The United States and Imperial Wars

I. Spanish-American War

A. The Imperialist Impulse

1. Alfred Thayer Mahan--the leading naval theorist of his time, Mahan argued that a nation could only achieve foreign policy success by building a strong navy. To achieve this objective, the nation would also have to obtain places for its large fleet to refuel--"coaling stations"--with the reliance upon steam for locomotion. This became the one of the excuses for the aggressive imperialism that became manifested in the foreign policy of the United States in the years just before the turn of the century.

2. Imperialist foreign policy--in many ways, the 1890s are a pivotal decade. In 1890, the  Census Department determined that the frontier in the United States had ceased to exist. By 1892, the historian Frederick Jackson Turner had developed  a theory that the frontier had been the determining factor in the development of democracy in the United States. That same  year, Homer Plessy was arrested in New Orleans for violating the new segregated railroad car law in Louisiana; by 1896, the Supreme Court would institute the doctrine of "separate but equal," instituting legal segregation. Worries about having room to expand met racist presumptions about the ability of  non-white peoples of the earth to govern themselves in this new imperialist foreign policy.

B. Cuba Libre!

1. The "Yellow" Press--the  birth of the modern newspaper in the years just before the turn of the 20th century led many of the papers to promote lurid, sensationalist stories in an attempt to sell more  newspapers.

a. William Randolph Hearst

2. Remember the Maine

a. The USS Maine--in response to perceived "Spanish aggression," the USS Maine was dispatched to Havana Harbor to "show the flag." On the night of February 15,1898 the Maine suffered a catastrophic explosion, which an investigating committee concluded could only have happened from a mine placed  in the harbor (modern evidence points to spontaneous combustion in a coal bin).  As a result, pressure to declare war on Spain grows irresistible. When McKinley asks Congress to declare war (the Constitutional method  of doing so, by the way), Roosevelt resigns his position in the administration to join the Rough Riders he had been busy organizing.

b. Cuban rebels--had been fighting Spanish forces off and on for the previous thirty years, and at this point had nearly worn Spain into submission before the Americans even began their short voyage. Rebel forces, in fact, held off Spanish forces during the American invasion, which is the main reason why the American forces landed unscathed.

3. The Rough Riders--is really a manifestation of the multi-culturalism that Roosevelt learned from his association with Jacob Riis. The Rough Riders were a mixture of blue blood friends from New York (who made up much of the officer corps), with cowboys, Indians, Mexicans, and a smattering of other  ethnic groups--with one important exception--who all brought the "barbarian virtues" that Roosevelt felt  Anglo-Saxons had lost.

4. The Charge up Kettle Hill--this engagement, like the whole War With Spain, was a FUBAR mess. It took weeks to transport troops to Cuba, supplies were inadequate--as were preparations, medical attention, and just about everything else  about the operation.

1. The Role of the10th Cavalry--under the command of General John J. Pershing, the all African American 10th Cavalry actually bore much of the brunt of the fighting for both Kettle Hill  and  San Juan Hill. Their bravery under fire was remarked on by a number of officers,  including initially one Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. The 10th Cavalry did not have a personal war correspondent,  however, so none of them were awarded a Medal of Honor

B. The Philippines

1. Philippine Revolution--Filipino insurgents, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, had fought Spanish forces to a standstill by December 1897, and the Spanish government paid Aguinaldo to go into exile. From exile in Hong Kong, however, Aguinaldo maintained that he was contacted by US representatives and encouraged to return to The Philippines to take back up the struggle. Aguinaldo returned in April 1898, and soon rebel forces had overrun the Spanish Army in the entire archipelago except for Manila. With the US Pacific fleet anchored in Manila Bay, victory (and independence) seemed imminent. Filipino force were warned to stay out of Manila, however, on danger of being fired upon by American forces--and the Spanish surrendered to the Americans.

2. Filipino-American War--it quickly became apparent to Filipinos that the United States aimed at replacing Spain as the colonial master of the islands, and not long after open hostilities broke out. Outgunned, the Filipinos retreated to the jungle and fought a guerrilla war until 1902, after Aguinaldo was assassinated--although certain guerrilla fighters carried on until 1914.

3. The Carrot and the Stick--the United States, to win the hearts and minds of the Filipino, built roads, schools, hospitals, and other government buildings--while also burning villages to the ground that they suspected of harboring guerrillas, and torturing--or murdering--combatants that were captured

a. Dealing with "gooks"--Filipinos were referred to by many soldiers as "goo-goos," which became gooks--an epitaph that became used to describe most people of Southeast Asia.

II. Panama Canal

A. Connecting the Oceans--part of the concern raised by Mahan dealt with the time it took to sail around Cape Horn through the Drake Passage. Efforts to build a canal through the Isthmus of Panama (only 48 miles wide) were begun by France--which had just constructed the Suez Canal, with British assistance--began in 1880. After millions of dollars and the deaths of more than 21,000 workers--most from yellow fever and malaria--the French abandoned the project.

B. Creating Panama--until 1903, Panama was a province of Columbia. To get a better deal on rights to construct the canal, US representatives--under the direction of President Theodore Roosevelt--persuaded a number of leading businessmen and landowners in Panama along the proposed route of the canal to declare their "independence"--an independence enforced by the US Navy anchored of the Panamanian coast.


