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McKinley Tariff
The tariff bill of 1890 was sponsored by Republican Senator William McKinley of Ohio. The measure gained support from seemingly unlikely sources: Western and Southern Democrats.
The McKinley Tariff was truly onerous and led to a sharp rise in the prices of many products. Many who had supported the measure were defeated at the polls in 1892. -
Annexation of the Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, we collected Puerto Rico as a colony, set up a protectorate over Cuba, and annexed the Hawaiian Islands. President William McKinley also forced Spain to cede the Philippine Islands. To the American people, McKinley explained that, almost against his will, he had been led to make the decision to annex.
the league turned its efforts to ending the war against the Philippines and stopping the annexation of the islands. -
Spanish American War
On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains of its overseas empire -- Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine islands, Guam, and other islands. -
Teller Amendment
In April 1898 Senator Henry M. Teller (Colorado) proposed an amendment to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain which proclaimed that the United States would not establish permanent control over Cuba.
The Senate passed the amendment on April 19. True to the letter of the Teller Amendment, after Spanish troops left the island in 1898, the United States occupied Cuba until 1902. -
Annexation of Hawaii
During the 1800's it became clear to the United States that Hawaii was becoming more important as a commercial export resource and as a strategic location for defense in the Pacific region. The United States was also becoming concerned about the possibility that Hawaii might become part of a European nation's empire, possibly Great Britain or France. -
The Boxer Rebellion
At first, the Boxers wanted to destroy the Ch'ing dynasty (which had ruled China for over 250 years) and wanted to rid China of all foreign influence (which they considered a threat to Chinese culture).By late 1899, bands of Boxers were massacring Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. By May 1900, the Boxer Rebellion had come out of the countryside and was being waged in the capital of Peking (now Beijing). -
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty
On November 18, 1903, the United States and the newly independent country of Panama signed the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty. This was a follow-up of the unsuccessful Hay-Herran Treaty, using largely the same terms. However, unlike Colombia, Panama would agree to the terms, which established a Panama Canal Zone that was 10 miles wide. -
U.S and the Panama Canal
The 48 mile-long (77 km) international waterway known as the Panama Canal allows ships to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, saving about 8000 miles (12,875 km) from a journey around the southern tip of South America, Cape Horn. -
The Roosevelt Corallary
In 1904 the government of the Dominican Republic went bankrupt and Theodore Roosevelt feared that Germany and other nations might intervene forcibly to collect their debts. In response, Roosevelt issued the Roosevelt Corollary (to the Monroe Doctrine) as part of an 1904 message to Congress. -
The Great White Fleet
The "Great White Fleet" sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt from 16 December 1907 to 22 February 1909 consisted of sixteen new battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The battleships were painted white except for gilded scrollwork on their bows. The Atlantic Fleet battleships only later came to be known as the "Great White Fleet." -
Dollar Diplomacy
Taft's remarks gave formal definition to the term "dollar diplomacy," a phrase synonymous with the diplomacy his administration pursued between 1909 and 1913. It was a narrowly constructed view of foreign relations, arising in great part out of the natural alliances between the corporate lawyers who came to people Taft's administration and the bankers and businesses that were their clients.
