Reference

Manifest Destiny. (2009, July 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:15, July 15, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manifest_Destiny&oldid=302184966

Pro-Imperialism

IMPERIALISM: A policy of exending your rule over foreign countries. A political orientation that advocates imperial interest. (worldnetweb)

The practice of one country extending its control over territory, political system, or economic life of another country. (www2.truman)

In the late 1800's, the United States found itself being a powerful and commercial nation. With less concern being focused in the south, the great leaders in industry and politics were thinking of ways to move our great country forward, to secure our economic and military future in the world. They believed ours was a great land anything we could do for other nations would not only help them, but help ourselves as well. (Schiener et al., 1987)

These "Imperialists" began to notice an interesting wave of events. Larger, more powerful nations were taking over smaller countries that offered products and strategical positioning. These resources could help their countries commerce and provide access to other countries. (Beveridge, 1898)

In the 1880's, Africa was being taken over, bit by bit, by Great Britain, France, Germany and other countries. In the 1890's, the same was occuring in China. Not wanting to lose out on the chance at improving our economic future, especially after the economic crisis of 1893, American business leaders and politicians decided to take action. Our country was in a great

depression; one way to get out of it was to increase control of world markets. Aquiring new

territories met this need. We needed "archipelago", a base for commerce, military, and naval operations to protect our country and give quick access to other countries.

In the last quarter of the 1800's, the Phillipines tired of Spanish rule and decided to rebel. The United States pounced on this opportunity, assisted the Fillipinos rebellion against Spain and force Spain to surrender. After defeating Spain, the United States assumes control over Manila, and conquered and colonized the Phillipines. By controlling the Phillipines, the U.S. now has access to raw materials, wood, hemp, copper and other products, that the U.S. was unable to produce, bearing new vitality to merchandising with the variety of goods . The U.S. trade in the Phillipines, once developed, came to $125,000,000 annually,a significant help during an economic downturn. (Pomeroy, 1974)

In addition to commerce the U.S. now has easier access to China. In 1897, China's foreign commerce was $285,738,300. Before taking over the Phillipines, the U.S. only had 9% of this very large pie. China's future was extremely bright for development and goods. By having access to this country, the U.S. could see stability in our own economic future, and a place for a military and naval positions, making it easier for our country to protect itself from hostile countries. (Pomeroy, 1974)

The human interest for Imperialism was to teach these countries how to govern themselves. Our racial superiority had been proven with the great industrialization of our country, and we offered them, if they chose to take it, a better way of life and civilization. (Karnow, 1987)

References

Schirmer, S., and Shalom, S. R., (1987) "The Philippines Reader".

Beveridge, A., (1898). "The March of the Flag".

Pomeroy, W. J., (1974). An American Made Tragedy: Neo-Colonialism and Dictatorship in the

Philippines. New York, International Publishers.

Karnow, S., (1989). In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines. New York,

Random House Inc.

Material source/Princeton University (n.d.) Retrieved July, 2009 from worldnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Retrieved July, 2009 from www2.truman.edu/marc/resources/terms.html

Middlebury College (2008) Formation of modern American culture. Pro-Imperialism Cartoon Retrieved July 18,2009 from https://segue1.middlebury.edu/index.php&action=site&site=amst0210-22298&page=98151&story=172976&detail=172976

Cons of Imperialism

The cons of imperialism argued by Anti-Imperialists were both varied and convoluted.
In 1898, in response to the destruction of sugar cane crops and atrocities committed by the Spanish in Cuba, America went to war. Instead of leaving Cuba to its own devices and governing, the Platt Agreement was required in its constitution, ensuring continued American influence and presence.

