Age of Imperialism

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Chapter 10: Assessment

Wow, look how far we've come! 10 blog posts later and I'm only going a little crazy. Thats what I call PROGRESS. (I'm so over this project)

So, American Imperialism. I wish I could say that I've learned so much from this project and that I feel so much smarter but in all honesty, I'm not sure I've retained one bit of this information. But thats what school is right? Get good grades and thats what matters right?!
Whatever.

But since I have to finish this one last chapter... Here we go.

The positives of American Imperialism? Everything.
Negatives? Nothing

Just kidding.

I'd say that the positives of American Imperialism would be just how much land we gained! Like woah. The U.S. knew we were getting way too big so lets just spread out!

Negatives? Definitely would be fighting in WWI, all of the riots and fights from expanding westward. And I'm sure some other things but thats whats important.

Chapter 9: WWI

As we all know, World War I was the bloodiest war the world has ever seen. The Unites States was involved both as a financial supporter and as a participant of the allies. Woodrow Wilson's country emerged as a major world power: financially, politically, and militarily. America got involved in the war to begin with by claiming neutrality. As the war erupted, Wilson formally proclaimed neutrality, which many Americans favored, on August 4, 1914. His initial hope was that America could be impartial in thought and in action. Of course, this hope was crushed by Germany's attempt to quarantine the British Isles. Britain was one of America's closest trading partners and basically the U.S. said, "Oh I don't think so!" And thus, war. Six months after the war started, Germany announced total war against all ships, neutral or not, that entered the war zone around Britain.
After we claimed neutrality, which clearly didn't last too long, we had no choice but to participate in the war. On April 6th, 1917, America was in total war mode. Though there were many small groups in America, such as: American-Germans, and American-French, most Americans supported and fought for Wilson's approach. He took full control of foreign policy issues within the constitutions' limits. Wilson knew that the cause of the war wasn't simply just black and white. And because of this, he maintained America's neutrality because he didn't think that American interests were threatened.
Wilson's 14 points were the basis for a peace program and on the back of the 14 points, Germany and her allies agreed to armistice in 1918.

The 14 points were:

1. No more secret agreements ("Open covenants openly arrived at").

2. Free navigation of all seas.

3. An end to all economic barriers between countries.

4. Countries to reduce weapon numbers.

5. All decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial

6. The German Army is to be removed from Russia. Russia should be left to develop

    her own political set-up.
    clearly recognisable lines of nationality."
       the Balkan states.
       the old Turkish Empire should govern themselves.
       independence of all states.

7. Belgium should be independent like before the war.

8. France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine

9. All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. Italy's borders are to be "along

10. Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-Hungary.

11. Self-determination and guarantees of independence should be allowed for

12. The Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government. Non-Turks in

13. An independent Poland should be created which should have access to the sea.

14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial

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Chapter 8: Foreign Policies of U.S. Presidents- Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson

To get started, these three presidents all had their own foreign policies: Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson.
Roosevelt's own foreign policies was the Big Stick Diplomacy. Roosevelt said that the United States would "Speak softly and carry a big stick". By this, he meant that the States would use its own influence and the threat of war to enforce the Monroe Doctrine or meet other foreign policy needs. He was also afraid that if the Latin American countries weren't able to pay back their debt and loans to the European banks, the Europeans would be able to gain their own power in Latin America. In order to strengthen the Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt added the Roosevelt Corollary in 1904. He stated that he wanted the United States to act as an "international police power" in Latin America. Which meant that the U.S. willing to use its military power to protect its own interests. Resulting from this, the U.S. intervened quite often in Latin America. Once, Unites States banks paid off European loans in Santo Domingo so that they could control the countries finances.
Taft's foreign policies were called the Dollar Diplomacy. He followed Roosevelt and used military power to control a revolt in Nicaragua. Taft used this around the world and he preferred dollars over bullets. Fair trade? Maybe. He thought that the U.S. should increase its investments in other countries so that they could maintain and even increase their own power. The government even backed loans made by U.S. businesses to foreign countries. Dollar Diplomacy was very successful, along with the use of troops, in enforcing U.S. control.
Finally, Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy was called the Moral Diplomacy. He suggested using this because it meant that the U.S. would only support Latin American governments that were democratic and also that supported Unites States interests. In order to protect our business interests, the U.S. intervened in Nicaragua and Santo Domingo. And in Mexico, Wilson refused to recognize a general who had obtained power illegally. Wilson also sent troops into Mexico after they had made changes in their government and after attacks on U.S. citizens and interests. After a constitutional government was established, U.S. troops were withdrawn. However, Moral Diplomacy was not effective in creating a government in Mexico like the Unites States.

