Chapter 20: Foreign Policy 1865-1914 Flashcards
William Seward
Served under both Lincoln and Johnson as Secretary of State
~Aided Lincoln in keeping France and Britain out of the Civil War
Napoleon III
Nephew of the first Napoleon
~Took advantage of the U.S. involvement in the Civil War by sending French troops to occupy Mexico
~Led to the passage of the Monroe Doctrine
Alaska
A vast territory that had been the subject of dispute between two European powers who claimed it. Great Britain and Russia
~Russia sold Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million
~Called the purchase “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”
Imperialism
The expansionist means to strengthen a country
~Needed a worldwide market for the growing industrial and agricultural surpluses
~Needed new sources of raw materials for manufacturing
International Darwinism
Darwin’s survival of the fittest theory, applied to nations
~According to this theory only the strongest survived
~This meant that the U.S. had to be strong religiously, militantly, and politically
~Had to gain strength by gaining territories overseas
Reverend Josiah Strong
Wrote: “Our Country: Its Possible Future and Present Crisis”
~Wrote that people of Anglo-Saxon stock were “the fittest to survive” and that Protestant Americans had a Christian duty to colonize other lands to spread Christianity and Westernization
Alfred Thayer Mahan
A U.S. Navy Captain, wrote “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History”
~Argued that a strong navy was crucial to a country’s ambitions of securing foreign markets and becoming a world power
~Allowed for the persuasion of Congress to finance the construction of modern steel ships
~Encouraged the acquisition of overseas, such as Samoa
Pan American Conference (1889)
Representatives from various nations of the Western Hemisphere decided to create a permanent organization for international cooperation on trade and other issues
~Hoped to bring about reductions in tariff rates
Jingoism
An intense form of American nationalism calling for an aggressive foreign policy
~Called for the United States to take its place with the imperialist nations
~Presidents Cleveland and McKinley disagreed
Valeriano Weyler
General “Butcher” Valeriano Weyler of Spain
~Sent from Spain to put down Cuban Revolt, 100,000 troops
~Formed a version of a concentration camp where Cubans were sent to starve
“Yellow Journalism”
Newspapers who actively promoted war fever in the United States by using bold, lurid headlines of crime, disaster, and scandal
~Two major newspapers in New York: Pulitzer’s New York World, and Hearst’s New York Journal
~Both printed false accounts of Spanish atrocities in Cuba
~Increased the war cry
DeLôme Letter
The leaked letter from a Spanish diplomat, caused a storm of outrage
~Leaked and printed by the press
~Was highly critical of President McKinley
~Was considered a Spanish insult against American honor
U.S.S. Maine
A U.S. warship that exploded at Havana harbor
~Killed 260 Americans onboard
~Yellow press accused Spain of deliberately blowing up the ship
~Experts concluded that the explosion was probably an accident
Teller Amendment
Congress’ response to President McKinley’s war message
~Declared that the U.S. had no intention of taking political control of Cuba and that, once peace was restored on the island, the Cubans would control their own government
Commodore George Dewey
Led a fleet to the Philippines under Theodore Roosevelt’s order (was Secretary of Navigations)
~Opened fire on Spanish ships in Manila Bay
~Soon took control of Manila
Rough Riders
A regiment of volunteers led by Theodore Roosevelt
~Aided in victory at San Juan by African American veterans
Queen Liliuokalani
The Hawaiian monarch prior to the overthrow of power in 1893
~After her overthrow Hawaii was annexed in 1898, and became the 50th state
Paris Peace Treaty (1898)
Treaty that ended the Spanish-American War
~Provided for:
1. Recognition of Cuban independence
2. U.S. acquisition of two Spanish Islands-Puerto Rico and Guam
3. U.S. acquisition of the Philippines in return for $20 million paid to Spain
Emilio Aguinaldo
A Filipino nationalist leader who had fought alongside U.S. troops during the Spanish American War
~After, he led bands of guerrilla fighters in a war against U.S. control
~”war” lasted 3 years
Anti-Imperialist League
A group led by William Jennings Bryan who rallied opposition to further acts of expansion in the Pacific
Platt Amendment (1901)
An army appropriations bill, bitterly resented by Cuban nationalists
~Required Cuba to agree:
1. Never to sign a treaty with a foreign power that impaired its independence
2. Never to build up an excessive public debt
3. To permit the United States to intervene in Cuba’s affairs to preserve its independence and maintain law and order
4. To allow the U.S. to maintain naval bases in Cuba including one at Guantánamo Bay
~Made Cuba one of the U.S.’s protectorates
Election of 1900
The election where Republicans nominated President McKinley and Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan
~Bryan still tried to attack the gold standard
~McKinley won by an even larger margin than the previous election
Open Door Policy
John Hay’s idea help the spheres of influence in China problem
~The idea that all nations would have equal trading privileges in China
~All countries gave Hay an evasive answer, he viewed it as the countries had accepted the Open Door Policy
Boxer Rebellion (1900)
Due to the rise of nationalism and Xenophobia (hatred and fear of foreigners) in China
~A secret society of Chinese nationalists-The Society of Harmonious Fists, or Boxers-attacked foreign settlements and murdered dozens of Christian missionaries
~U.S. forces participated in an international and quickly suppressed the rebellion
~China was forced to pay a huge sum in indemnities which further weakened the imperial regime
