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American Exceptionalism
The idea that the United States has a unique destiny to foster democracy and civilization on the world stage. -
The Growth of the US Navy
Spurred by the book The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890) by U.S. naval officer Alfred Mahan, Congress ordered construction of two steel-hulled battleships, the USS Texas and USS Maine; and then secured funding for 3 more, which established the US as one of the world's most powerful navies. -
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The War of 1898
The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain's colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power. U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The war enabled the United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia. -
The "Open-Door" Policy
following Japan’s victory in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, and Britain divided coastal China into spheres of influence. U.S. Secretary of State John Hay then put out a claim that all nations seeking to do business in China should have equal trade access. he later added that China must be preserved as a “territorial and administrative entity.” As long as the legal fiction of an independent China survived, Americans could claim equal access to its market. -
Filipino Resistance to annexation
Confronted by annexation, rebel leader Emilio Aguinaldo asserted his nation’s independence and turned his guns on occupying American forces. The ensuing conflict between Filipino nationalists and U.S. troops far exceeded the War of 1898 in length and ferocity. In three years of warfare, 4,200 Americans and an estimated 200,000 Filipinos died; many of the latter were dislocated civilians, particularly children, who succumbed to malnutrition and disease. -
The Insular Cases
A set of Supreme Court rulings in 1901 that declared that the U.S. Constitution did not automatically extend citizenship to people in acquired territories; only Congress could decide whether to grant citizenship. For the first time, the United States had acquired new territories without providing any mechanism for them to become future states. -
Roosevelt Corollary
An addition to the Monroe Doctrine which said that the US encouraged the independence of other American states & would support them. President Theodore Roosevelt asserted that the US would act as a policeman in the Caribbean & intervene in the affairs of nations that were guilty of wrongdoing or impotence in order to protect U.S. interests in Latin America. Sanctioned by US military & economic might, they intervened regularly in Caribbean and Central American nations’ affairs for decades after. -
The Root- Takahira Agreement
A 1908 agreement between the United States and Japan confirming principles of free oceanic commerce and recognizing Japan’s authority over Manchuria. Roosevelt respected the Japanese, whom he called “a wonderful and civilized people.” More importantly, he understood Japan’s rising military might and aligned himself with the mighty. -
William H Taft in Asia
When the Chinese Revolution of 1911 toppled the Manchu dynasty, Taft supported the victorious Nationalists, who wanted to modernize their country and liberate it from Japanese domination. The United States had entangled itself in China and entered a long-term rivalry with Japan for power in the Pacific. Taft pressed for a larger role for American investors, especially in Chinese railroad construction. He hoped that infusions of American capital would offset Japanese power. -
The Panama Canal
A canal across the Isthmus of Panama connecting trade between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and opened in 1914, the canal gave U.S. naval vessels quick access to the Pacific and provided the United States with a commanding position in the Western Hemisphere. Many workers died during construction, which spurred new medical inventions as well as great environmental disruption. -
Intervention in the Mexican revolution
On the pretext of a minor insult to the navy, President Wilson ordered U.S. occupation of the port of Veracruz on April 21, 1914, at the cost of 19 American and 126 Mexican lives. Venustiano Carranza protested it as illegitimate meddling in Mexican affairs. Carranza’s forces, after nearly engaging the Americans themselves, entered Mexico City in triumph a few months later. Wilson's interference created lasting mistrust. -
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World War 1
A war between the Central Powers (Austria- Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire) and the Allies (France, Russia- until the Russian revolution which causes them to leave the war, Great Britain, sometimes Italy, and eventually the US). Mostly fought on the Eastern and Western fronts, between Austria- Hungary/ Russia and Germany/ France respectively. Naval power and blockades, as well as the Zimmerman telegram, impacted the US's decision to enter the war in 1917) -
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The Great MIgration
The migration of more than 400,000 African Americans from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North during and after World War I. Jobs in heavy industry opened for the first time to African Americans, and taking war jobs could be a source of patriotic pride. Blacks in the North encountered discrimination in jobs, housing, and education. -
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The War on the Home Front
Entering World War I as a creditor nation meant that the US saw big economic benefits from being involved in the conflict. Through multiple military/ federal boards established in 1917-18, the govt regulated industry to help with the war. Food rationing, although not enforced, was socially encouraged to increase exports. Wilson created CPI, a govt propaganda committee, to help quell dissent to US involvement in the war. Federal courts upheld laws curbing dissent. -
The US enters the war
Following increased attacks on American ships by German U-boats, Congress (not unanimously) granted President Wilson's request for war on April 6, 1917. What came next was a mass mobilization of the American population for the war effort. A conscription was instated in May, and outfitting for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) began in earnest. Most American soldiers escaped the horrors of sustained trench warfare. More than 50,000 servicemen died in action; another 63,000 died from disease, -
The Treaty Of Versailles
The 1919 treaty that ended World War I. The agreement redrew the map of the world, assigned Germany sole responsibility for the war, and saddled it with a debt of $33 billion in war damages. Its long-term impact around the globe — including the creation of British and French imperial “mandates” — was catastrophic. Woodrow Wilson was very influential in the writing of this Treaty, though Congress never ratified it. This also established a British mandate in Palestine (now Israel). -
The 19th Amendment
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
In practice, mainly gave white women the right to vote.