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Chapter 27: Empire and Expansion

The Civil War left the nation busy with internal improvements, making us
unconscious of the world outside of America. But soon after during the early 20th
century, the drastic change in foreign policy in the dawning “age of empire” made
the U.S a conqueror, departing from its traditions of anti-colonization, and leaving
many problems yet to be solved.

I) America Turns Outward


• There were a lot of backgrounds that got the nation ready for building an empire
⇒ Farmers and factory owners looked for demand of their products beyond
American shores
⇒ The country’s new sense of power was generated by the growth in
population, wealth, and productive capacity
⇒ The nation might expand or explode. Labor violence and agrarian unrest
might be relieved by oversea markets
⇒ Yellow journalism leaders Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst
described foreign exploits as adventures manly adventures in young boys’
dreams
⇒ The mere competition of modern nation-states made America an imperial
power
⇒ Development of a new steel navy
(a) The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 by Captain Alfred
Thayer Mahan’s book of 1890 argued that control of the sea was the key
to world dominance
• Pious missionaries inspired by books like Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its
Present Crisis by Reverend Josiah Strong emphasized on the superiority of Anglo-
Saxon civilization and believed that it is the white men’s burden to spread their
superior religion and values to the “backward” peoples
• Jingoes like Theodore Roosevelt and Congressman (later Senator) Henry Cabot
Lodge interpreted Darwinism as if the world belonged to the fittest and superior
race: Uncle Sam
• Red-blooded Americans joined in the demands for a mightier navy and for
building an isthmian canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific
• The “Big Sister” policy pushed by 2-time secretary of state James G. Blaine
aimed at opening Latin American markets and making them under the
leadership of Uncle Sam
⇒ Blaine presided over the first Pan-American Conference of 1889 held in
Washington, D.C., which was a modest beginning to inter-American
assemblages
• Diplomatic crisis in the late 1880s and early 1890s
⇒ American and German navies nearly came to blows over the Samoan Islands
in the South Pacific, which were formerly divided between the two nations.

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Eventually German Samoa went on to become independent (not as a result of


this crisis)
⇒ Lynching of 11 Italians in New Orleans nearly caused war the U.S agreed to
pay compensation
⇒ American demands on Chile caused by the death of 2 American sailors in the
port of Valparaiso in 1892 made hostilities seem inevitable. Chile’s threat to
attack spread alarm on the Pacific Coast until it finally agreed to pay an
indemnity
⇒ The willingness for Americans to risk war over minimal issues demonstrated
the new aggressive national mood
• New aggressiveness combined with traditional anti-British attitude generated a
serious crisis between the two nations in 1895-1896
⇒ The boundary dispute between British Guiana and Venezuela had long been a
problem, and the discovery of gold in the disputed area intensified this
problem
⇒ President Cleveland and his Pugnacious secretary of state Richard Olney
combined to write a note to Britain invoking the Monroe Doctrine
⇒ British officials were unimpressed and shrugged off this note as just another
twist of the lion’s tail. They responded by saying that the affair was no
business of the U.S
⇒ Angered by the response, President Cleveland urged a group of experts to
run the boundary line where it ought to go, and he implied that if the British
wouldn’t agree on this, the U.S is willing to fight for it
⇒ While war seemed inevitable, sober second thoughts prevailed on both sides
of the Atlantic, fortunately
(a) Britain had to deal with the Dutch-descended Boers in South Africa as well
as the rising challenge from Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany, which left it no
mood for war with the U.S. Therefore London backed off and gave
consent to the boundary that the U.S proposed
⇒ The British, overwhelmed with European peril, sought friend ship with the
Yankees in the opening of the 20th century. This is sometimes called the
Great Rapprochement
II) Spurning the Hawaiian Pear
• Hawaii had attracted the attention of Americans due to its sugar production and
its geographical location potentially beneficial for a naval base, or just a stopping
station for Yankee shippers, sailors, and whalers
• The first New England missionaries arrived first in 1820, preaching the blessings
of Protestant Christianity and protective calico
• America considered Hawaii as a virtual extension of their own coastline; The
states department warned other powers to keep off their hands from the
Hawaiian Islands as early as the 1840s, and in 1887 America gained naval-base
rights at Pearl Harbor in 1887 through a treaty with the native government

