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1890s-1910s
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exchange vs control, intervention vs inclusion
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obligations to foreign spheres
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role of the media
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competitive powers
- europe (british empire, 2nd german reich)
- asia (china etc)
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monroe doctrine: separation of america and europe influence
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mexican american war → us southwest territorial gains
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“the significance of the frontier in american history”
- america must continue to expand for development
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explosion of uss maine in havana
- theory of spanish causing → us declares war on spain
- yellow journalism, sensalationist
- rival newspapers vying for attention
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teller amendment (apr 20 1898)
- threatening to free cuba from ‘oppression’
- asserts that us will not rule
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spanish-american war (1898)
- us now significant in imperialism
- puerto rico, guam, philippines, wake island, + spain loses cuba
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pres william mckinley (1897-1901)
- imperialist
- hawaii & puerto rico
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pres theodore roosevelt (1901-1909)
- interference as last resort
- ‘big stick’ governance
- responsability for latin america
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platt amendment
- cuba is firmly in us sphere of influence
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“the meaning of the maine”; perez (1989)
- argues the downplaying of cuban agency in us war for control
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the philippines
- commodification & environmental management
- provincial leaders had experience in wars with various native nations
- legal system literally had ‘civilized’ and ‘wild’
- capitalist ideas of wealth, generation, and initiative motivated americans to immigrate
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us → ‘if we don’t conquest, others will imperialize in a more ‘immoral’ way’ → conquest
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hawaii (james blaine, secretary)
- “the hawaiian islands cannot be joined to the asiatic systems”
- prevention of control by others
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“white man’s burden”
- us has an obligation to ‘assist’ ‘inferior’ nations
- generally infantilizing sentiment