Chapter 10 American Imperialism

Causes of American Imperialism

1. Need for new markets for surplus goods

2. Need for natural resources

3. Need to acquire new military bases to protect America’s interests around the world

4. Belief in American cultural superiority

Alfred T. Mahan

Queen Liliuokalani and Sanford B. Dole

Anti-Imperialists

Rudyard Kipling“The White Man’s

Burden”

Wreckage of U.S.S. Maine

Hearst and Pulitzer

President McKinley and John Hay

General Weyler and prisoners of Cuban

concentration camps

George Dewey in the Philippines-defeated the Spanish Armada in May,

1898

Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

Platt Amendment (1903)-Cuba became a U.S.

protectorate

Foraker Act-1900; ended U.S. military rule in Puerto Rico and set up civil

government

Emilio Aguinaldo-leader of Filipino

resistance

John Hay’s “Open Door”

Notes

Open Door Policy

Roosevelt Corollary-Extension of the Monroe Doctrine

Construction of the Panama Canal

The Great White Fleet

William Howard Taft and Dollar Diplomacy

In 1967, 1993, and 1998 the citizens of the island voted to maintain the status quo. In November 2012, Puerto Ricans voted not to maintain the status quo and to pursue statehood through the U.S. Congress.

If Puerto Rico were to become the fifty-first state, the U.S. federal government and the state-to-be will establish a ten year transitional process towards statehood. The federal government is expected to spend about three billion dollars annually in the state toward benefits not currently received by the commonwealth. Puerto Ricans would also begin paying federal income tax and business would lose the special tax exemptions that are a major part of the economy. The new state would probably obtain six new voting members of the House of Representatives and of course, two Senators. The stars on the United States flag would change for the first time in more than fifty years.

If independence were chosen by the citizens of Puerto Rico in the future, then the United States will assist the new country through a decade-long transition period. International recognition would come quickly for the new nation, which would have to develop its own defense and a new government.