Introduction

The process of territorial expansion, which had been highly politicized in the 1840s’ “Manifest Destiny” campaigns, was stalled by the political revolution of the 1850s and the subsequent Civil War and Reconstruction.  Of approximately twenty opportunities to acquire overseas territory between 1865 and 1889 only six were seized.  Around 1890, however, American expansionist tendencies regained strength.  Of the twenty-five opportunities to acquire territory between 1890 and 1908, twenty-three resulted in some form of expansion.

Scholars continue to debate the reasons behind the shift.  Some see an implicit desire to validate the emerging American self-image as a world power.  This theory is tied to the concept of  “classical realism,” the idea that states expand their power and influence when they have the opportunity to do so, as the Europeans had been doing for centuries.  Other scholars cite “defensive realism;” if the US did not act, its vital interests might be jeopardized.  Still other scholars see economic motives and the growing importance of international commerce behind the resurgent expansionism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The uncertainties in American policy become apparent when one recognizes that certain areas long coveted by some Americans, like Cuba, were not annexed when they might have been, yet other areas, like the Philippines, were seized after the briefest of national discussions.   Regardless of theories, it is clear that US expansion developed in a broader context of expanding European empires throughout the world.

Overseas expansion after 1890 also paralleled the growing influence of the American navy.  The most important American strategist in this period was Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), head of the Naval War College and author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890); he was admired by the Prince of Wales, the German Kaiser and Theodore Roosevelt.   Mahan, like the Greek historian Thucydides, argued that the survival of any great power depended on a strong navy, and that a strong navy depended on island possessions that could serve as naval bases.

This module focuses on the two primary areas of American expansion: Middle America including the Caribbean; and the Pacific (Let’s link these to the two major sections of the module).  The pattern of expansion varied considerably.  In some cases, the US engineered the purchase of new territory (as in the case of Alaska); in other areas American “interests” undermined the local government and asked for annexation (as in the case of Hawaii).  In at least one instance (Samoa), the native government sought American protection.

Legend/key   for US21: National Identities and Imperial Powers

Beige = The independent nations of Latin America.  Use beige to distinguish them from the European holdings in color.  At this point we do not need to put in the dates of independence as given on Inv 71.

For the Pacific maps, note that those with the blue background use the following symbol keys:

à = French

�= British

G= German

r=  Portuguese 

Colorbox          English=red

Colorbox          German=black (in Pacific)

Colorbox          Spanish=yellow

Colorbox          French=green

Colorbox          Dutch=brown

Colorbox          Portuguese=orange

Colorbox          Danish=purple (in Caribbean) 

Colorbox          Japanese=pink

Colorboz          US=blue

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Before the Civil War the US had expanded on the North American mainland, primarily at the expense of Mexico and the Native Americans.   In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, William Henry Seward, the secretary of state, purchased Alaska from the Russians.  Seward and his successors also discussed the purchase of a number of sites for an isthmian canal (to provide a sea link for the bi-coastal nation) and of islands in the Caribbean, but divisions between Congress and the President blocked additional acquisitions. The US was not by any means the only power with interests in the region. Even before the end of the 18^th century, European powers had claimed extensive territory, most of which they still held.

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As a bi-coastal nation, the US began to build up its navy and grew increasingly interested in the possibility of an isthmian canal across Central America that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and greatly reduce shipping time.  President Grover Cleveland announced that the US would henceforth take an active interest in the power politics of the entire Western Hemisphere.  In 1890, Congress authorized construction of the nation's first battleship, and Mahan published his widely read treatise on the Influence of Sea Power on History.   At the same time, the government began to take steps to make the Foreign Service more professional. During this decade, the US government pursued a more aggressive policy in Middle America.  Reciprocity treaties and vigorous responses to minor crises in Nicaragua and Venezuela and other parts of Latin America confirmed the reality of Cleveland’s new doctrine of US intervention in the Americas

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In 1898, the US entered an ongoing contest between anti-colonial Cuban rebels and their Spanish rulers.  Fighting on the side of the rebels, the Americans declared war on Spain worldwide, which resulted in widely scattered American victories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.  The US recognized Cuban independence, but retained control over many of Spain's other former colonies around the globe, including Puerto Rico and the Philippines.  These acquisitions were obtained as prizes of war and annexed to the US after spirited but remarkably brief national debate.  The war with Spain also yielded additional territory in the Pacific.