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Chapter 7: Latin America

Our neighbors in the south definitely didn't escape the mind of imperialists. Between the waterways and many resources, Latin American countries were wanted and needed by imperialists. When Teddy Roosevelt was just the governor of New York, republicans decided to nominate him to run against McKinley and was sworn in as Vice-President when McKinley won his second term. Roosevelt took his new position with the same energy as when he took Kettle Hill. Roosevelt strongly believed in a strong sea power and he began to bring the navy back. With America's empire stretched from the Caribbean to the Pacific, the idea of a canal between the oceans came up again and was taken into serious consideration. Captain Mahan thought that the canal would be a strategic center of important.
Roosevelt thought that the canal was the most important action he took in foreign affairs during his presidency. So, the Panama Canal was built.
After the Spanish-American war and before the Great Depression, U.S. troops were sent into Latin American countries thirty-two times. WOW!!! The United States used to Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine to justify their intervention. In this addition, Roosevelt claimed that because the United States were such a civilized nation, we had the right to stop any wrongdoing in the Western Hemisphere.
Teddy Roosevelt said, "Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. Chronic wrongdoing, however,... may force the United States to exercise international police power." He definitely didn't hesitate to use this power either, he used it to strengthen his country while making sure to keep the balance of world power.
Teddy Roosevelt also adopted the Good Neighbor Policy toward Latin America based on principles of non-intervention in Latin American countries' domestic affairs. This encouraged more and more trade with these countries and it was intended to maintain United States influence within the region. This policy also ended military occupations in Nicaragua , Cuba, and Haiti and changed military interventions in Mexico, Honduras, and Panama.

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Chapter 6: Anti-Imperialist League

So obviously not everyone in our nation was in total favor of our expansion. In fact, many very famous and wealthy Americans wanted to follow Washington's directions in his farewell speech and steer clear of engaging ourselves in foreign countries. The Anti-Imperialist League was created to try to prevent this from happening. But what was the Anti-Imperialist League? Who were they? And what influence did they have in the matter? Lets see...
First of all, the Anti-Imperialist League was a movement that argued that the U.S. should pull out of the Philippines. They believed that if we didn't, two things would happen, either Americans would corrupt themselves because of the brutal way they'd have to fight this war, or that if McKinley won the war, he wouldn't be able to extend constitutional rights to the Filipinos, that the American constitution was meant only for certain races and couldn't extend beyond our continent.
Who was a part of this movement though? Politicians, academics, and authors were all involved and believed strongly about it. Charles Francis Adams Jr, Jane Adams, Edward Atkinson, Ambrose Bierce, Andrew Carnegie, Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain), and Grover Cleveland were just a few well known people a part of the Anti-Imperialist League. The league was already having trouble letting African-Americans in and they thought that adding any more races to our constitution, it would be detrimental.
So with all these very influential people putting their hearts into this movement, did they even make a difference? The league believed that they were trying to save the American way and also believed that McKinley was just destroying everything. In ways they were very influential and in other ways, they were just crazy.

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Chapter 5: China

Hey guys! So, we all know that in today's times, China plays a big role to our economy. I mean, when's the last time you picked something up that didn't say "Made in China"? Yeah, thats what I thought. But it wasn't always like that, so what changed?
First of all, China had closed doors for basically forever.. Trade with outsiders was strictly forbidden or limited. For a while, China was the weak link of Asia and was defeated by Japan in 1894. Many countries such as Britain, Germany, Russia, and France rushed to establish trading rights with China. At this time, the U.S. had three beliefs about foreign trade: the growth of our economy depended on exports, we had a right to keep foreign markets open, and that if one area was closed to U.S. products, people, or ideas, the country was threatened. So, in 1899, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Hay, establishes the Open Door Policy. Which declared that other nations must share trading rights with the U.S. and trade would go through an 'open door'. Countries all over the world knew they had to agree but the Chinese were stubborn. But finally, the states 'safeguarded for the world' and trade was open with China.
Now, what military actions have we had to take with China over the years? After the U.S. got the Philippines, we became an Asian power. We settled there and built bases too, with strong bases over 400 miles away, we wanted to take advantage of China's many resources.
The reason we wanted these foreign influences was because our main goal was to be able to make all of our power into money.

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Monday, January 26, 2015

Chapter 4: The Spanish-American War

Hey there! So, the Spanish-American War was initially a conflict between Spain and the United States as a result of American intervention in the Cuban War of Independence.
There were three main events that took place in this war.
The first event of this war was the De Lôme Letter. It was written by Señor Don Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, who sent it to Don José Canelejas, the Foreign Minister of Spain reveals de Lôme’s opinion about the Spanish involvement in Cuba and US President McKinley’s diplomacy. The letter stated that the Ambassador thought McKinley was just a people-pleaser and didn't have any real power. Of course, many Americans were angered by this and it was a little part of what started the war.
The second event was the destruction of the U.S.S Maine. Cuba had been fighting for their independence for over 30 years and in 1868, the colonists finally revolted against the colonizers for 10 years. During this, the Cubans were being beaten, tortured, and starved. Reports of this abuse had gone around and when it reached the Americans, they weren't happy. On February 15, 1889, the anger that had grown in Americans had tripled when they heard about an explosion that had killed over 270 people on the U.S.S Maine in Havana Harbor. News spread that this was the works of the Spanish and the New York Journal began making cartoons about the event. Which leads us to our last item, Yellow Journalism.
Yellow Journalism is journalism that is based upon sensationalism and crude exaggeration. The journalists portrayed the Spanish in such an awful way that Americans actually had a chant about how bad they were.
The U.S. declared war on Spain in April and when the Americans won the war, Cuba gave us a lot of rights that many didn't agree with.