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• Old World pathogens had cut down Hawaiian native population down to 1/6 its
size. Hawaiian population was largely dominated by imported Chinese and
Japanese laborers of the American sugar lords.
⇒ The U.S worried that Tokyo might try to interfere on behalf of its often-
abused nationals
• The McKinley tariff caused sugar markets to sour, which in turn caused white
American planters to renew their efforts to secure the annexation of Hawaii
⇒ Queen Liliuokalani was strong-willed in insisting that Hawaii belonged to the
natives
⇒ In response, desperate whites, which were only a tiny minority, made a
successful revolt openly aided by the American troops under the
unauthorized orders of the expansionist American minister in Honolulu
• A treaty of annexation was rushed to Washington D.C. before it got to the
Senate. After Harrison’s term expired, President Cleveland suspected that the
nation had wronged the deposed Queen Liliuokalani. With more investigation
done to determine that Hawaiian natives opposed annexation, Cleveland
withdrew the treaty
• The annexation weren’t picked up until 1898
III) Cubans Rise in Revolt
• Cubans revolted once again against their Spanish oppressors in 1895, partly
because of economic reasons, since sugar production was crippled by the
American tariff of 1894
• The rebellions adopted a scorched-earth policy when driving out the Spaniards,
as the insurrectos left a burning path of destruction over cane fields, sugar mills,
and passenger trains. These events also menaced American interest on the
island
• Stimulations of American interference:
⇒ Large trading stake are on the line in this revolutionary upheaval
⇒ According to Senator Lodge, Cuba lay “right athwart the line” that led to the
much anticipated Panama Canal. Furthermore, Cuba is the key to controlling
the Carribean
⇒ Spanish general Valeriano “Butcher” Weyler made a program to herd civilians
into barbed-wired concentration camps, which he called the reconcentrados
movement, so that they wouldn’t help the armed rebellious insurrectos.
(a) With the dearth of proper sanitation, these enclosures were bottomless
pits of death
⇒ The battleship Maine was sent to Cuba early in 1898 for a “friendly visit”
when its true intentions was to protect and evacuate Americans if danger
occurs. It was also sent to demonstrate Washington’s concern for the island’s
stability
(a) Tragedy struck as it was mysteriously blew up and sank bringing down
260 sailors with it in Havana harbor
(b) American investigations concluded that the blast was caused by a
submarine mine while the Spaniards thought that the explosion was

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internal and accidental, which was the truth. Not until 1976 did U.S Navy
admiral H.G. Rickover confirm the original Spanish findings and found
evidence that the explosion was caused by spontaneous combustion in a
coal bunker
(c) The war hawks of American people in 1898, with the aid of the yellow
press, obviously believed that the Maine was sank by a submarine
⇒ Yellow journalism
(a) Weyler and his reconcentrados movement were red meat for yellow
journalism. Yellow journalist William Randolph Hearst sent gifted artist
Frederick Remington to Cuba so he could “furnish the pictures” while
Hearst “furnish the war”
(b) Hearst publicized a private letter from the Spanish minister in Washington,
Dupuy de Lôme. The De Lôme letter depicted President McKinley in
unflattering terms. From the letter, Americans were depicted as jingoes
and “scoundrels by nature”
(c) Sink of the Maine was depicted as the result of a treacherous Spanish
attack
• The national war fever was burning higher than ever despite American diplomats
already reached agreement in Madrid to Washington’s two basic demands:
⇒ End reconcentration camps
⇒ Armistice with Cuban rebels
• McKinley, unsure of what to do, since he preferred neither hostilities with Spain,
Spanish control of Cuba, or a fully independent Cuba, recognized the inevitable.
The combined efforts of popular demand and the fight-hungry Theodore
Roosevelt influenced McKinley to send a message of war to the Congress on
April 11, 1898, urging armed intervention to free the Cubans
⇒ The Congress interpreted this as a declaration of war
⇒ The Teller Amendment was adopted guaranteeing Cubans freedom when the
U.S overthrow Spanish ruling
• McKinley had little faith in Spain’s promises and he was also afraid to be viewed
as indecisive in the upcoming Election of 1900. He also acknowledged Cuba’s
economic and political benefits to the U.S
IV) Dewey’s May Day Victory at Manila
• Theodore Roosevelt as the assistant secretary saw the opportunity to take
situations in his own hands when Navy Secretary John D. Long was away from
office
⇒ Roosevelt cabled Commodore George Dewey, commanding the American
Asiatic Squadron at Hong Kong, to attack the Spanish Philippines, and
President McKinley confirmed Roosevelt’s instructions
⇒ On May 1, 1898, Dewey carried out his orders magnificently as he quickly
completely destroyed the warships of Spain at Manila harbor. He became a
national hero overnight

