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Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote The Influence of Sea Power Upon History: 1660-1783. This highly influential book emphasized the importance of sea power to national economic and political security. It prompted naval buildups before WWI.
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American sugar planters and other foreigners in Hawaii staged an uprising to overthrow Queen Liliuokalani. They received protection from United States forces who sought to safeguard U.S. interests there. They established an independent state but wanted to join the U.S. to avoid tariffs.
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Discovery of gold in the Klondike river resulted in the migration of approximately 100,000 prospectors to Alaska, of which only about 30,000 made it to Klondike, and only about 4,000 actually found gold. This contributed to the feeling in the United States that the edge of the frontier had been reached.
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The U.S.S. Maine suddenly exploded in Havana Harbor, killing approximately 260 American sailors and resulting in the Spanish-American War. Although the cause was unknown, sensationalist journalists and hawkish politicians used it as an excuse to go to war with Spain. American sentiment was strongly behind Cuban independence.
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The first battle between Spanish and American Forces resulted in the defeat of the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Nearly 400 Spanish sailors were killed, 10 Spanish warships wrecked or captured, and only 6 Americans wounded.
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This was the climactic naval battle of the Spanish-American War, ending in a decisive victory for the U.S. and the destruction of the Spanish fleet.
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The Hawaiian islands were officially annexed by the United States through Joint Resolution. President Cleveland had held off on the annexation because he felt that the islands had been unfairly taken from the native government. When war broke out with Spain in 1898, the military significance of Hawaiian naval bases as a way station to the Philippines outweighed all other considerations and President McKinley signed a joint resolution annexing the islands.
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The Treaty of Paris ends the Spanish-American War. The U.S. acquires control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
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Secretary of State John Hay proposes “Open Door Policy” for China. The U.S. wanted protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and support of Chinese territorial and administrative autonomy.
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The Platt Amendment was an attachment to a military appropriations bill in 1901 and reflected growing U.S. concern over the stability of Cuba following its independence from Spain after the Spanish-American War. The amendment placed restrictions on the Cuban government and was clearly designed to give the U.S. expanded control over the island, short of annexation.
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The Roosevelt Corollary stated that the U.S. would intervene in Latin America as a last resort to ensure that other nations in the Western Hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and did not invite “foreign aggression to the detriment of the entire body of American nations.” Realistically, the U.S. increasingly used it as justification for military intervention to protect U.S. interests in Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic and beyond.
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Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet of 16 U.S. warships on the first world naval tour in history to demonstrate military strength mostly aimed at intimidating Japan. This escalated naval arms buildup and contributed to tensions with the Japanese navy prior to WWII.
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Taft used America’s growing economic power as a diplomatic tool. He wanted U.S. investors to increase American influence in China by funding railroads in the Yangtze Valley. Taft believed that the expenditure of money in foreign markets would increase American influence abroad and help balance the power held by longstanding imperialist nations.
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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand marked the beginning of WWI and the end of U.S. Imperialism.
