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American leaders became convinced that the United States should join the imperialist powers of Europe and establish colonies overseas. To expand the size of their nation. -
In the Philippines, Filipinos reacted with outrage to the Treaty of Paris, which called for American annexation of the Philippines.
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In 1854, diplomats recommended to President Franklin Pierce that the United States buy Cuba from Spain. -
William Henry Seward was appointed Secretary of State by Abraham Lincoln on March 5, 1861, and served until March 4, 1869 -
1867: Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2million, approximately 2 cents per acre. Some thought this purchase was a mistake and labeled it “Seward's Icebox” or “Seward's Folly” but Alaska contained valuable timber, mineral, and eventually oil resources. -
In 1867, the same year in which Alaska was purchased, the United States took over the Midway Islands, which lie in the Pacific Ocean about 1300 miles north of Hawaii. No one lived on the islands, so the event did not attract much attention. -
On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl. -
The acquisition of Alaska by the United States on March 30, 1867, was dubbed “Seward's Folly” or ridiculed as “Seward's Icebox” by critics at the time. -
In 1875, the United States agreed to import Hawaiian sugar duty-free. Over the next 15 years, Hawaiian sugar production increased nine times. -
Admiral Alfred T. Mahan of the U.S. Navy. Mahan urged government officials to build up American naval power in order to compete with other powerful nations. As a result of the urging of Mahan and others, the United States built nine steel-hulled cruisers between 1883 and 1890.
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In 1887, they pressured Hawaii to allow the United States to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor -
In the late 19th century, advances in technology enabled American farms and factories to produce far more than American citizens could consume. Now the United States needed raw materials for its factories and new markets for its agricultural and manufactured goods. -
When Kalakaua died in 1891, his sister Queen Liliuokalani came to power with a “Hawaii for Hawaiians'' agenda. She proposed removing the property owning qualifications for voting. To prevent this from happening, business groups—encouraged by Ambassador John L. Stevens—organized a revolution. With the help of marines, they overthrew the queen and set up a government headed by Sanford B. Dole -
In 1896, Spain responded to the Cuban revolt by sending General Valeriano Weyler to Cuba to restore order. Weyler tried to crush the rebellion by herding the entire rural population of central and western Cuba into barbed wire concentration camps. Here civilians could not give aid to rebels. An estimated 300,000 Cubans filled these camps, where thousands died from hunger and disease. -
Despite such concerns, the U.S. state department continued to push for control of its Latin American neighbors. In the years to come, the United States would intervene time and again in the affairs of other nations in the Western Hemisphere. Filipinos Rebel. -
It took the Americans nearly three years to put down the rebellion. About 20,000 Filipino rebels died fighting for independence. The war claimed 4,000 American lives and cost $400 million—20 times the price the United States had paid to purchase the islands. -
During the Spanish-American War, United States forces, under General Nelson A. Miles, occupied the island. As his soldiers took control, General Miles issued a statement assuring Puerto Ricans that the Americans were there to “bring you protection, not only to yourselves but to your property, to promote your prosperity, and to bestow upon you the immunities and blessings of the liberal institutions of our government.” -
When the United States declared war against Spain in 1898, it recognized Cuba’s independence from Spain. It also passed the Teller Amendment, which stated that the United States had no intention of taking over any part of Cuba. -
President McKinley had ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Cuba to bring home American citizens in danger from the fighting and to protect American property. On February 15, 1898, the ship blew up in the harbor of Havana. More than 260 men were killed. This event was also known as Remember the Maine -
On April 30, the American fleet in the Pacific steamed to the Philippines. The next morning, Commodore George Dewey gave the command to open fire on the Spanish fleet at Manila, the Philippine capital. Within hours, Dewey’s men had destroyed every Spanish ship there. Dewey’s victory allowed U.S. troops to land in the Philippines. -
The Treaty of Paris (1898) was the peace treaty signed on December 10, 1898 by Spain and the United States that ended the Spanish-American War. The terms of the treaty also ended the age of Spanish imperialism and established the United States as a world power. -
In February 1899, the Filipinos, led by Aguinaldo, rose in revolt. The United States assumed almost the same role that Spain had played, imposing its authority on a colony that was fighting for freedom. When Aguinaldo turned to guerrilla tactics, the United States forced Filipinos to live in designated zones, where poor sanitation, starvation, and disease killed thousands. This was the very same practice that Americans had condemned Spain for using in Cuba. -
The United States began to fear that China would be carved into colonies and American traders would be shut out. To protect American interests, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay issued, in 1899, a series of policy statements called the Open Door notes. -
the industrializing powers of Europe viewed the African and Asian continents as reservoirs of raw materials, labor, and territory for future settlement. In the late 19th century Africa had emerged as a prime target of European expansionism. By the early 20th century, only two countries in all of Africa—Ethiopia and Liberia—remain independent -
Most Americans gradually warmed to the idea of expansion overseas. With a belief in manifest destiny, they already had pushed the U.S. border to the Pacific Ocean. Three factors fueled the new American imperialism: desire for military strength, thirst for new markets, belief in cultural superiority -
Although China kept its freedom, Europeans dominated most of China’s large cities. Resentment simmered beneath the surface as some Chinese formed secret societies pledged to rid the country of “foreign devils.” The most famous of these secret groups were the Boxers, so named by Westerners because members practiced martial arts. -
In August 1900, troops from Britain, France, Germany, and Japan joined about 2,500 American soldiers and marched on the Chinese capital. Within two months, the international forces put down the Boxer Rebellion. Thousands of Chinese people died during the fighting.