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• Despite the naval success, Dewey was could not storm the forts of Manila with
his sailors. He was forced to wait for reinforcements while German warships in
Manila harbor appeared deepening the tension
• On August 13, 1898, the long-awaited American reinforcements combined with
Filipino insurgents commanded by their leader Emilio Aguinaldo captured Manila
⇒ Aguinaldo was a shrewd and magnetic revolutionary in exile in Asia. Dewey
brought him from exile to hopefully weaken the Spaniards, but he will regret
this choice as time goes on
⇒ Hawaii seemed beneficial as an annexation
(a) Coaling and provisioning, a stopping station for reinforcements to
Philippines
(b) Fear of Japanese takeover of the islands while the U.S is distracted
(c) A joint resolution of annexation of Hawaii was rushed to Congress and
approved by McKinley on July 7, 1898. Granted Hawaiian residents U.S
citizenship. Hawaii became a territory in 1900
V) The Confused Invasion of Cuba
• The Spanish “armada” was easily blockaded by the more powerful American
fleet when it went into the Santiago Harbor
• The strategy was to sent the American army in from the rear to drive out the
Spanish ships
⇒ General William R. Shafter led the invading force
⇒ The troops were unequipped considering fighting in a tropical region. They
were amply provided with heavy woolen underwear and uniforms designed
for Indian fighting
⇒ The “Rough Riders” were a part of the invading army. They were a colorful
regiment of volunteers ,commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood and organized
principally by Theodore Roosevelt, consisted largely of western cowboys and
other hardy characters
• In the middle of June, the bewildered American army under Shafter’s command
embarked at Tampa, Florida. Because of the help from the Cuban insurrectos,
the American army met little opposition.
⇒ The American army won battles in El Caney and Kettle Hill on July 1 with
heavy casualties
⇒ The colorful Colonel Leonard wood, shot a Spaniard with his revolver, wrote a
book on his exploits which famed satirist Finley Peter Dunne’s character “Mr.
Dooley” remarked to must be titled Alone in Cubia[sic]
• On July 3, the Spanish fleet was badly outgunned. They met their destruction
when they steamed out of the Santiago harbor onto the American naval
blockade. Santiago surrendered shortly
• The American army met even less resistance at Pueto Rico. Spain had enough
of the war
• On August 12, 1898 Spain signed an armistice
• If the Spanish army held out a few month longer, the American army could have
been severely weakened by diseases

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⇒ The greatest losses of life in the war came from disease


