US Foreign and Imperial Policy, 1890s (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

US Foreign and Imperial Policy, 1890s

Introduction: From continental to overseas expansion

By the 1890s, the United States began to shift its attention from internal continental expansion towards overseas imperialism. Historian Frederick Jack Turner argued in his 1893 thesis The Significance of the Frontier in American History that the closure of the American frontier meant the nation needed new outlets for expansion. This perspective suggested that with Westward expansion complete, America could redirect its energies toward foreign adventures and imperial acquisitions.

During this decade, the United States extended its reach into both the Pacific and Latin America, culminating in the Spanish-American War of 1898. This conflict represented a watershed moment in American foreign policy, transforming the nation from a regional power into an emerging global force with overseas territories.

Understanding US imperial motives

Preclusive imperialism

Preclusive imperialism refers to the acquisition of territories primarily to prevent rival powers from claiming them. Historian William Langer developed this concept to explain how nations took colonies not necessarily because they wanted them, but to stop competitors from gaining strategic advantages.

In the American context, preclusive imperialism reflected concerns about European powers, particularly Britain, France and Germany, who had constructed vast empires in Africa and Asia during the late nineteenth century. The United States sought to leverage its dominant position in Latin America and expand into the Pacific before European rivals could establish themselves.

Republican Senator Henry Cabot spoke to these concerns in the 1890s when he emphasised that great nations were rapidly expanding and that the United States, as one of the world's leading nations, "must not fall out of line of the march." This reveals anxiety about maintaining parity with European powers and securing America's position in the global hierarchy.

Economic imperatives

Economic considerations played a substantial role in driving American expansion. The 1893 Depression heightened concerns about finding new markets for American goods and investment opportunities for American capital. Historians have debated the relative weight of economic factors. Carl Degler, writing in the 1950s, emphasised economic motives, arguing that America sought new markets in response to domestic economic pressures.

Cuba exemplified these economic interests. American business had invested heavily in Cuban sugar production, and by the 1890s the island had become economically dependent on the United States. The McKinley Tariff of 1890 demonstrated how American trade policy could dramatically affect other economies. When this tariff removed duties on raw sugar, Hawaiian growers lost their competitive advantage and began to suffer financially, contributing to political instability on the islands.

The influence of the Yellow Press

Yellow Press describes the sensationalist journalism practised by newspaper publishers like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer during the 1890s. These journalists competed with each other to print dramatic, emotional stories that would sell newspapers, often with limited regard for factual accuracy.

Strategic and ideological factors

Beyond economics and competition with European powers, several other motives shaped American policy. Some Americans believed the United States had a civilizing mission to spread Christianity and "superior" American ideals to other peoples. This paternalistic attitude particularly influenced policy toward the Philippines, where many argued the islanders were incapable of self-governance and needed American tutelage.

President McKinley's role remains debated among historians. Traditionally portrayed as reluctant to pursue war, having wrestled with his conscience before ultimately being persuaded by Congress, more recent historians like Walter LaFeber have argued that McKinley actually favoured war. LaFeber contends that McKinley believed war served American interests, as Spain could be defeated easily and the United States would benefit from increased investment opportunities in Cuba and expanded trade.

American expansion in the Pacific

Samoa: Competition and compromise

American interest in Samoa began in 1872 when the King of Samoa offered the United States a naval base at Pago Pago on the eastern island of Tutuila. Although this offer was initially refused, the United States remained concerned about growing German and British interests in the region. The German Trading and Plantation Company had transformed Samoa into the most valuable trading post in the Pacific, raising American anxieties about being excluded from this strategic area.

During a civil war in Samoa in 1898, the Americans and British supported the faction opposing German interests. The following year, the three powers abolished the Samoan monarchy and signed the Tripartite Convention, which resolved the dispute through partition. Britain relinquished all rights to Samoa, while the United States established a protectorate in Eastern Samoa.

Western Samoa became a German colony, though the British received other Pacific island chains formerly controlled by Germany in compensation. After the United States took possession of Eastern Samoa, the existing coaling station at Pago Pago Bay was expanded into a full naval station. By 1911, this facility was officially designated the US Naval Station Tutuila, composed of Tutuila, Aunu'u and Manu'a islands, and the territory was formally renamed American Samoa.

Hawaii: Economic dependence and annexation

The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898. To annex means to incorporate a territory into an existing political unit such as a country, state, county or city. Hawaii held enormous strategic value as a stopping point for ships travelling to Japan and China, and American missionaries had long been settled there.

In 1887, the United States established its first major Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, demonstrating the islands' military importance. However, when the McKinley Tariff of 1890 removed duties on all raw sugar imports, Hawaiian growers suddenly lost their competitive advantage. They now faced intense competition from sugar producers in Cuba and elsewhere, causing significant economic hardship.

Political crisis erupted in 1891 when the Hawaiian king died and the new queen, Liliuokalani, led a rebellion against increasing American influence. American residents on the island called for military assistance from the United States. Marines arrived and within three days the rebels surrendered.

The annexation of Hawaii proceeded in July 1898, providing America with a critical strategic foothold in the Pacific.

American intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States sought to extend its influence in Latin America through political pressure and, when necessary, military intervention. Whilst there was no intention of annexing entire regions, American business interests aimed to exploit South and Central America economically, ostensibly to raise living standards and improve quality of life in these areas, though this inevitably served American interests primarily.

Venezuela: Asserting the Monroe Doctrine

In 1895, Britain and Venezuela disputed Venezuela's border with the British colony of Guiana. President Cleveland demanded that Britain agree to submit the dispute to arbitration, a demand the British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, initially rejected. The situation escalated when the United States threatened to send 54 vessels to the disputed territory.

Puerto Rico: From Spanish colony to American territory

Puerto Rico had been a Spanish colony but had gained a degree of independence before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. In 1898, American troops invaded Puerto Rico and, after relatively minor fighting, Spain surrendered and withdrew. Under the Organic Act of 1900, Puerto Rico was placed under American administration, marking another step in US Caribbean expansion.

The Spanish-American War, 1898

Background: The Cuban crisis

Cuba occupied a position of enormous strategic and economic importance to the United States, lying on America's doorstep according to the Monroe Doctrine and representing substantial American business interests. The island remained under Spanish control, but Cuban revolutionaries demanded independence. Spain offered the rebels some concessions but refused to grant full independence.

The United States remained uncertain about how to respond to either Spain or the Cuban rebels. Then two incidents crystallized American opinion and made intervention almost inevitable. First, a private letter from the Spanish minister in Washington DC was stolen and printed, accusing President McKinley of being a "weak bidder for the admiration of the crowd" in his Cuban policy. McKinley and the American public found this characterization deeply insulting and humiliating.

The Maine incident

The incident profoundly inflamed American public opinion. The press enthusiastically encouraged President Roosevelt to order a blockade of Cuba, and subsequent impartial investigations confirmed that the explosion was likely caused by a known design problem in the ship – a coal bunker fire located close to where the ship's shells were stored. Regardless of the actual cause, the Maine incident provided the catalyst for American intervention, with the rallying cry "Remember the Maine!" echoing across the nation.

Reasons for American intervention

Multiple factors converged to drive the United States toward war with Spain:

• The Yellow Press campaign inflamed public opinion and created pressure for action
• Economic motives included protecting American business interests in Cuba
• The war offered a deliberate distraction from the Depression of the 1890s
• Spanish misrule and Cuba's geographical proximity to the United States
• The principles of the Monroe Doctrine made intervention appear inevitable
• Fears that an independent Cuba would threaten American interests

The military campaign

In April 1898, American forces launched a double attack on Spanish territories. The navy attacked Spain's positions in the Philippines, defeating the Spanish fleet outside Manila. The navy also played a decisive role in Cuba, where one fleet under Rear Admiral Sampson blockaded Santiago and the northern approaches to Cuba, whilst a second fleet under Commodore Winfield Schley blockaded the southern approaches to the island.

Meanwhile, 17,000 American troops under General William Shafter landed near Santiago. The combination of land forces and the naval blockade forced the surrender of Spanish troops after less than three weeks of fighting.

The Treaty of Paris: Results and consequences

The United States did not include or seriously consult the Cubans in the final peace settlement with Spain. The Treaty of Paris, signed in August 1898, established the following terms:

• Cuban independence was formally recognized, but the United States received possession of Guantanamo Bay, a strategically located naval base that America retains to this day
• Spain lost the last remnants of its American empire by ceding Puerto Rico in the Caribbean to the United States
• The United States purchased the Philippine Islands from Spain for $20 million
• Spain also ceded the Pacific island of Guam to the United States

Through the Treaty of Paris, the United States demonstrated its spheres of interest as outlined in the Monroe Doctrine. It had protected and expanded its economic interests in Cuba. Under President Roosevelt's administration, the United States would later achieve much greater political control over the island.

The Philippine question

Acquisition and rationale

As part of the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War, the United States purchased the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. Several justifications were offered for this acquisition.

Many Americans believed the United States would be able to "civilize" the islanders by converting them to Christianity and instilling "superior" American ideals and values. This represented a deeply paternalistic and racist attitude that assumed Filipinos were incapable of governing themselves effectively.

Preclusive imperialism also motivated the purchase. American policymakers feared that if the United States did not take control of the Philippines, Britain, Germany or Japan might seize the islands instead. Given their strategic location in the Pacific, losing the Philippines to a rival power would represent a significant setback to American interests.

Finally, many Americans genuinely believed that the islands could not be returned to Spain and that the Filipinos themselves seemed incapable of establishing effective self-rule, even though they clearly desired independence.

Opposition and conflict

Domestic opposition to American imperialism

Within the United States, opposition to the annexation of the Philippines crystallized around the Anti-Imperialist League, an organization formed in 1898 by various groups opposed to American imperial expansion. The League's members argued that Filipinos would lose the right to govern themselves and that the United States would gain nothing from the Philippines.

These critics feared that imperial overreach would drain American resources whilst contradicting the nation's founding principles of self-determination and representative government. The debate over the Philippines revealed deep divisions within American society about the nation's role in the world and whether the United States should adopt European-style imperialism or maintain its republican traditions.

Key Takeaways