CHAPTER 22

CHAPTER 22
The Quest for Empire, 1865-1914

Chapter Summary
The expansionist and eventually imperialistic orientation of United States foreign policy after 1865 stemmed from the country’s domestic situation. Those who led the internal expansion of the United States after the Civil War were also the architects of the nation’s foreign policy. These national leaders, known collectively as the foreign policy elite, believed that extending American influence abroad would foster American prosperity, and they sought to use American foreign policy to open and safeguard foreign markets.
Many Americans harbored fears of the wider world, but the foreign policy elite realized that those fears could be alleviated if the world could be remade in the American image. Therefore, after the Civil War, these leaders advocated a nationalism based on the idea that Americans were a special people favored by God. Race-based arguments, gender-based arguments, and Social Darwinism were used to support the idea of American superiority and further the idea of expansion, and American missionaries went forth to convert the “heathen.” Furthermore, a combination of political, economic, and cultural factors in the 1890s prompted the foreign policy elite to move beyond support of mere economic expansion toward advocacy of an imperialistic course for the United States—an imperialism characterized by a belief in the rightness of American society and American solutions.
The analysis of American expansionism serves as a backdrop for scrutiny of the American empire from the end of the Civil War to 1914. William H. Seward, as secretary of state from 1861 to 1869 and as a member of the foreign policy elite, was one of the chief architects of this empire. In examining Seward’s expansionist vision and the extent to which it was realized by the late 1880s, we again see the relationship between domestic and foreign policy.
Acquisition of territories and markets abroad led the United States to heed the urgings of Captain Alfred T. Mahan and to embark on the building of the New Navy. The fleet gave the nation the means to protect America’s international interests and to become more assertive, as in the Hawaiian, Venezuelan, and Cuban crises of the 1890s. The varied motives that led the United States into the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War offer another striking example of the complex links between domestic and foreign policy. In these crises of the 1890s, the American frame of reference toward peoples of other nations became more noticeable in the shaping of foreign policy. In the Cuban crisis, as in the Venezuelan crisis, Americans insisted that the United States would establish the rules for nations in the Western Hemisphere.
The Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War, sparked a debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists over the course of American foreign policy. We examine the arguments of the two groups and the reasons for the defeat of the anti-imperialists.
In the last two sections of the chapter, we turn to the American empire in Asia and Latin America. The American frame of reference with regard to other ethnic groups, along with American political, economic, and social interests, shaped the Open Door policy as well as relations with Japan and led to U.S. oppression of the Filipinos. The same factors determined American relations with Latin America. But in Latin America the United States used its power to impose its will and, through the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, assumed the role of “an international police power.”



Learning Objectives
1. Examine the late-nineteenth-century sources of American expansionism and imperialism.
2. Discuss the role of ideology and culture in American expansionism and imperialism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
3. Describe the expansionist vision of William H. Seward, and indicate the extent to which this vision was realized by the late 1880s.
4. Examine and evaluate relations between the United States and the following nations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
a. Great Britain
b. Canada

5. Discuss the modernization of the United States Navy in the late nineteenth century.
6. Discuss the causes and consequences of the Hawaiian and Venezuelan crises.
7. Examine the causes (both underlying and immediate) and discuss the conduct of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War, and indicate the provisions of the Treaty of Paris.
8. Outline the arguments presented by both the anti-imperialists and the imperialists in the debate over acquisition of an empire, and explain why the imperialists prevailed.
9. Examine and evaluate late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American policy toward Asia in general and toward China, the Philippines, and Japan, specifically.
10. Examine and evaluate United States policy toward the countries of Latin America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.



Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
Between 1865 and 1914, America grew increasingly expansionist. As expansion became imperialism, the United States became involved in crises and wars around the world.

II. Imperial Promoters: The Foreign Policy Elite and Economic Expansion
A. Foreign Policy Elite
An elite group of Americans shaped foreign policy.
B. Foreign Trade Expansion
Foreign trade proved important in the post Civil War economic growth. Agriculture accounted for most exports, but businessmen also sought foreign markets.
III. Ideology, Culture, and Empire
A. Race Thinking
Supporters of expansion used theories on race as a justification. The stereotypical manner in which foreigners were portrayed in popular magazines, school textbooks, and world’s fairs reflected an ethnocentric American attitude.
B. Male Ethos
U.S. leaders used gendered language to place weaker nations in the low ranks of the hierarchy of power, thus justifying U.S. hegemony.
C. Missionaries
Missionaries contributed to American expansionism by spreading American religion, and influence, abroad.
D. The “Civilizing” Impulse
When they intervened in other lands, Americans justified it on the grounds that the United States offered these societies the blessings of liberty and prosperity.