VI) America’s Course (Curse?) of Empire
• In 1898 Spanish and American negotiators met in Paris. The terms of the Treaty
of Paris:
⇒ Cuba was freed from their Spanish overlords
⇒ America gained control of Guam, Pueto Rico, and paid for the Philippines
(After President McKinley deliberated on his decision)
• Annexation of the Philippines became a problem
⇒ McKinley was met with a dilemma
(a) He did not want Spanish misrule of the Philippines, especially after a war
to free Cuba
(b) America cannot just leave the Philippines alone with the danger of
anarchy. Other imperial powers might also take over the Philippines,
which would result in a war with the U.S
⇒ Positive influences on annexation of the Philippines
(a) Protestant missionaries are seeking new converts
(b) Mrs. McKinley expressed a deep concern for the welfare of the Filipinos
(c) Wall Street was clamoring for profits in the Philippines
⇒ McKinley later claimed that when he sought divine guidance he heard an
inner voice telling him to annex Philippines and Christianize and civilize their
people
⇒ $20 million dollars was paid for the Philippines because the capture of Manila
was after the signing of the armistice
• Philippines was a “veritable apple of discord”, and the signing of the treaty
caused a major imperialistic debate
⇒ From a physical standpoint, the Philippines are remote and populated
differing from any other previous accessions of the U.S. It is completely
different from the U.S culturally and geographically
⇒ Arguments for the annexation
(a) Annexation would be a glorious expansion that originally drove American
civilization to the Pacific
(b) If Americans were “morally bound to abandon the Philippines,” said
Theodore Roosevelt, “we were also morally bound to abandon Arizona to
the Apaches.”
(c) According to British poet Rudyard Kipling, it is the “white men’s burden”
to civilize the backward peoples of the Philippines. Americans must use
their superiority to uplift (and exploit) the inferior
⇒ Arguments against the annexation
(a) Annexation would be a destruction to self-determination and anti-
colonialism
(i) “Goddamn the U.S for its vile conduct in the Philippine Isles!” Harvard
philosopher Professor William James couldn’t believe that the U.S could
“puke up its ancient soul in 5 minutes without a wink of
squeamishness.”

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(ii) Speaker of the House Thomas “Czar” Reed resigned in protest against
imperialism
(b) The Filipinos thirsted for Freedom
(c) Violation of the “consent of the governed” philosophy of the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution
(d) Despotism abroad might well beget despotism at home
(e) The cost of imperialism would most likely to exceed the profits made by it
(f) Annexation would propel the U.S into political and military cauldron of
East Asia; in another words, getting involved with Eastern Asian politics
⇒ The Anti-Imperialist League fought the expansionist movement of the
McKinley administration. Among the members of the league were Mark
Twain, Samuel Gompers, and Andrew Carnegie
⇒ The Senate approved the Treaty of Paris by 1 vote on February 6, 1899
VII)Perplexities in Puerto Rico and Cuba
• Puerto Rico was neither a state nor a territory
• The Foraker Act of 1900 granted U.S citizenship to their people in 1917 and
allowed a limited degree of popular government
• The Americans improved their education, sanitation, and transportation,
although they still sought independence
• A newly imposed question during American imperialism was did they
Constitution follow the flag?
⇒ In Insular Cases which began in 1901, the Supreme Court, over its badly
divided decision, basically judged that the flag did outrun the Constitution.
Puerto Ricans (and Filipinos) were under American rule but did not enjoy full
American rights.
⇒ American law, including the tariff laws and the Bill of Rights, did not apply
with full force to the newly acquired possessions
• Under the American military government in Cuba, set up under the
administration of General Lenard Wood of the Rough Riders, achieved miracles
in government, finance, education, agriculture, and public health
• The combined efforts of General wood and Colonel William C. Gorgas made an
effective attack on yellow fever
⇒ Special experiments were performed by Dr. Walter Reed and others on
volunteered American soldiers
• The U.S withdrew from Cuba in 1902 honoring its self-denying Teller Amendment
of 1898, but only when they were forced under the conditions of the Platt
Amendment
⇒ Cubans were forced to write their own constitution in 1901, which included
that they were forced to agree not to sign treaties compromising their
independence, and to not take on debt.
⇒ They further agreed that the U.S have the right of intervention to restore
order when it saw fit
⇒ Cubans also had to agree to sell or lease coaling or naval stations to their
powerful “benefactor” Uncle Sam

