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William Seward purchased Alaska for $7.2 million. He bought it from the Russians. Seward bought it because he was a long standing believer in the U.S. becoming an imperial power. Alaska ended up having several resources that were beneficial to the U.S, such as timber, minerals, and oil. -
Other Americans wished for imperialism because of: desire for military strength, thirst for new markets, and belief in cultural superiority. Admiral Alfred T. Mahan was a believer in military strength, as he convinced the U.S. to build nine steel-hulled cruisers between 1883 and 1890. People also viewed foreign trade as the savior to their problems of overproduction due to technological advancements. Social Darwinism and Christianity were cited as appropriate reasons to take over countries. -
There are a couple of reasons for the Spanish American war, and they included the press over exaggerating and festering rumors of Spain, a letter being found of a Spanish minister slandering the U.S. president, and the U.S.S. Maine getting destroyed. The U.S.S. Maine and the press were events related to each other, as when the Maine blew up, the press blamed the Spanish government. The United States got land out of the war, which included Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. -
August 12th, 1898, the U.S. declares Hawaii to become an American territory. This came after a long struggle of Hawaiians opposing the annexation, and after the U.S. reduced the queen of Hawaii to nothing. The initial push for annexation came from sugar plantation owners wanting more money, as taxes were being placed upon Hawaiian sugar. The plantation owners living on Hawaii eventually banded together and forced Liliuokalani to give up her queen ship. -
The Filipinos decided to revolt against the U.S. because of American annexation. The U.S. began to use the same terrible practices of putting Filipinos in concentration camps (as Spain had) when Aguinaldo, the rebellion leader, began to use guerrilla warfare. The U.S. took 3 years to take down the rebellion, and, in the aftermath, 20,000 Filipinos and 4,000 Americans died. A government that was similar to Puerto Rico's was created, where Filipinos would elect a lower house of the legislature. -
John Hay issued the Open Door notes because he saw the other countries taking advantage of China. He did not want a monopoly on China from any single country. A rebellious group formed called the Boxers, as they did not want other countries in their land. The coalition of all the countries put down the rebellion, and a second set of Open Door notes was issued. They basically said that the U.S. should have more influence. -
Puerto Rico was initially controlled by military forces. In 1900, however, the Foraker Act was passed, which set up a civil government. The president could elect a governor for Puerto Rico, and Puerto Ricans could elect only the members of the legislature’s lower house. In 1901, the Supreme Court decided the Constitution did not apply to them. U.S. citizenship was given to Puerto Ricans in 1917. -
The U.S. decided that Cuba needed to add more provisions, the Platt Amendment, to its government. This came after Cuba had written its own constitution in 1900. Cuba refused, as the provisions seemed similar to Spain's control of them. The U.S. stood firm in their decision, so the U.S. became a protectorate of Cuba. The want for control of Cuba came from business interests in sugar, tobacco, and mining industries. -
Latin America began to borrow money from Europeans to build industries and railroads. Roosevelt feared European influence in the West, so he issued a statement called the Roosevelt Corollary. The U.S. would use force to police their economic interests in Latin America. Roosevelt's ideas influenced Taft, who asked American bankers to give loans to Nicaragua. This prevented European powers from interfering and gave the U.S. passage into more Latin America countries. -
Woodrow Wilson believed that other countries that were anti democratic should not be accepted by the U.S. The Mexican revolution in 1911 was the first event that proved Wilson's promises. Wilson watched Mexico carefully; when they accidentally took some marines, the U.S. sent troops into Mexico. General John Pershing was sent in. After a bit of back and forth, things calmed down, and the U.S. foreign policy goals were revealed: expanding foreign markets, modern navy, and policing Latin America.