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the US continued to intervene aggressively in the Caribbean region.  US support for the breakaway Columbian province of Panama was rewarded by an agreement with the new Panamanian government for territory to construct the Panama Canal; Panama became a de facto dependent. Intervention in Santo Domingo, Nicaragua and Guatemala was frequent and sometimes lasted for significant lengths of time.  In most cases, American activism was not prompted by real threats (the states involved were themselves too weak to pose any real danger), but by a desire to maintain on the periphery an order favorable to its interests.  The US also began negotiations to purchase the Danish West Indies.

Introduction

This section consists of three parts.  In the first, the development of American interests in the Pacific during the middle 19^th Century is outlined.  The second, covering the period 1890-1900, marks a decisive change in American policy, resulting in the formal annexation of significant territory.  In the third, the focus is on developments in China.  As was the case in the Caribbean, however, the US was not the only power with interests in the Pacific region.  The British held Australia and New Zealand, the Dutch and Portuguese were in the East Indies, the French held much of Polynesia and Indo-China and the Spanish were in the Philippines, to name only a few.  All of these powers also had trade concessions on the mainland of China. 

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American interest in the Pacific accelerated dramatically around 1850.  The Gold Rush, the admission of California to the Union, Pacific whaling interests, and renewed prospects of trade with China all began to affect policy.  During the 1850s, the US acquired by purchase several small islands in the Central Pacific, and in 1854, Admiral Perry opened Japan to western influences.  In 1867 the US purchased Alaska.  Prior to 1890, the US had also concluded two treaties with Hawaii, bought the unoccupied Midway Islands and negotiated the right to build naval bases in Samoa. 

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Whatever reluctance the US had shown about formal colonial annexation ended during this decade.  Even before 1890, Americans dominated the economy of Hawaii, and influenced the native government in decisive ways.  US trade restrictions encouraged some Americans to hope for US annexation; the Hawaiians responded by trying to eliminate American influence.  A coup d’etat led by American citizens on Hawaii forced Queen Liliuokalani to surrender her throne in 1893.  By 1897, an American protectorate was established that quickly led to outright acquisition.  After the Spanish-American War, the US also gained control of Guam, the Wake Islands, and the Philippines.  In 1900 the US divided control of Samoa with Germany.   As the map reveals, these acquisitions were completed in an atmosphere of intense international competition for colonies.

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American interest in China was rooted in trade and missionary zeal.  But the fabled “China market” had never actually yielded either commercial or spiritual rewards on a large scale.  In 1898, and in conjunction with the uncertainties arising out of war between China and Japan, the leading powers (as the map shows) began to divide China into specific “spheres of influence” or "concessions" (trading ports with some contiguous territory).  In 1899, Russia and Germany threatened to close their concessions to traders from other nations.  As the only major international power without a concession in China, the US urged an “Open Door” policy that would allow any nation to trade in any of the concessions.  The Chinese themselves were not consulted. In 1900, when the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China against the imposition of foreign authority, all major nations were asked to help ensure “compliance” on the part of the Chinese.  President William McKinley sent 5000 soldiers to protect American property, a gesture that successfully confirmed his Open Door policy

In December 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the pride of the new navy, the Great White Fleet (named for the color of the ships) including 16 battleships and 14,000 men on a two-year voyage around the globe (the Panama Canal was not finished, so they had to go around the tip of South America).  This display of naval power was a dramatic gesture of the intention of the US to assume a new role in the world order.  It was a gesture well understood by powers great and small.  

Summary:

The nations of Europe already had extensive colonial holdings throughout the world when, following the Civil War, the US also began to take steps to acquire overseas territory.  Through the end of the 1880’s, however, the pace of expansion was slow and uncertain.  In the 1890s, the US embarked on a new naval program that provided the means to project power overseas.  The primary focus of attention was the Caribbean and, ultimately, the construction of a Canal.  The US victory in the Spanish-American War not only solidified American control of the Caribbean, but it also gave the US uncontested control of all of Spain’s holdings in the Pacific including the Philippines and helped to resolve American uncertainty about annexing Hawaii and other islands.  Though the US did not seek concessions in China, it nonetheless insisted on an “Open Door” to this market.

Questions

1. Consider the pattern of US expansion in the Caribbean and in the Pacific.  To what extent was US policy consistent in both regions?  To what extent was the US ready to confront the European powers? 
2. What factors, both internal and external, encouraged the US to seek an overseas empire?