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⇒ The amendment was finally abrogated by the U.S, although it still occupies a
28,000 acre beachhead at Guantanamo under an agreement that could only
be revoked by the consent of both parties
VIII)New Horizons in Two Hemispheres
• The Spanish-American war was short and a mere advertisement and preamble
for America as an imperial power
⇒ Strong European nations greeted the U.S with more respect and better
diplomatic relations
• The war did not start due to imperialistic purposes, but after the imperial idea
overwhelmed the nation, it began to build an empire
• The victory contributed to a great war spirit
⇒ Newly popular military marching-band music was composed by John Philip
Sousa
⇒ Captain Mahan’s stress for a big navy gained popular support for more and
better battleships
⇒ Secretary of War Elihu Root established a general staff for the army and
founded the War College in Washington
• The war lessened the tension of the “bloody chasm” between the North and
South
⇒ Confederate cavalry hero General Joseph Wheeler was given a command in
Cuba. So used to the anti Northerners spirit, he cried in the heat of battle,
“To hell with the Yankees! Dammit, I mean the Spaniards.”
• By taking on the Philippines, the U.S gave itself a difficult task of East Asia, and
assumed burdensome commitments that they will prove unwilling to defend with
the appropriate military power
IX) “Little Brown Brothers” in the Philippines
• The Filipinos under Emilio Aguinaldo on February 4, 1899 erupted into open
insurrection because it did not get its assumed freedom from the U.S when the
U.S decided to stay there indefinitely
⇒ America was basically fighting against the Filipinos who had asked for
nothing but freedom, in the traditional American way to ask for it
• They waged guerrilla warfare against the U.S
• The U.S adapted cruel strategies against the Filipinos
⇒ “water cure” was a method forcing water down the victims’ throats until they
are willing to give out information
⇒ Similar to Butcher Weyler’s reconcentration camps in Cuba, the U.S army had
them in the Philippines
• The backbone of the Philippines was broken when Aguinaldo was captured in a
guerrilla camp in 1901, marking an end of the insurrection
• Future President William H. Taft became the civil governor of the Philippines in
1901
• McKinley’s “benevolent assimilation” of the Philippines proceeded with painful
slowness and restraint

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⇒ Washington poured millions of dollars to improve roads, sanitation, and public


health in the Philippines
⇒ America developed important economic ties with Philippines. American
teachers were sent there to set up a unusually good school system and teach
them English
⇒ Despite all the efforts that profited little to the U.S, the Filipinos urged for
independence and liberty and hated Americanization. They finally became
independent on July 4, 1946, but meanwhile thousands of them emigrated to
the U.S
X) Hinging the Open Door in China
• After the defeat by Japan, other European powers also moved into China, tearing
away valuable leaseholds and economic spheres of influence from the Manchu
government
• Concern for increasing foreign intervention with China grew because Churches
worried about missionary strongholds while merchants feared for European
monopolization
• The American people urged Washington to do something about China. As a
result, Secretary of State John Hay dispatched to all the imperial powers in China
an Open Door note that in their spheres of influence they would respect certain
Chinese rights and the ideal of fair competition of trade with China
⇒ All the great powers except Russia eventually agreed to it
• Super patriotic anti-foreign group known as the “Boxers” for their martial arts
skills formed in 1900 and murdered more than 200 foreigners and thousands of
Chinese Christians. They also besieged the foreign diplomatic community in
Beijing
⇒ As a result, a multinational force arrived to put down the rebellion. It
included several thousand American troops from the Phillippines to protect
U.S rights under the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844 and to keep the Open Door
⇒ Vicious allied imperialist invaders plundered $333 million from China as
indemnities, of which America’s share was to be $24.5 million. $18 million
was used for education of a selected group of Chinese students in the U.S
• Secretary Hay would add the territorial integrity of China to the Open Door
besides the economic Integrity. Later on this addition of principle would help
spare China from possible partition and they would be incorporated into the
Nine-Power Treaty of 1922, only to be violated by Japan during its takeover of
Manchuria a decade later
XI) Imperialism or Bryanism in 1900
• President McKinley’s renomination by the Republicans was obvious since he won
a war, acquired real estate, protected the gold standard, and brought prosperity
• Theodore Roosevelt, the cowboy-hero of the Cuban campaign was a popular
choice for vice president
⇒ He was elected governor of New York on his war born popularity. But he was
hard to manage because he was so individualized, causing political bosses to
devise a scheme to kick him up into presidency, which worked beautifully

