7. • News of the
concentration camps
reached the United
States
• Citizens were outraged!
• They organized food
drives and demanded
government action
8. • Any hopes for peace
between Spain and the
US were over once a
Cuban Revolutionary
intercepted a letter from
Spanish Foreign Minister
Dupuy de Lome which
said McKinley was a
weak president
9. The Spanish American
War
• President McKinley, a Civil War
veteran, did not want war
• But he needed to look stronger
10. Teller Amendment: 1898
• "... hereby disclaims any
disposition of intention to exercise
sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control
over said island except for
pacification thereof, and asserts its
determination, when that is
accomplished, to leave the
government and control of the
island to its people."
11. So, we are all ready for
war. All we need is a
spark!
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. The sinking of the
USS Maine
• On Feb. 15,
1898, the USS
Maine blew up
in Havana
Harbor, killing
260 people
25. Senate Debate
―Providence has given the United States the duty of
extending Christian civilization. We come as
ministering angels, not despots.‖
—Senator Knute Nelson
―Suppose we reject the Treaty. We continue the state
of war. We repudiate the President. We are
branded as a people incapable of taking rank as
one of the greatest of world powers!‖
—Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
26. Senate Debate
• ―This Treaty will make us a vulgar,
commonplace empire, controlling subject
races and vassal states, in which one
class must forever rule and other classes
must forever obey.‖
—Senator George Frisbie Hoar
Andrew Carnegie and former president
Grover Cleveland petitioned the Senate to
reject it.
27. The Treaty of Paris
Spain:
• Gave up all rights to Cuba
• Surrendered Puerto Rico and gave up
its possessions in the West Indies
• Surrendered the island of Guam to the
United States
• Surrendered the Philippines to the
United States for a payment of twenty
million dollar
28.
29.
30. So how did Cuba react?
• Cuba became a
protectorate of the United
States
• Cubans began electing
radical forces of Cuba
Libre
• In 1901, the US granted
the Cubans full
independence but it was
limited by the Platt
Amendment, which was
signed by the Cubans.
31. Platt Amendment
• Demanded that
Cuba sell or lease
lands to the
United States
necessary for
coaling or the
development of
naval stations.
32.
33. So how did Puerto Rico
react?
• Placed under
military rule
• Later became US
territory
34. Why did we want Puerto
Rico?
• It’s position in the
Caribbean
• Sugarcane
37. The Filipinos
• The US now
acquired 7,100
islands with 7.5
million people
• 87 languages and
dialects
• Some city-
dwellers, some
living in the
forests
38. So how did the Philippines
react?
• During the Spanish-
American War, the US
had brought Emilio
Aguinaldo back from
exile in Hong Kong.
• Aguinaldo declared
independence in 1899
and himself president
• Filipinos had aided
American forces against
Spain assuming that
the US would grant
them independence.
39. ―I am not ashamed to tell you,
Gentlemen, that I went down on
my knees and prayed to
Almighty God for light and
guidance that one night and one
night later it came to me this
way… There was nothing left for
us to do but to take them all and
to educate the Filipinos and
uplift and civilize and
Christianize them.‖
-William McKinley
40. So how did the Philippines
react?
• In 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo’s forces began
fighting American forces
• 60,000 Americans sent to fight (4x more
than were sent to Cuba.)
• Aguinaldo was captured in March 1901. He
declared loyalty to the US, ending much of
the fighting.
• Over the course of the Philippine-American
War, more than 4,000 Americans died and
between 200,000 and 1 million Filipino
soldiers and civilians were killed.
41. • In a letter to a friend
in the US
government:
• ―You seem to have
finished your work of
civilizing the
Filipinos; it is
thought about 8,000
of them have been
completely civilized
and sent to heaven.
I hope you like it.‖
– Andrew Carnegie
42.
43. Aftermath
• US now an imperial
power
• US becomes a
military power
• Spain no longer an
imperial power
• Tax on long distance
phone calls to pay
for the war
(collected until
2006.)
44. Rise of the Navy
• During the Civil War, the US Navy was
a fleet of sailboats.
• The Merimac and the Monitor, used in
the Civil War, were the first step
towards armored battle ships.
• After the war, the navy’s ships were
broken up or sold
• Some pointed out that the United
States was unprepared to even defend
itself.
45. Rise of the Navy
• These voices were ignored until ―The Influence
of Sea Power on History‖ by Alfred Mahan was
published in 1890. It emphasized the
importance of a navy.
• It wasn’t until 1895 that the US commissioned
two battleships, the USS Texas and the USS
Maine.
• In the next three years, four more were
commissioned.
• By 1910, 25 more battleships were
commissioned.
46.
47. Samoa
• Samoans allowed Americans to build a
naval station at Pago Pago and granted
special trading rights
• But Great Britain and Germany also
secured special training rights.
• In 1889, in the Treaty of Berlin, the
three agreed to the independence of
Samoa and the right of all three to
trade there.
• But tensions grew.
• In 1899, the three countries met. Who
was missing?
48. Tripartite Convention and
the Treaty of Berlin: 1899
• Germany got Eastern
Samoa
• The US got Western
Samoa
• Great Britain
withdrew in return
for other rights in
the Pacific Ocean
and Africa
49. So why does the US want
islands in the Pacific?
50. So why does the US want
islands in the Pacific?
• Trade with Japan
51. So why does the US want
islands in the Pacific?
• Trade with Japan
• Trade with China
52. Trade in China
• China had products
that the West and
Japan wanted: silk,
porcelain and tea
• To get it, Japan and
other European
powers had ―spheres
of influence.‖
53.
54. Sphere of Influence
• A territorial area over which
political or economic influence is
wielded by one nation.
55.
56. But what about US?
• Secretary of State
Jon Hay proposed an
Open Door Policy.
• This gave each
nation in China
rights to trade freely
in other nation’s
spheres of influence
• Why would other
countries agree to
this?
57. The Boxer Rebellion
• In 1899, Chinese
―Boxers‖ revolted
against the ―foreign
devils‖
• Many foreigners died
including ministers,
foreign diplomats
and their families
• Boxers defeated, but
war is not good for
business!
• Trade in China
opened to all
58.
59.
60.
61. Midway Islands
• The Midway Atoll was spotted on
July 5, 1859 by Captain Brooks
• Claimed for US under the Guano
Islands Act
• The Act allowed the US to claim
uninhabited islands for Guano
62. So, we wanted guano?
• In the 1840s,
guano became a
prized
commodity.
• It was used as an
agricultural
fertilizer and for
saltpeter for
gunpowder
