James A.

Henretta
Eric Hinderaker
Rebecca Edwards
Robert O. Self

America’s History
Eighth Edition
America: A Concise History
Sixth Edition
CHAPTER 21
An Emerging World Power,
1890‒1918

Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

 I. From Expansion to Imperialism
A. Foundations of Empire
• 1. Josiah Strong – Our Country (1885),
• Protestants to spread Christianity overseas
• example of American “exceptionalism”
• United States had a destiny to foster
democracy and civilization throughout the world
• 2. Alfred T. Mahan – The Influence of Sea
Power upon History (1890)
• argued that naval power essential to empire
building
• 1890 Congress approved funding for three
battleships
• Why?
 I. From Expansion to Imperialism
B. The War of 1898
• 1. Cuban Rebellion – In February 1895,
Cubans began guerrilla war against Spain
• Spanish = policy of concentration camps,
200,000 Cubans died
• William Randolph Hearst publicized the plight
of the Cubans in newspaper stories
• 2. “Remember the Maine”
• letter from Spanish minister, Dupuy de Lôme,
critical of McKinley’s policies
• U.S.S. Maine exploded and sank in Havana
harbor, 260 Americans killed
• “Remember the Maine” became national chant
 I. From Expansion to Imperialism
B. The War of 1898 (cont.)
• 3. The Spanish-American War – April 1898 war
began
• Teller Amendment assured Americans that
McKinley’s administration would not try to
occupy Cuba
• 4. War in the Pacific – May 1898, American
ships destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay
• Hawaii annexed in July 1898
• T. Roosevelt led Rough Riders
• Spanish surrendered in July 1898; more
casualties from malaria and yellow fever than
battle wounds.
 I. From Expansion to Imperialism
C. Spoils of War
• 1. An Armistice – Spain agreed to liberate Cuba, ceded
Puerto Rico and Guam
• McKinley wanted to annex the Philippines
• debate in the United States - many taking an anti-
imperialist stand (Jane Addams, Mark Twain, Andrew
Carnegie, Samuel Gompers)
• 2. The Philippines – Spain ceded the country to the
United States in the Treaty of Paris for $20 million
• February 1899, fighting began between Americans and
Filipinos around Manila
• 4,200 Americans and 200,000 Filipinos killed; McKinley
reelected; questions arose about citizenship for people
newly annexed.
 II. A Power Among Powers
A. The Open Door in Asia
• 1. The Boxer Rebellion – United States wants
“open door” to China in 1899, fearing Japan and
European powers prevent U.S. economic relations
with Chinese
• “Boxers”: secret society of Chinese nationalists,
rebelled against European & Japanese rule in
China
• 2. Japan – Gained strength in Asia in late
nineteenth century
• defeated Russia in 1905; recognized Japanese
authority over Manchuria
• President Taft wanted a greater role for Americans
in Asia, supported Chinese Revolution of 1911.
 II. A Power Among Powers
B. The United States and Latin America
• 1. Hay-Pauncefote Treaty (1901) – treaty
recognized sole right of United States to build
and fortify a canal.
• 2. A “Big Stick” – T. Roosevelt believed U.S.
must have strong navy with rapid access to the
Atlantic and Pacific
• Congress allocated $10 million plus $250,000 a
year to buy a strip of land across Panama from
Colombia
• aided Panamanians’ independence movement
and recognized it as a new nation in 1903
• canal building took more than eight years;
Panama Canal opened in 1914.
 II. A Power Among Powers
• 3. Roosevelt Corollary – U.S. unrestricted right to
regulate Caribbean affairs – reflects Monroe
Doctrine
• 4. Wilson and Mexico – Wilson critical of
predecessors’ foreign policies, not very different
• change of government, supported by United
States, in 1911; Madero murdered in 1913
• Wilson feared that U.S. interests would be
negatively impacted by Mexican instability; U.S.
occupation of Veracruz in April 1914
• Huerta’s government collapsed; Carranza
victorious; relations worsened when General
“Pancho” Villa killed 16 Americans in New Mexico;
clashes between U.S. and Mexican troops.
 III. The United States in World War I
A. From Neutrality to War
• 1. The Struggle to Remain Neutral – Wilson
sought to keep Americans out of the war
• British naval blockade - neutrality impossible
• German U-boat begins in April 1915; sinking of
the Lusitania antagonized Americans
• Wilson began to build up U.S. armed forces.
• 2. America Enters the War – Unrestricted
submarine warfare led to a breakup in U.S.-
German relations
• Zimmermann telegram alleged that Mexico
might be persuaded to join a war against the
United States
• April 1917, Wilson asked for a war declaration.
 III. The United States in World War I
B. “Over There”
• 1. Americans Join the War – draft in May 1917
• General Pershing lead the A.E.F.
• revolution in Russia led to a peace agreement
between Germany and Russia - Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk
• civil war began in Russia; American forces aided
the British and French in forcing a German retreat
by September 1918; armistice signed on
November 11, 1918.
• 2. The American Fighting Force – Approximately 4
million American men served in the U.S. military;
400,000 African Americans
• 50,000 U.S. soldiers killed in action; 63,000 died of
disease (influenza)
 III. The United States in World War I
C. War on the Home Front
• 1. Mobilizing the Economy – U.S. companies sold
grain, weapons, and manufactured items to
Europe; U.S. banks lent capital to other nations
• War Industries Board established in July 1917 to
direct military production
• Fuel Administration introduced daylight saving time
to save coal and oil
• Food Administration (August 1917): “Food will win
the war”; 1918 National War Labor Board (NWLB)
• workers made no-strike pledge in exchange for
NWLB’s support for their right to organize.
III. The United States in World War I

• 2. Promoting National Unity – Wilson

believed it necessary to suppress dissent;
Committee on Public Information (CPI)
• led by George Creel, propaganda agency to
educate people about democracy,
assimilating immigrants
• Espionage Act and Sedition Act (1917/1918)
led to the convictions of more than 1,000
people
• debate over extensive powers of the federal
government during wartime; U.S. Supreme
Court mostly supported the legislation.
 III. The United States in World War I
C. War on the Home Front (cont.)
• 3. Great Migrations – Over 400,000 African Americans
moved from South to North for wartime work
• discrimination and racism in the North, but better living and
working conditions than in the South
• 4. Women’s Voting Rights – The National Woman’s Party
(NWP) and the National American Woman Suffrage
Association (NAWSA) supported Wilson’s war effort, hoping
that patriotism by women would aid the cause
• Alice Paul led the NWP with a confrontational approach,
including protests at the White House in July 1917
• January 1918, Wilson announced support of a constitutional
amendment for woman suffrage as a “war measure”
• Nineteenth Amendment ratified in August 1920
 IV. Catastrophe at Versailles

A. The Fate of Wilson’s Ideas

• 1. “Peace among equals” – desire to punish Germany
for the war was intense
• Germany forced to pay $33 billion in reparations
• give up coal supplies, merchant ships, patents, and
territory to France
• nine new independent states
• 2. Mandates – Central Powers’ colonies in Africa were
dismantled and assigned as mandates instead of being
granted freedom
• British mandate in Palestine (now Israel) led to
thousands of Jews moving there for land
• riots between Palestinians and Jews occurred as early
as 1920
• Wilson suggested a League of Nations.
 IV. Catastrophe at Versailles

B. Congress Rejects the Treaty

• 1. Debate – Republican Party was openly
hostile toward treaty continued U.S.
involvement in world affairs
• Wilson traveled extensively to convince
people to support treaty; suffered a stroke
in September 1919; treaty failed.
• 2. Failure –United States did not ratify
treaty or join League of Nations
• emerged from the war a world power.