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⇒ His western-style cowboy hat made him stand out at the Republican
convention
• William Jennings Bryan was nominated by the Democrats, again. Meeting at
Kansas City, their platform proclaimed Republican overseas imperialism to be
the paramount issue
• As Lincoln abolished slavery for 3.5 million Africans, McKinley reestablished it for
7 million Filipinos. McKinley won the Election of 1900 by a much wider margin
than in 1896. He won majorly not because of standing on a side with
imperialism; it was for prosperity and protectionism
XII)TR: Brandisher of the Big Stick
• After William McKinley got murdered by an anarchist in September 1901, barely
6 month after his reelection. TR became the youngest president by far in
American history at the age of 42
• Roosevelt was born into a wealthy family in New York. With a Self-imposed
routine of exercise, he was physically healthy. With partial education in Europe,
he graduated from Harvard with Phi Beta Kappa honors
• Filled with energy, TR was very egotistical and he expressed a personality that
portrayed individualism
⇒ His pet proverb: “Speak softly and carry a big stick, [and] you will go far.”
• TR believed that the president should be the sole leader of the nation with
restrictions only by the Constitution. He had no respect for checks and balances
and separation of power
XIII)Building the Panama Canal
• Roosevelt soon applied his energy to foreign affairs
• Learning a lesson when the battleship Oregon sailed all the way around South
America to join the U.S fleet in Cuba, the U.S needed an isthmian canal for
mobility of the navy, facilitating the operations of the U.S merchant marine, and
the defense of Caribbean acquisitions
• Initial oppositions were legal rather than financial
⇒ Under the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty concluded with Britain in 1850, the U.S
could not secure exclusive control over an isthmian route
⇒ Busy dealing with an unfriendly Europe and a Boer War in South Africa,
Britain gave consent to the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty in 1901 which gave U.S
the right to build and fortify the canal
• Many American experts favored a route across Nicaragua while agents of the
French Canal Company were seeking a route in Panama
⇒ Represented by Philippe Bunau-Varilla, the New Panama Canal Company
dropped the price of ts holdings form $109 million to $40 million
⇒ Congress decided on the Panama route in June 1902
• Panama was still a part of Colombia. Colombia rejected the offer from the U.S of
$10 million plus an annual payment of $250K for a 6-mile-wide zone across
Panama

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• Panamanians in rebellion of Columbia counted prosperity to follow the


construction of the canal. They feared that the U.S would now turn to the
Nicaraguan route instead
⇒ Bunau-Varilla was also disturbed by the prospect of losing $40 million of his
company. Working with the revolutionists, he helped to incite a rebellion on
November 3, 1903
⇒ The U.S naval forces prevented Colombian troops from crossing the isthmus
and suppressing the rebellion
• Roosevelt recognized Panama 3 days after the insurrection. 15 days after,
Bunau-Varilla, now the Panamanian minister with a French citizenship, signed
the hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty in Washington agreeing on building a canal with the
same price, except the zone was widened from 6 to 10 miles while the French
company pocketed $40 million from the U.S Treasury
• Roosevelt did not intentionally tear Panama off of Colombia, but the conspirators
counted on him to hold Colombia at bay. This “rape of Panama” turned down
American relationships with Latin America
• Construction of the canal began in 1904, in facing the difficulties including
landslides, labor troubles, and tropical diseases.
⇒ The determined exterminator of yellow fever Colonel William C. Gorgas
ultimately made the Canal Zone safe from diseases
⇒ The West Point engineer Colonel George Washington Goethals ultimately
brought the canal project to completion in 1914 right when the World War I
was breaking out, at a cost of some $400 million
XIV)TR’s Perversion of Monroe’s Doctrine
• Latin American debt caused further involvement in their affairs by the U.S
majorly led by Roosevelt
• Nations such as Venezuela and the Dominican Republic were chronically in debt
with their European creditors
⇒ Germany bombarded a down in Venezuela in 1903 because of this
• Roosevelt feared European influence and domination in Latin America. Making a
policy of “preventive intervention”, Roosevelt made his own corollary to the
Monroe Doctrine, stating that in the case of future financial malfunction of Latin
American nations, the U.S would intervene and pay off debts to avoid European
interactions with them
⇒ Under this clause, no nations could make interventions of Latin America could
be made besides Uncle Sam
⇒ The U.S took over the management of tariff collection s in the Dominican
Republic. It was formalized in a treaty with the Dominicans 2 years later
⇒ This corollary was eventually used to justify frequent interventions of the U.S
and repeated landings of the marines
⇒ To the Latin American nations, the corollary was just a excuse behind U.S
actions seeking to strangle them
• TR’s rewriting of the Monroe Doctrine promoted the “Bad Neighbor” policy more
than any other single step of action