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A second set of Open Door Notes was circulated in 1900 (after the Boxer Rebellion) urging each power to preserve China's "territorial and administrative entity."This policy paved the way for greater American influence in Asia.
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In April 2, 1900, U.S. President McKinley signed a civil law that established a civilian government in Puerto Rico. This law was known as the Foraker Act for its sponsor, Joseph Benson Foraker (an Ohio statesman), and also as the Organic Act of 1900. -
The assassination of William McKinley in 1901 thrust Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt into the role of a world leader. -
In 1901, in the Insular Cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution did not automatically apply to people in acquired territories. Congress, however, retained the right to extend U.S. citizenship, and it granted that right to Puerto Ricans in 1917. It also gave them the right to elect both houses of their legislature. -
in 1901, the United States insisted that Cuba add to its constitution several provisions, known as the Platt Amendment, stating that Cuba could not make treaties that might limit its independence or permit a foreign power to control any part of its territory, the United States reserved the right to intervene in Cuba, Cuba was not to go into debt that its government could not repay, the United States could buy or lease land on the island for naval stations and refueling stations. -
In 1903, the Platt Amendment became part of a treaty between the two nations, and it remained in effect for 31 years. Under the terms of the treaty, Cuba became a U.S. protectorate, a country whose affairs are partially controlled by a stronger power.
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The Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The negotiations took place in August in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and were brokered in part by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt -
In the early 1900s, the Navy’s Great White Fleet, so named because its ships were painted white, was a sign of America’s growing military power -
From 1909 to 1913, President William Howard Taft and Secretary of State Philander C. Knox followed a foreign policy characterized as "dollar diplomacy". It was a policy whereby American influence would be exerted primarily by American banks and financial interests, supported in part by diplomats.
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In 1911, Mexican peasants and workers led by Francisco Madero overthrew Díaz. -
According to Wilson’s “missionary diplomacy,” the United States had a moral responsibility to deny recognition to any Latin American government it viewed as oppressive, undemocratic, or hostile to U.S. interests. -
Wilson adopted a plan of “watchful waiting,” looking for an opportunity to act against Huerta. The opportunity came in April 1914, when one of Huerta’s officers arrested a small group of American sailors in Tampico, on Mexico’s eastern shore, but Wilson used the incident as an excuse to intervene in Mexico and ordered U.S. Marines to occupy Veracruz, an important Mexican port. The incident brought the United States and Mexico close to war. -
On August 15, 1914, the Panama canal opened for business, and more than 1,000 merchant ships passed through during its first year. U.S.-Latin American relations, however, had been damaged by American support of the rebellion in Panama. -
They proposed that Huerta step down and that U.S. troops withdraw without paying Mexico for damages. Mexico rejected the plan, and Wilson refused to recognize a government that had come to power as a result of violence. The Huerta regime soon collapsed, however, and Venustiano Carranza, a nationalist leader, became president in 1915. Wilson withdrew the troops and formally recognized the Carranza government. -
The 4th of July used to be considered an important national holiday in the Philippines. Not because it was the United States’ birthday, but because it was Philippine Independence Day in 1946. Seventy five years ago, the Philippines was recognized as an independent, sovereign country by the United States, which withdrew its authority over the archipelago as colonizer. -
the purchase of Alaska turned out to be a wise decision as the state of Alaska was admitted to the United States in 1959, and it was found to be rich in timber, minerals, and oil. -
In 1959, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States.