III. Mexican Revolution

A. Border raids

1. Two Mexican governments – one in the north (led by Poncho Villa), and one in the south

2. Anti-American sentiment – many people in Mexico resented the United States interference in political affairs previously in Mexico, as well as the way many of their relatives and former countrymen were being treated in the Southwest.

B. Unstable business environment – for US businesses, anyway; fear of intervention by British or German forces which would conflict with US business interests.

1. Petroleum

2.Mining – particularly silver, lead, and copper mines

3. Intervention – invoking the Monroe Doctrine, used as justification to interfere in affairs of Mexico.

4. Tampico Affair – avenging US honor, or the humiliation of Mexico?  US sailors arrested, then quickly released with apology from Mexican government; naval commander insists Mexican officials salute US flag, which they refuse to do; Marines and sailors occupy Veracruz by force.

5. Pursuit of Poncho Villa – Villa, looking to provoke US invasion, Villa’s forces raid Columbus, New Mexico, burn it to the ground, and kill sixteen US citizens; Wilson responds by sending Gen. John Pershing into Mexico to pursue Villa; Pershing is unable to capture Villa or his forces, however, and US forces are withdrawn, quietly, a year later (to be transported across the Atlantic).

6. “Dollar Diplomacy” – interventions on the part of US government to protect the interests of American businesses, began in 1909 with personal appeal from Taft to Chinese leaders on behalf of US businesses; with Wilson, this “diplomacy” often took the force of arms

7. Nicaragua

8. Haiti

9. Dominican Republic

a. Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler, USMC

IV. War in Europe

A. Hyphenated Americans

1. German-Americans – number 8.25 million of German parentage

2. Irish-Americans – 4.5 Million of Irish parentage

3. Both groups either expressed opposition for English war aims (Irish), or support for German war aims (German-Americans)

B. Why support Allies? – Cultural affinity with Great Britain by politicians; the fact that Great Britain controlled US access to information about the war, so US only heard about “Hun atrocities.”

C. “Preparedness” v. anti-militarism – US had long held suspicion of large standing army, and of militarism, but this was in the process of changing.

1. Preparedness advocates

a. Theodore Roosevelt – felt the military was the great democratic leveler (unless you were black and relegated to a segregated unit), and would restore masculinity that was sorely lacking, particularly in the middle class (desk jobs)

2. Anti-militarists

a. William Jennings Bryan

b. Women’s Peace Party (40,000 members)

c. Most Progressives

d. Socialist Party

e. IWW – latter two believed that this was a capitalist war, fought to control overseas colonies (and largely, it was)

3. Wilson’s position – shifting, depending upon the political climate

a. 1915 – recommends military build-up

b. 1916 – switches positions, promising to keep US from entangling alliances, because that position is more politically popular, and there was an election coming up.

4. Peace tied to US economic expansion

5. Economic Effects of War on US

a. 1914 recession – US securities were held abroad and cashed in for gold, which depleted reserves; between $2.5 and $6 billion worth of US securities were dumped in the fall of 1914.

b. 1915 boom – with orders for war materials from Europe, US business booming; also, with immigration from Europe cut off, workers seeing wages rise for first time after a series of recessions; however, wages do not keep pace with inflation which soon hits the economy.

c. Wall Street Journal – praised war’s “tendency toward conservatism” in financial matters.

D. Effect of Total War in Europe on US

1. British blockade – Most of German fleet was locked up in ports along the Baltic Sea due to British blockade and naval superiority.

2. Contraband – anything enroute to German ports was seized as contraband by British war ships, and transported to British ports.

3. German U-Boats (Unterseebooten)

4. War ship inferiority – German navy smaller, had to rely upon U-Boats as equalizer.

a. SS Lusitania – British passenger liner, which German u-boat sank; suspected of ferrying small arms; of the 1200 passengers killed when it sank were 124 Americans (May 7, 1915)

b. Bryan, greatest voice for peace in Administration, resigns post over Administration handling of Lusitania, which leaves hawks in control.

c. Germany agrees to give warning to passenger boats in the future before torpedoing

d. German peace proposal – demands cessation of Belgium Congo, as well as other colonies; rejected by Allies.

E. Russian Revolution (1917)

1. Socialist revolution – overthrew czar, support for entering the war on the side of the Allies was gained from Russian Jews, Poles, and Scandinavian immigrants, who had feared policies of czarist policies.


2. Allied war effort – in trouble; French leader Aristide Briand’s government falls; Britain forced to use conscription (and considers conscripting the Irish)

3. Germany resumes unrestricted submarine warfare – in the spring of 1917

4. Zimmerman telegram – Germany tries to make an allied pact with Mexico in case US should enter the war on the side of the Allies.

F. Selling the War to the American Public – Wilson used the carrot and stick approach, using advertising techniques to sell the “benefits” of the war, and the law and police powers to squelch dissent.

1. Committee on Public Information – publicized German atrocities

2. War Industries Board – essentially, a planned economy; production planned; support of labor unions sought (through representation on the War Labor Board, a subset of the War Industries Board).

3. Revenue Acts (1916-1917)

4. Espionage Act (1917)

5. Alien and Sedition Act (1918) – made it illegal to voice any opposition to the war; it was under this act that Eugene Debs was arrested, tried, and convicted.

G. US entry into the War – the manpower the United States was able to provide tipped the scale in favor of the Allies.