Following the war, the Philippines was purchased instead of holding ourselves to the limits and vision of the Declaration of Independence and our U.S. Constitution. We gained control over those peoples too, but not without the burning of villages and the torture of men paving the way to an American Empire. “What of American values?” Anti-Imperialists would say. (Zimmerman, 2002)

Some anti-imperialists argued the annexation of the Philippines and Hawaii was interjecting America into foreign lands, not as liberators, but as oppressors, valuing commercial gain at the expense of American principles. As one anti-imperialist, Carl Schurz, stated in regard to our economy, it was a “'barbarous notion that in order to have a profitable trade with a country we must own it'”. (Zimmerman, 2002, p 336)

Social-Darwinists found themselves on both sides of the imperialism argument, some in favor of imposing civilized values on indigenous people, while others thought Americans should keep from interacting with what they felt were lesser races. Still others believed Imperialism was “both unnecessary and wrong because imperialism, in the name of civilizing lower races, simply exterminated them”. (Zimmerman, 2002, p339)

Mark Twain was one such critic firmly opposing the military movements involved with Imperialism. Members of the Anti-Imperialist League, including Andrew Carnegie and presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan included in their lists of grievances with the evolving American foreign policy the rejection of laissez-faire politics in order to accrue more responsibilities in foreign lands. (Zimmerman, 2002)

The cons of imperialism, providing the foundations of the Anti-Imperialist movement, were numerous. American military action to dominate a foreign land, denial of self-governance for those people, and the taking on of responsibilities in far away places were cause for conflict. The arguments against making an American empire were enough to unite those in opposition under the Anti-Imperialist League. (Zimmerman, 2002)

Reference

Zimmerman, W. (2002). First Great Triumph:How Five Americans Made Their Country a

World Power. New York:Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism is defined as sensational news reporting that blurs the line between fact and fiction, spontaneous reality and staged theater. In the late 1800's, yellow journalism was made predominant by American newspaper publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William R. Hearst. During this time period, Pulitzer was publisher of the New York World, while Hearst was publisher of the New York Journal. They began to report on the Spanish treatment towards Cubans during the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino war in 1898. (Jones et al., 2008)

The term developed from a comic character created in a tense competition between two journalists. This is how the term "yellow journalism" was coined. (Jones et al., 2008)

The New York Journal, in February of 1898, published a letter written by Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish minister to the United States, denouncing President Mckinley as a weak politician. The letter was meant to be private and is said to have been one of the triggers of the Spanish American War of 1899. The headline read “The Worst Insult to the United States in its History”. De Lôme resigned, and officials realized later that yellow journalism had exaggerated the letter. (Jones et al., 2008, p. 437)

Yellow Journalism is one of the products of American imperialism. Modern day versions of this type of journalism include The Sun, Britain’s red top tabloids and the Daily Telegraph in Australia.

Reference

Jones, J., Wood, P., Borstelmann, T., May, E. and Ruiz, V., (2008). Created Equal: A Social and
Political History of the United States. 2nd ed., Volume II, (page 437). New York, Pearson
Longman.

Image Retrieved July, 2009 from
https://outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=8dfc70d0603e4c2c932478893b236296&URL=http%3a%2f%2fsymonsez.files.wordpress.com%2f2009%2f02%2fyellowjournalism1.jpg

Colonial Rule

Although the term “Manifest Destiny” began in earlier times and referred to the expansion of North America through Indian and Mexican lands, the term had a reprise at the end of the 19th Century (Wikipedia, 2009). At this time, the term began to refer to overseas expansion, rather than the prior definition, and expand became a tenet of the Republican Party.

With the sinking of the USS Maine in Cuba, America was drawn into the fray between Cuban insurrectionists and Spain. Spain was defeated and Cuba came under US protection by way of the Platt Amendment which meant a US presence in the country, including having American troops stationed at a naval base in Guantanamo Bay. (Jones, 2008)

As part of the armistice signed by Spain, Spain cedes Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States. As part of the agreement the US agreed to pay $20 million for the Philippines.
Unfortunately, the Philippinos were not enamored of the idea of foreign rule and refused to give up to a colonial power. (Jones, 2008) The American forces utilized brute force against the Filipino people, including the killing of hundreds of women and children, on Samar Island when General Jacob Smith ordered that the island be turned into a “howling wilderness.” (Abinales, 2006) The US forces prohibited any material they considered to be seditious, whether it be in print, plays or the display of native flags. Any additional dissent was dealt with quickly and efficiently by the police force put in place by the Americans.

