Imperialism and America

1 One American's StoryImperialism andAmericaIn 1893 Queen Liliuokalani(lE-lCQE-I-kE-l PnC) realized thather reign in Hawaii had come to an end. More than 160 and marines stood ready to aid the haoles(white for-eigners) who planned to overthrow the Hawaiian an eloquent statement of protest, the proud monarch sur-rendered to the superior force of the United PERSONALVOICEQUEEN LILIUOKALANI I, Liliuokalani, .. do hereby solemnly protest against anyand all acts done against myself and the constitutional govern-ment of the Hawaiian Kingdom.. Now, to avoid any collision ofarmed forces and perhaps the loss of life, I do under this protest ..yield my authority until such time as the Government of the United Statesshall .. undo the action of its representatives and reinstate me in the authoritywhich I claim as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands. quoted inThose Kings and Queens of Old ambassador to Hawaii John L.

2 Stevens informed the State Department, The Hawaiian pear is now fully ripe, and this is the golden hour for the UnitedStates to pluck it. The annexation of Hawaii was only one of the goals ofAmerica s empire builders in the late 19th ExpansionismAmericans had always sought to expand the size of their nation, and throughoutthe 19th century they extended their control toward the Pacific Ocean. However,by the 1880s, many American leaders had become convinced that the UnitedStates should join the imperialist powers of Europe and establish colonies the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic,political, or military control over weaker territories was already a trend aroundthe world. Terms & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA QueenLiliuokalani Imperialism Alfred T. Mahan William Seward Pearl Harbor Sanford B.

3 DoleBeginning in 1867 andcontinuing through thecentury, global competitioncaused the United States this time period, theUnited States acquired Hawaiiand Alaska, both of whichbecame states in IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW Hawaii s QueenLil announcedthat if restored topower, she wouldbehead those whohad conspired todepose COMPETITIONE uropean nations had beenestablishing colonies for centuries. In the late 19th centuryAfrica had emerged as a prime target of european expansionism. By the early 20th century, only two countries in all of Africa Ethiopia and Liberia also competed for territory in Asia, espe-cially in China. In its late-19th-century reform era, Japanreplaced its old feudal order with a strong central govern-ment. Hoping that military strength would bolster industri-alization, Japan joined european nations in competition forChina in the 1890s.

4 Most Americans gradually warmed to the idea ofexpansion overseas. With a belief in manifest destiny, theyalready had pushed the border to the Pacific factors fueled the new American Imperialism : desire for military strength thirst for new markets belief in cultural superiorityDESIRE FOR MILITARY STRENGTHS eeing that othernations were establishing a global military presence,American leaders advised that the United States build up itsown military strength. One such leader was AdmiralAlfred T. Mahanof the Navy. Mahan urged govern-ment officials to build up American naval power in orderto compete with other powerful nations. As a result of theurging of Mahan and others, the United States built ninesteel-hulled cruisers between 1883 and 1890. The con-struction of modern battleships such as the Maineand theOregontransformed the country into the world s thirdlargest naval FOR NEW MARKETSIn the late 19th century,advances in technology enabled American farms and facto-ries to produce far more than American citizens could con-sume.

5 Now the United States needed raw materials for itsfactories and new markets for its agricultural and manufac-tured goods. Imperialistsviewed foreign trade as thesolution to American over-production and the relatedproblems of unemploymentand economic depression. In the early 1900s, theNavy s Great White Fleet,so named because itsships were painted white,was a sign of America sgrowing military ALFRED T. MAHAN1840 1914 Alfred T. Mahan joined the in the late 1850s andser ved for nearly forty years. In1886, he became president ofthe newly established Naval WarCollege in Newport, Rhode his lifetime, Mahanwas one of the most outspokenadvocates of American militar yexpansion. In his book TheInfluence of Sea Power uponHistor y,1660 1783(publishedin 1890), Mahan called for theUnited States to develop a mod-ern fleet capable of protectingAmerican business and shippinginterests around the world.

