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Purchase of Alaska
Seward convinced Congress to purchase Alaska in 1867, but Americans saw no need in it at the time and overall was only purchased b/c Russia did not want to involve with Britain -
Alfred Thayer Mahan's book "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History"
argued that a strong navy was crucial to a country's ambitions of securing foreign markets and becoming a world power. Mahan's book was widely read by prominent American citizens -
Rise of Yellow Press (Spanish-American War)
Establishments of newspapers like Joseph Pulitzer's World and William Randolph Hearst's Journal led to the rise of yellow journalism which printed much more exaggerated false accounts of Spanish atrocities in Cuba. -
McKinley Tariff (Hawaii)
This raised price on sugar and effectively forced Hawaii to eventually be annexed as Hawaii did not like the tax on sugar. -
Overthrowing Hawaii's Queen (Hawaii)
Expansionist really wanted Hawaii, so in 1893, American settlers help overthrow the queen, Liliuokalani. One of the first steps to annexing Hawaii. -
Cuban Revolt (Spanish- American War)
After oppression from Spain, Cuba tried to destroy Cuban plantations in order to either a) gain support of America or b) to get rid of Spain from Cuba. The first happened as after Spain hired 100k soldiers to slaughter civilians, the dictator gained title of "The Butcher" One of the causes of Spanish American War -
De Lome Letter (Spanish-American War)
Letter written by Spanish minister that talked badly about U.S. pres., so Americans saw it as an official insult to the US -
Sinking of the Maine (Spanish-American War)
Week after De Dome letter, the Maine ship sinked (probably by accident), but yellow journalist betrayed it as an attack. -
McKinley's War Message (Spanish-American War)
Told Spain to ceasefire in Cuba, they agreed; however, U.S. was aiming for war, so doesn't help much in reality -
Teller Amendment (Spanish-American War)
Responding to the message of the president, Congress officially declares war on Spain, but did directly state that US would leave Cuba after interdependence -
The Philippines (Spanish-American War)
Shortly after declaring war, Commodore Dewey's fleet fired on Spanish ships in Manila Bay. This was the first battle of the war and U.S. was winning with superior navy -
Invasion of Cuba (Spanish-American War)
Led to peace terms with Spain, and US officially won this as when they destroyed all of spains navy they won Cuba in the process -
Annexation of Hawaii
After the first failed attempt, McKinley finally passed the annexation of Hawaii which got rid of the McKinley Tariff that put stress on Hawaii. -
Hay's Notes (China)
Hay (McKin.'s secretary of state) sent out notes to all diplomatic nations that controlled trade w/ China -
Aguinaldo Seizes control on Luzon (Philippine-American War)
Filipino revolutionaries under Aguinaldo seized control of most of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and proclaimed the establishment of the independent Philippine Republic. -
Pacification Campaign (Philippine-American War)
This policy permitted a significant degree of self-government, introduced social reforms, and implemented plans for economic development, and was important to winning the war -
Boxer's Rebellion (China)
China tried to rebel and US attacked in order to protect troops (they attacked Bejing). This led to further trade deals with China -
McKinley is shot (Big-Stick Policy)
McKinley is shot and causes his VP, Roosevelt, to take presidency and this leads to his "Big-Stick Policy" where imperialist love him, and the others do not, which causes even bigger drifts b/t the two sides -
Independence in Panama (Panama Canal)
In order to get the land in the first place, the US helped Panama gain its independence in order to build the Canal that they wanted. -
Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (Big-Stick Policy)
Roosevelt said that instead of Europe messing with nations that owned them debt, that the US would intervene instead. This was also a power move to show US's power at world stage -
William Howard Taft Wins Presidency (Dollar Diplomacy)
Wins the presidency and adopts "Dollar Diplomacy" where instead of focusing on Navy, he focused on trade with other investors and -
Japan's Ultimatum
Japan sent Germany an Ultimatum stating that if it didn't leave Chinese waters, then they would go to war and they did. Leading Japan to enter WWI -
Tampico Incident (Mexico)
This is almost caused a war, but was averted when South America's ABC powers-Argentina, Brazil, and Chile-offered to mediate the dispute. Shows building tensions with Mexico. -
Pancho Villa and the U.S. Expeditionary Force (Mexico)
President Wilson ordered General John J. Pershing and an "expeditionary force" to pursue Villa into northern Mexico. They failed to capture Villa. President Carranza protested the American presence in Mexico. -
Building the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal began construction in 1904 and ended in 1917. Most people approved, but many did not like how Roosevelt got it, so Congress paid Panama 25 mill $ later, and eventually gave it back to them -
Declaration for War (WWI)
Wilson declares war on germany, officially ending there neutral stance. Majority of people agreed with this. (Few pacifist did disagree) -
The Espionage Act (WWI)
Provided for imprisonment of up to 20 years for persons who either tried to incite rebellion in the armed forces or obstruct the operation of the draft. This was largely due to the fact that people were becoming afraid of anything communist. -
Selective Service Act (WWI)
The government required all men between 21 and 30 to register for possible induction into the military. Under the Selective Service Act, about 2.8 million men were eventually called by lottery, in addition to the almost 2 million who volunteered to serve. -
The Sedition Act (WWI)
Prohibiting anyone from making "disloyal" or "abusive" remarks about the U.S. government This was due to the war and its rising fear of American people. -
Last German Offensive (WWI)
At Chateau-Thierry on the Marne River, Americans stopped the German advance and struck back with a successful counterattack, at Belleau Wood. -
Case of Schenck v. United States (WWI)
The constitutionality of the Espionage Act in a case involving a man who had been imprisoned for distributing pamphlets against the draft. -
The Red Scare
Suffered from a volatile combination of unhappiness with the peace process, fears of communism fueled by the Communist takeover in Russia, and worries about labor unrest at home. Anti-German turned to anti-communist. Anti-radical fears also fueled xenophobia that resulted in restrictions on immigration -
The Treaty of Versailles (WWI)
Basically tried to make the League of Nation (failed w/o US help), gave independence to some countries, Germany was stripped of its colonies, was to admit guilt, and to pay for the damages.
