Chapter Twenty

Foreign Policy
1865-1914
Seward, Alaska, and the French in
Mexico
 The French in Mexico
• Napoleon III sent French troops to Mexico
during the Civil War
• William Seward threatened action, and the
French left
 The Purchase of Alaska
• Russia sold Alaska to Seward for 7.3 million
The New Imperialism
 International Darwinism
• Imperialism
– Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan were
taking over weaker countries
• Missionaries
– Went to Africa, Asia, and the Pacific to teach
• Politicians
– Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt
supported imperialism
• Popular Press
– Newspapers sold more copies by printing about ‘far
away places’
 Latin America
• Blaine and the Pan-American Conference
(1889)
– Pan-American Union was established
• Cleveland, Olney, and the Monroe Doctrine
– US wanted Britain to abandon Guiana
– US-Britain relations improved
The Spanish-American War
 Causes
• Jingoism
– Aggressive Nationalism
• Cuban revolt
• Yellow Press
– Graphic headlines
• De Lome Letter
– Spanish leader spoke badly about McKinley
• The Maine
– 260 Americans killed
– Spanish blamed
• McKinley’s War Message
– Ordered a ceasefire from Spanish to Cuba
 The Teller Amendment
• Congress authorized the US to go to war with
Spain.
• Specifically said that the US had no interest in
taking over Cuba
 Fighting the War
• Began in Manila Bay, in the Philippines
• The Philippines
– Commodore Dewey sent to the Philippines
– Destroyed Spanish navy
• Invasion of Cuba
– Disease killed thousands of troops
 Annexation of Hawaii
• Became a territory in 1900, and a state in
1959
 Controversy Over the Treaty of Peace
• Terms
– Cuban Independence
– US ownership of two Spanish islands
– US took over the Philippines for $20 million
 The Philippine Questions
• Treaty of Paris ratified on Feb 6th, 1899
• Anti-Imperialists objected to this. Obviously.
• Filipino leader Emilio Aguinaldo attacked the
US armies in an attempt for independence
 Other Results of the War
• Insular Cases
– Did the Constitution apply to US Territories?
– Supreme Court ruled it did not
• Cuba and the Platt Amendment (1901)
– Required Cuba never to treaty with other powers
– Never to build up debt
– US could intervene in Cuban affairs
– US could have bases on Cuba
 Election of 1900
• Republican
– McKinley
• Democrat
– William Jennings Bryan
• McKinley reelected
• US became a world power
Open Door Policy in China
 Details
• Boxer Rebellion (1900)
– Boxers (Chinese nationalists) attacked
missionaries. US took over Beijing to staunch it
• Hay’s Second Round of Notes
– Written by John Hay
– US desire to preserve Chinese integrity, as well as
equal trade
Theodore Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” Policy
 The Panama Canal
• Revolution in Panama
– Columbia refused to allow the US to dig in Panama
– Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty granted US control
• Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
– The US could dig without British involvement
• Building the Canal
– Began in 1904, completed in 1914
– George Goethals, William Gorgas main leaders
– US paid Colombia $25 million for Panama
The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe
Doctrine (Remember this!)
• When the Dominican Republic could not pay
debts to Britain, British warships were sent to
collect. Roosevelt responded by sending
American gunships to the DR, and collecting
taxes on American terms, and delivering it to
the British
• Used to justify sending US forces to Latin
America
 East Asia
• Russo-Japan War
– War between Russia and Japan
– Treaty of Portsmouth reached
• Gentlemen’s Agreement
– The Japanese restricted immigration to the US, while the
US slowly took down segregation of Japanese in America
• The Great White Fleet
– Roosevelt sent battleships on tour around the world to
demonstrate US power
• Root-Takahira Agreement (1908)
– Mutual respect
– Support for the Open Door policy
 Peace Efforts
• Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Price
for Russo-Japanese diplomacy
• Algeciras Conference in Spain stopped a fight
over Morocco between France and Germany
• Roosevelt also controlled the US participation
in the Second International Peace Conference
at Hague in 1907
William Howard Taft and Dollar
Diplomacy
Dollar Diplomacy in East Asia and Latin
America
• The idea that financial investment lead to
peace
• Railroads in China
– Taft invested in building railroads throughout
China
• Intervention in Nicaragua
– Marines were sent to Nicaragua to staunch a civil
war
 The Lodge Corollary
• Henry Cabot Lodge
– Introduced the Lodge Corollary to the Monroe
Doctrine
• All non-European powers could not own territory in the
western hemisphere
Woodrow Wilson and Moral
Diplomacy
 Moral Diplomacy
• Righting Past Wrongs – The Panama Canal
– The Philippines • US exemption from tolls
repealed
• Jones Act of 1916
– Promised – Conciliation Treaties
independence as soon • Disputes sent to
as a government was international level
created
• One year cease-fire
– Puerto Rico period before starting a
• All inhabitants given US war
citizenship
 Military Intervention in Latin America
• Marines kept in Nicaragua
• Troops also kept in Haiti and the DR
 Conflict in Mexico
• Tampico Incident
– Arms embargo against Mexico
– Fleet blockaded Vera Cruz
– Navy occupied Vera Cruz
– South American countries stepped in to help avoid
war
• Pancho Villa and the US Expeditionary Force
– Ran raids the US border and killed people in Texas
and Mexico