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• The big stick fell again on Cuba in 1906


⇒ Revolutionary disorders brought an appeal from the Cuban president. U.S
Marines, under the Platt Amendment had the right of intervention to restore
order. They were temporarily withdrawn in 1909 but these actions left
nothing but another quintessential evidence of the creeping power of the
Colossus of the North.
XV)Roosevelt on the World Stage
• Roosevelt moved on to take charge of international affairs beyond Latin America
⇒ The war between Russia and Japan in 1904 gave him a chance
• Russia, seeking warm water ports, occupied ports of China’s Manchuria,
particularly Port Arthur. Japanese interpreted this occupation as pointing the
pistols at Japan’s strategic heart.
⇒ Japan responded by a devastating surprise attack in 1904 on the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur, which was only the start of a humiliating series of
beatings to Russia
(a) First serious military setback to a major European power by a non-
European force since the Turkish invasions of the 16th century
⇒ As time goes on, Japan began to run short on men and yen. To prevent
Russia from knowing this crucial information, Tokyo officials asked Roosevelt
in secret for help to sponsor peace negotiations, which he happily consented
(a) Roosevelt wanted neither powers to diminish, so that they could serve as
counterweights to each other
(b) He set up the peace negotiations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905.
The results of the negotiation satisfied neither party
(i) U.S relations with Russia soured when the Russians accused Roosevelt
of robbing them victory. Revelations about massacres of Russian Jews
deepened the discontent
(ii) Japan felt cheated out of the compensation
(c) As a result of the peace negotiations, Japan was forced to drop demands
for a cash indemnity and Russian evacuation of Sakhalin Island. Japan
also gained effective control over Korea, which it formally annexed in
1910
⇒ TR received the Noble Peace Prize in 1906 for arranging international peace
conferences
XVI)Japanese Laborers in California
• Due to recent wars, a wave of Japanese immigrants poured into valleys of
California. They were known as the new “yellow peril” relative to the Chinese
immigrants
• A 1906 incident became an international crisis when the San Francisco school
board ordered a segregation of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students to free
more space for whites
⇒ War talks were portrayed by the yellow press, the real “yellow peril”

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⇒ Roosevelt was not happy for California to stir the U.S into potential warfare.
He therefore invited the entire San Francisco Board of Education to come to
the White House
⇒ Under the “Gentlemen’s Agreement”, the Californians were induced to repeal
the segregation order and Tokyo agreed to stop Japanese immigration by
withholding passports
• TR also worried that Japan will interpret his decision as a desperate result out of
fear. Therefore, brandishing his big stick, decided to send the entire battleship
fleet on a highly visible voyage around the world
⇒ Starting the voyage in late 1907, 16 battleships started sailing from Virginia
waters
⇒ They were ready for “a feast, a frolic, or a fight” declared their commander
⇒ The fleet received tumultuous welcomes in Latin America, Hawaii, New
Zealand, and Australia, although it ended up borrowing British coal to
complete the voyage
⇒ Out of surprise, Japan also gave an effusive welcome to the U.S fleet. As a
result of this warm diplomatic atmosphere, the U.S signed the Root-Takahira
agreement with Japan in 1908, which pledged both powers to respect each
other’s possessions in the Pacific and maintain the Open Door to China
⇒ For the moment, the 2 rising powers remained in peace

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