The last decades
of the 19th century were a period of imperial expansion for the United
States, as it extended its influence, and at times its domain, over
widely scattered areas in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and into
Central America. The United States took a different course than its
European rivals, however, because of its own history of struggle against
European empires and its unique democratic development.
The sources of
American expansionism in the late 19th century were varied. Internationally,
it was a period of imperialist frenzy, as European powers raced to
carve up Africa and competed for influence and trade in Asia -- along
with a new rival, Japan. Many Americans, including such influential
figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge and Elihu Root, felt
that to safeguard its own interests, the
United States
had to stake out spheres of economic influence as well. That view
was seconded by a powerful naval lobby, which called for an expanded
fleet and network of overseas ports as essential to the economic and
political security of the nation. More generally, the doctrine of
"manifest destiny," first used to justify America's continental expansion,
was now revived to assert that the United States had a right and duty
to extend its influence and civilization in the Western Hemisphere
and the Caribbean, as well as across the Pacific.
At the same time,
the voices of anti-imperialism from diverse coalitions of Northern
Democrats and reform-minded Republicans remained loud and constant.
As a result, the acquisition of an American empire was piecemeal and
ambivalent, and colonial administrations were often more concerned
with trade and economic issues than political control.
America's first
venture beyond her continental borders was the purchase of Alaska
-- sparsely populated by Inuit and other native peoples -- from Russia
in 1867. Most Americans were either indifferent to or indignant at
this action by Secretary of State William Seward, and Alaska was widely
referred to as "Seward's Folly" and "Seward's Icebox." But 30 years
later, when gold was discovered on Alaska's Klondike River, thousands
of Americans headed north, and many of them settled in Alaska permanently.
When Alaska became the 49th state in 1959, it replaced Texas as the
largest state in the Union.
The Spanish-American
War, which was fought in 1898, marked a turning point in American
history. Within a few years after the war ended, the United States
was exercising control or influence over islands in the Caribbean
Sea, the mid-Pacific and close to the Asian mainland.
By the 1890s,
Cuba and Puerto Rico were the only remnants of Spain's once vast empire
in the New World, while the Philippine Islands comprised the core
of Spanish power in the Pacific. The outbreak of war had three principal
sources: popular hostility to autocratic Spanish rule; American sympathy
with demands for independence; and a new spirit of national assertiveness
in the United States, stimulated in part by a "jingoistic" or nationalistic
and sensationalist press.
In 1895 Cuba's
growing wrath against the tyranny of the mother country burst into
a war of independence. The United States watched the course of the
uprising with mounting concern. Most Americans were sympathetic with
the Cubans, but President Cleveland was determined to preserve neutrality.
Three years later, however, during the McKinley administration, the
U.S. warship Maine was destroyed while lying at anchor in Havana
harbor, under circumstances that are still unclear. More than 250
men were killed, and an outburst of indignation, intensified by sensationalized
press coverage, swept across the country. Although for a time McKinley
tried to preserve the peace, within a few months, believing delay
futile, he recommended armed intervention.
The war with
Spain was swift and decisive. During the four months it lasted, not
a single American reverse of any importance occurred. A week after
the declaration of war, Commodore George Dewey, then at Hong Kong,
proceeded with his squadron of six vessels to the Philippines. His
orders were to prevent the Spanish fleet based there from operating
in American waters. He caught the entire Spanish fleet at anchor and
destroyed it without losing an American life.
Meanwhile, in
Cuba, troops landed near Santiago, where, after winning a rapid series
of engagements, they fired on the port. Four armored Spanish cruisers
steamed out of Santiago Bay and a few hours later were reduced to
ruined hulks.
From Boston to
San Francisco, whistles blew and flags waved when word came that Santiago
had fallen. Newspapers dispatched correspondents to Cuba and the Philippines,
who trumpeted the renown of the nation's new heroes. Chief among them
were George Dewey of Manila fame and Theodore Roosevelt, who resigned
as assistant secretary of the navy to lead the "Rough Riders," a volunteer
regiment he recruited for service in Cuba. Spain soon sued for peace,
and in the treaty signed on December 10, 1898, transferred Cuba to
the United States for temporary occupation preliminary to the island's
independence. In addition, Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam in lieu
of war indemnity, and the Philippines on payment of $20 million.
Having overseas
possessions was a new experience for the United States. Consequently,
the new territories were encouraged to move toward democratic self-government,
a political system with which none of them had any previous experience.
Nevertheless,
the United States found itself in a familiar colonial role when it
suppressed an armed independence movement in the Philippines in the
first decade of its occupation. The Philippines gained the right to
elect both houses of its legislature in 1916, and in 1936 a largely
autonomous Philippine Commonwealth was established. In 1946, after
World War II, the islands attained full independence.
American involvement
in the Pacific area was not limited to the Philippines, however. The
year of the Spanish-American War also saw the beginning of a new relationship
with the Hawaiian Islands. Earlier contact with Hawaii had been mainly
through missionaries and casual traders. After 1865, however, Americans
began to develop the islands' resources -- chiefly sugar cane and
pineapples. When the royal government announced its intention to end
foreign influence in 1893, American businessmen joined with influential
Hawaiians to install a new government, which then asked to be annexed
to the United States.
Widespread protests
in the United States against the use of American soldiers and the
idea of colonial rule persuaded President Grover Cleveland and Congress
to reject annexation at first. But, responding to the surge of nationalism
generated by the Spanish-American War, Congress voted overwhelmingly
in July 1898 to annex the islands, thus also acquiring an important
naval base at Pearl Harbor. In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state in
the Union.
Cuba acquired
nominal independence when American troops departed in 1902. But the
United States retained the right to intervene to preserve civil order,
which it did on three occasions before renouncing that right in 1934.
Even with full Cuban independence, however, American economic and
political influence remained strong until 1959, when Fidel Castro
overthrew the government in power, establishing a Marxist regime with
close ties to the Soviet Union.
Puerto Rico,
the island lying east of Cuba, followed an apprenticeship similar
to that of Cuba and the Philippines. In 1917 the U.S. Congress granted
Puerto Ricans the right to elect all of their legislators. But the
same law created a different path for the island, making it officially
a U.S. territory and, more importantly, giving its people American
citizenship. In 1950 Congress granted Puerto Rico complete freedom
to decide its future. In the referendum of 1952, the citizens voted
to reject either statehood or total independence, and chose instead
a commonwealth status. Large numbers of Puerto Ricans have settled
on the mainland, to which they have free access and where they acquire
all the political and civil rights of any other citizen of the United
States.