The Roots of ImperialismChapter 18.1

Imperialism• Defined as: the policy in which stronger

nations extend their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories.

• Modern day examples of imperialism?

Factors that led to American Imperialism

• Economic competition among industrial nations.

• Political and military competition, including the creation of a strong naval force.

Factors that led to American Imperialism

• A belief in the racial and cultural superiority of people of Anglo-Saxon (English) Decent.

The Hierarchyof Race

The Hierarchyof Race

Thirst for New Markets

• Farms were producing more than ever → American needs new markets to sell goods.

• American factories needed more raw materials for manufacturing.

Thirst for New Markets• Imperialists viewed foreign trade as the solution

to overproduction and the related problems of unemployment and economic depression.– American exports were $100 million at the

end of the Civil War; They were $2.5 billion by 1908.

Thirst for New Markets

• Americans had achieved a favorable balance of trade –exporting more than importing – and had made America a leading economic power.

Desire for Military Strength

• Alfred T. Mahan– President of the

Naval War College– Most outspoken

advocate for American military expansion

Desire for Military Strength

• Alfred T. Mahan– Wrote The Influence of Sea Power upon

History 1600-1783.• Argued for a strong US navy to defend peacetime

shipping lanes essential for American economic growth.

Desire for Military Strength

• Alfred T. Mahan– Recommendations:

• The nation needed strategically located bases where its fleets could refuel.

• America must develop a modern fleet• Establish bases in the Caribbean• Construct a canal in Panama• Acquire Hawaii and other Pacific islands.

Desire for Military Strength

• The US built 9 steel-hulled cruisers between 1883-1890 → transformed the US into the world’s third-largest naval power.

• Modern Fleet → American can set out to accomplish the protectionist measures Mahan recommended.

Belief in Anglo-Saxon Superiority

• Social Darwinism – survival of the fittest• American combined the philosophy of

Social Darwinism with belief in the racial superiority of the Anglo-Saxons.

Belief in Anglo-Saxon Superiority

American Missionaries

in China, 1905

American Missionaries

in China, 1905

Belief in Anglo-Saxon Superiority

• America had a “responsibility” (White Man’s Burden) to spread Christianity and civilization to the “inferior” peoples of the world.

The White Man’sBurden

The White Man’sBurden

Opposition to Imperialism

• Some objected on moral and practical grounds. – No constitutional protections given to

territories claimed by the US.– High costs to maintain a military force large

enough to protect all the US possessions abroad.

Opposition to Imperialism

The Beginning of US Power in the Pacific

• 1853 – Commodore Matthew Perry sailed with a fleet to Japan to open the nation to trade.

The Japanese View of Commodore

Perry

The Japanese View of Commodore

Perry

The Beginning of US Power in the Pacific

• The Japanese were a very isolated nation, Perry’s visit made the Japanese realize that their isolation had resulted in falling behind in military technology.

The Beginning of US Power in the Pacific

US Power in the Pacific

1853Japan opened to trade

1867Midway Islands acquired

1875-1887Pearl Harbor basing rights in Hawaii

Seward’s Folly

• Secretary of State William Sewardnegotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. (2.3 cents per acre)

Seward’s Folly

• The purchase almost doubled the size of the nation.

• The purchase was not immediately beneficial, but Alaska was rich in natural resources and expanded Americas reach into the Pacific.

US Acquires Hawaii

• Hawaii was economically and geographically important to the US.

US Acquires Hawaii

• Sugar Merchants changed Hawaii– By the mid-1800s American-owned sugar

plantations owned ¾ of the land in Hawaii. – Plantation owners bring thousands of

immigrants to work on their farms. – By 1900, foreigners outnumbered native

Hawaiians 4:1

US Acquires Hawaii• Farmers ties with the US

– 1875 – a treaty is passed that allowed the sale of Hawaiian sugar in the US without duties.

– 1887 – the US pushed the Hawaiian government to allow construction of an American naval base at Pearl Harbor.

US Acquires Hawaii• Farmers take control of

Hawaiian politics– Force King Kalakaua to

change the Hawaiian constitution so that only the white plantation owners had voting rights.

– The change essentially hands control of the government over to the wealthy plantation owners.

US Acquires Hawaii

• McKinley Tariff of 1890– Eliminated the duty-free status of Hawaiian

sugar.• This makes Hawaiian sugar producers compete

with foreign sugar producers (Cuba)– Farmers want the US to annex Hawaii so that

they could sell their sugar duty-free.

US Deposes Queen Liliuokalani

• Queen Liliuokalani is coronated following the death of the King.

US Deposes Queen Liliuokalani

• She proposes changing the Hawaiian Constitution to remove the property requirement; this would have restored the control of the government to the native Hawaiian population.

US Deposes Queen Liliuokalani• January 16, 1893

– USS Boston arrives in Honolulu Harbor

• Marines sent in to “protect American property and citizens.”

• Volunteer troops took over government buildings, imprison the Queen in her palace, and established a provisional government with Sanford Dole as President.

Republic of Hawaii Established• The US Ambassador to

Hawaii immediately recognized the legitimacy of the Republic of Hawaii.

• Stevens sent a commission to Washington, D.C. and asked that the US annex the Hawaiian Islands.

Republic of Hawaii Established

• President Cleveland didn’t buy the story that Ambassador Stevens was selling, and refused to annex the Hawaiian Islands – he also wanted the Queen restored to the throne.

Republic of Hawaii Established

• The Presidential election of 1897 brought William McKinley into the White House, and with him, the annexation of Hawaii was guaranteed.

Republic of Hawaii Established• August 12, 1898 – Congress proclaimed

Hawaii an American territory. – Hawaiians were never given the option to vote

on the annexation, as President Cleveland had insisted.

Hawaiian Annexation Ceremony, 1898

Hawaiian Annexation Ceremony, 1898