IV. Ambitions Abroad, 1860s 1880s
A. William H. Seward’s Quest for Empire
William Seward believed that the nation would eventually establish an empire as the result of a natural process of gravitation toward the United States. To accelerate this process he favored U.S. trade expansion, a Central American canal, a transcontinental American railroad, and improved communications systems.
B. International Communications
In 1866, a transatlantic cable linked the United States to Europe. This innovation made effective international communications a primary goal of American diplomacy.
C. Anglo-Canadian-American Relations
Improved relations between America and England began with the Washington Treaty of 1871, and other events revealed a rapprochement between the powers.
D. Sino American Troubles
Anti-Chinese riots in the American West and Congress’ suspension of Chinese immigration caused a deterioration of relations with China.
E. Pan American Conference
The Pan American Conference demonstrated growing U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.
F. Alfred T. Mahan, Navalism, and the New Navy
Alfred T. Mahan’ s Influence of Sea Power Upon History convinced expansionists of the need for a modern navy.

V. Crises in the 1890s: Hawaii, Venezuela, and Cuba
A. Annexation of Hawai’i
Americans overthrew Queen Lili’uokalani and asked for annexation to the U.S. in 1893. Annexation was delayed, but McKinley maneuvered it through Congress in 1898.
B. Venezuelan Boundary Dispute
A border dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana led the United States to declare its right to intervene. The British accepted the American position to keep the United States friendly in light of an expansive Germany.
C. U.S. Interests and Revolution in Cuba
The United States had extensive economic interests in Cuba, and cultural ties existed because nearly a hundred thousand Cubans had migrated to the United States. When a revolution against Spanish rule broke out in Cuba in 1895, rebel leader José Martí obtained funds, supplies, and support in the United States.
D. Sinking of the Maine
To protect American interests in Cuba, McKinley ordered the U.S.S. Maine to Havana. In February 1898, the ship blew up, killing 266 sailors.
E. McKinley’s Ultimatum and War Decision
McKinley asked for a declaration of war in order to advance the cause of humanity and to protect American interests. Congress concurred on April 19, 1898.

VI. The Spanish American Cuban Filipino War and the Debate over Empire
A. Motives for War
Complex political, economic, social, and military motives led to war.
B. The U.S. Military at War
Of the 263,000 men who served in the war, most never left the United States. Thousands of black troops stationed in the South had to deal with violent racism.
C. Dewey in the Philippines
The first fighting took place in May, when Admiral Dewey’s squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila.
D. Treaty of Paris
In December 1898, American and Spanish negotiators agreed on terms that granted Cuban independence. America gained the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
E. Anti Imperialist Arguments
Many critics denounced imperialism as counter to American principles. Others argued that the nation could expand its markets without subjugating other countries. Labor leaders feared that imperialism was bad for American workers.
F. Imperialist Arguments
Imperialists successfully answered their critics by appealing to patriotism, destiny, and commerce.

VII. Asian Encounters: Open Door in China, Philippine Insurrection, and Japan
A. Open Door Policy
Secretary of State John Hay issued the Open Door Note in 1899, asking all nations to guarantee free trade in China. Following the Boxer Rebellion, Hay issued a second note promising to protect the integrity of China.
B. Philippine Insurrection and Pacification
Emilio Aguinaldo declared an independent Philippines in 1899, starting the Philippine Insurrection that lasted until 1902.
C. Japanese Expansion
As the Japanese became the dominant power in Asia, tensions between the United States and Japan increased—especially regarding China.
D. Anti Japanese Bias in California
West Coast Americans exhibited anti Asian bias in a number of ways.

VIII. Latin America, Europe, and International Rivalry
A. Economic Hegemony in Latin America
Latin America became a primary target of American economic expansion. Some American companies gained considerable political power in Latin America.
B. Cuba and the Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment required American approval of all Cuban treaties and assumed for the United States the right to intervene in Cuba.
C. Panama Canal
After settling prior agreements with Britain and supporting a revolution against Colombia, the United States signed a treaty with Panama to build a canal.
D. Roosevelt Corollary
To prevent European intervention in Latin America, Theodore Roosevelt announced a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine that led to American intervention in the region.
E. U.S.Mexico Relations Under Diaz
Porfirio Diaz invited U.S. investment in Mexico, but revolutionaries reversed the trend.
F. Anglo-American Rapprochement
Rivalry with Germany caused Britain to seek friendship with the U.S. British-American trade and U.S. investment in Britain also helped secure ties between the two countries.