6 Healso urged the United States toestablish naval bases in theCaribbean, to construct a canalacross the Isthmus of Panama,and to acquire Hawaii and otherPacific islands. BackgroundIn the late 1800s,new farmmachiner y greatlyimproved grainproduction. Forexample, plows,harrows, threshingmachines, andreapers increasedcorn production by264 percent andthe wheat har vestby 252 IDEAMAIN IDEAAA nalyzingEffectsHow didEuropeanimperialismaffect Africa?BELIEF IN CULTURAL SUPERIORITYC ultural factors also were used to justifyimperialism. Some Americans combined the philosophy of Social Darwinism abelief that free-market competition would lead to the survival of the fittest witha belief in the racial superiority of Anglo-Saxons. They argued that the UnitedStates had a responsibility to spread Christianity and civilization to the world s inferior peoples. This viewpoint narrowly defined civilization according tothe standards of only one United States Acquires AlaskaAn early supporter of American expansion was William Seward,Secretary ofState under presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.

7 In 1867, Sewardarranged for the to buy Alaska from the Russians for $ million. Seward hadsome trouble persuading the House of Representatives to approve funding for thepurchase. Some people thought it was silly to buy what they called Seward sIcebox or Seward s folly. Time showed how wrong they were. In 1959, Alaskabecame a state. For about two cents an acre, the United States had acquired a landrich in timber, minerals, and, as it turned out, oil. The United States Takes HawaiiIn 1867, the same year in which Alaska was purchased, the United States tookover the Midway Islands, which lie in the Pacific Ocean about 1300 miles north ofHawaii. No one lived on the islands, so the event did not attract much was another question. The Hawaiian Islandshad been economically important to the United Statesfor nearly a century. Since the 1790s, American mer-chants had stopped there on their way to China andEast India.

8 In the 1820s, Yankee missionaries foundedChristian schools and churches on the islands. Theirchildren and grandchildren became sugar planters whosold most of their crop to the United CRY FOR ANNEXATIONIn the mid-19th century,American-owned sugar plantations accounted for aboutthree-quarters of the islands wealth. Plantation ownersimported thousands of laborers from Japan, Portugal,and China. By 1900, foreigners and immigrant laborersoutnumbered native Hawaiians about three to one. White planters profited from close ties with theUnited States. In 1875, the United States agreed toimport Hawaiian sugar duty-free. Over the next 15years, Hawaiian sugar production increased nine the McKinley Tariff of 1890 provoked a crisis byeliminating the duty-free status of Hawaiian sugar. As aresult, Hawaiian sugar growers faced competition in theAmerican market.

9 American planters in Hawaii calledfor the United States to annex the islands so theywouldn t have to pay the duty. military and economic leaders already under-stood the value of the islands. In 1887, they pressuredHawaii to allow the United States to build a naval baseatPearl Harbor,the kingdom s best port. The basebecame a refueling station for American ships. Vocabularyannex:toincorporateterritory into anexisting country or stateBHawaii s Changing Population1853 1920 Percentage of Total PopulationNative HawaiianCaucasianOther (mostly Asian)1853187819001920100806040200 Source: Robert C. Schmitt,Demographic Statistics of Hawaii, 1778 1965 SKILLBUILDERI nterpreting were the most dramatic changesin Hawaiian population between 1853and 1920? might these changes have affectedthe political climate there?344 CHAPTER10 MAIN IDEAMAIN IDEABD evelopingHistoricalPerspectiveHow did timeprove that thepurchase ofAlaska was not anact of folly?

10 America Claims an Empire345 THE END OF A MONARCHYAlso inthat year, Hawaii s King Kalakaua hadbeen strong-armed by white businessleaders. They forced him to amendHawaii s constitution, effectively limitingvoting rights to only wealthy landown-ers. But when Kalakaua died in 1891, hissister Queen Liliuokalani came to powerwith a Hawaii for Hawaiians proposed removing the property-owning qualifications for voting. To pre-vent this from happening, businessgroups encouraged by AmbassadorJohn L. Stevens organized a the help of marines, they overthrewthe queen and set up a governmentheaded by Sanford B. Cleveland directed thatthe queen be restored to her Dole refused to surrender power,Cleveland formally recognized theRepublic of Hawaii. But he refused toconsider annexation unless a majority ofHawaiians favored 1897, William McKinley, whofavored annexation, succeeded Clevelandas president.