The next task for the Americans was governing their new colony. The US Congress provided a small sum to support the colonization, but it was up to the colony itself to generate revenue from its resources. Some American legislators opposed free trade from the Philippines insisting that this would be detrimental to the revenues from their own constituents’ crops.

The Americans were wise in their recruitment of Filipinos to participate in the government structure. These collaborators formed the foundation of the Federalista Party, which was in favor of full American control. (Abinales, 2006) Another group, formed by local elites, started to become politically powerful. The Americans recognized their powerbase and joined forces with this group called the Nationalista Party. (Abinales, 2006) The first Philippine election saw a victory by this party and the beginning of the self-rule of the Philippines.

References

Abinales, Patricio N. July 30, 2006. The Philippines Free Press Online. Re-constructing colonial Philippines. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from http://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com
http://philippinesfreepress.wordpress.com/2006/07/30/re-constructing-colonial-philippines-1900-1910/

Jones, J., Wood, P., Borstelmann, T., May, E. and Ruiz, V.(2008). Created equal: a
social and political history of the United States (brief 2nd ed.). New York,
Pearson Longman.

Wikipedia, July 10, 20098. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
%20%20%09Manifest_Destiny#cite_note-30

Colonial Rule statue image Retrieved July 19, 2009 from colonial+rule&oid=66be9521becfcfc2&fr2=&fusr=Tates+In+New...&no=87&tt=6445&b=73&ni=18&sigr=11i7lqkb3&sigi=11gdcdh84&sigb=13dd7atq6

Uprisings

At the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century, there were several political uprisings around the world: the American government decided to intervene. President Theodore Roosevelt felt America was a “civilized nation” and needed to get involved in other parts of the world to protect American commercial interests.

Cuban nationalists led a revolt against the Spanish colonial establishment in 1895. The American interests in the sugar industry were jeopardized by the destruction of the sugar crop by the Cuban nationalists. President McKinley sent the Navy ship USS Maine to Cuba to be on standby to evacuate Americans. While there, an accident happened -- the ship exploded and sank, killing two hundred men. This prompted the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino war of 1898. (Jones et al., 2008)

Across the Pacific, the U.S. Navy sent a fleet of ships to the Philippines. The Spanish were driven away in defeat. The United States bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. The Filipino nationals rebelled against the United States and it took two years to crush the uprising. With the United States having a presence in the Pacific, this enabled President Roosevelt to send in reinforcements to China for the Nationalists' Boxer Uprising in 1900. (Jones et al.. 2008)

Later in his presidency, President Roosevelt proposed the construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Panama was a province of Columbia then and he encouraged Panamanian nationalists to secede from Columbia in1903: he was able to build the canal that dramatically changed the time it took to travel from the Atlantic Oceanto to the Pacific Ocean.

References

Image Retrieved July, 2009 from

Jones, J., Wood, P.H., Bortelsmann, T., May, E. T., & Ruiz, V.L. (2007). Created Equal (Vol. 2, 2nd ed., pp. 435-441). Pearson Education.


Jones, J., Wood, P., Borstelmann, T., May, E. and Ruiz, V. (2008). Created Equal, A Social and
Political History of the United States (brief 2nd ed.). New York, Pearson Longman

The Hawaiian Revolution of 1893

In 1890 the sugar from Hawaii became subject to high tariffs for the first time. The American sugar planters were upset and the Hawaiians were unhappy that they had lost control in the islands due to large land ownership by Americans.

In 1891, the new queen, Queen Liliuokalani, attempted to create a new constitution that would favor the native islanders instead of the wealthy Americans who owned most of the sugar plantations. The Americans petitioned the U.S. to annex Hawaii, and in 1893, U.S. Government Minister John L. Stevens ordered 162 sailors and marines to come on shore in a show of power. The queen was deposed in 1893 and Hawaii was ultimately annexed to the U.S. in 1898. (Wikipedia, 2009)

Reference

Hawaiian Revolution. Retrieved July 14, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Liliuokalani