By the late 19th century, America had joined the imperial powers of Europe due to growing commercial and business interests in foreign markets, the need to protect economic interests through naval power and military bases, and beliefs in cultural superiority and social Darwinism. The U.S. acquired Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines through war and negotiation. It also asserted influence in Latin America and Asia through the Roosevelt Corollary and Open Door Policy. By the early 20th century, America had emerged as a global power with military and economic interests around the world.

1. America Becomes an Imperial Power

2. I. Why did America join the imperialist club at the end of the 19th Century?

4. 1. Commercial/Business Interests U. S. Foreign Investments: 1869-1908

5. American Foreign Trade: 1870-1914 1. Commercial/Business Interests

7. 2. Military/Strategic Interests Alfred T. Mahan - The Influence of Sea Power on History: 1660-1783

9. 3. Social Darwinist Thinking The White Man’s Burden The Hierarchy of Race

10. II. Alaska

11. “ Seward’s Folly”: 1867 Secretary of State William Seward negotiates the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

12. “ Seward’s Icebox”: 1867

13. III. Hawaii: "Crossroads of the Pacific"

14. Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani Hawaii for the Hawaiians!

16. U. S. View of Hawaiians Hawaii becomes a U. S. Protectorate in 1849 by virtue of economic treaties.

17. III. Cuba

18. The Imperialist Taylor

20. Spanish Misrule in Cuba

21. Valeriano Weyler’s “Reconcentration” Policy

22. “ Yellow Journalism” & Jingoism Joseph Pulitzer William Randolph Hearst Hearst to Frederick Remington: You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war!

24. USS Maine

25. USS Maine Post-Explosion

26. Maine Post-Explosion

27. Artist’s Rendering of Maine Explosion

29. Remember the Maine and to Hell with Spain! Funeral for Maine victims in Havana

35. The “Rough Riders”

38. F. Should Cuba be Independent? Senator Orville Platt Platt Amendment (1903) 1. Cuba was not to enter into any agreements with foreign powers that would endanger its independence. 2. U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs if necessary. 3. Cuba must lease Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. for naval and coaling station.

39. IV. The Philippines

40. The Spanish-American War (1898): “That Splendid Little War”

41. Dewey Captures Manila!

42. Is He To Be a Despot?

47. William H. Taft, 1st Gov.-General of the Philippines

48. Our “Sphere of Influence”

50. V. Panama

52. Panama Canal TR in Panama (Construction begins in 1904)

54. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine: 1905 Chronic wrongdoing… may in America, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the Western Hemisphere the adherence of the United States to the Monroe Doctrine may force the United States, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power .

55. Speak Softly, But Carry a Big Stick!

56. China

57. Stereotypes of the Chinese Immigrant Oriental [Chinese] Exclusion Act, 1887

60. The Open Door Policy

61. America as a Pacific Power

62. VI. America's New Role

63. The Cares of a Growing Family

64. Constable of the World

65. Treaty of Portsmouth: 1905 Nobel Peace Prize for TR

66. The Great White Fleet: 1907

69. U. S. Global Investments & Investments in Latin America, 1914

70. U. S. Interventions in Latin America: 1898-1920s

71. Uncle Sam: One of the “Boys?”

72. What the U. S. Has Fought For