IMPERIALISM 1890 s What is Imperialism Foreign policy

IMPERIALISM 1890 s

What is Imperialism? Foreign policy in which strong nations extend their political, military and economic control over weaker nations in order to build an empire More colonies = more POWER European nations started the trend US catches on in 1890 s. . By late 1890 s strong countries (GB, US, Japan) are in a mad dash to grab up as many colonies as possible

Imperialism Who were the Imperialists? Trendsetter: Great Britain leads the way 10 Mothers (Imperialist Nations) Late Comers: Japan and US What territories did they take? Asia Africa Latin America focuses on Islands in the Pacific Caribbean

Why be Imperialistic? Five Main Reasons: Cultural Religious Economic Military Political Can be summed up with “God, Gold and Glory”

Cultural (Glory and God) Religious (God) Anglo-Saxonism: white race is superior Manifest Destiny: God intended for America to expand Social Darwinism: only the strongest nations will survive Strength = more colonies Christianity, seen as superior, so it should be spread to lesser nations of Asia and Africa Imperialism give. S US more territories to Christianize

Josiah Strong A religious missionary Argued that America had a responsibility to spread its values by civilizing weaker nations This is what God wanted America to do

The White Man’s Burden Poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1899 Critical/satirical view of American Imperialism White men had burden of building an empire to Christianize and civilize other inferior races Became a rallying cry for US imperialists

Political (Glory) Economics (Gold) Countries need places to get raw materials from…colonies Countries need places to sell their manufactured goods… new markets (colonies) Nationalism – a nation’s greatness could be measured by the number of its colonies Competition with rivals – prevent other countries from becoming more powerful

Military (Glory) Military Genius National Security was vicious; a nation had to protect its own interests Alfred T. Mahan Competition Military Advantage More bases in more parts of the world… better navy Gas Stations A colony can serve as a Wrote The Influence of Sea Power Upon History Suggested that in order for the US to compete it needed: A better, stronger navy More naval bases to refuel and resupply

Seward's Folly Name given to the purchase of Alaska Purchased by Secretary of State William Seward from Russia for $7. 2 million Called Seward’s Folly (stupidity) because no one understood why America would want an icy tundra, but… Added over half a million square miles to the country Alaska was rich in oil and timber

Annexation of Hawaii Sugar planters in Hawaii are hurting over sugar tariff Made Hawaiian sugar more expensive than US sugar…after all at this time Hawaii was another country Queen Liliuokalani removed the voting rights of the white sugar planters in retaliation the planters overthrew the queen with the help of US government Planters want annexation (added) of Hawaii to the United States…no more tariffs Government wants to annex because of