Woodrow Wilson and United States Expansionism
APUSH Study Guide 26
The Path of Empire, 1890-1899
Themes/Constructs:
In the 1890s a number of economic and political forces sparked a spectacular burst of imperial expansionism for the United States that culminated in the Spanish-American War—a war that began over freeing Cuba and ended with the highly controversial acquisition of the Philippines.
Various developments provoked the previously isolated United States to turn its attention overseas in the 1890s. Among the stimuli for the new imperialism were the desire for new economic markets, the sensationalist appeals of the “yellow press,” missionary fever, Darwinist ideology, great power-rivalry, and naval competition.
Strong American intervention in the Venezuelan boundary dispute of 1895-96 demonstrated an aggressive new assertion of the Monroe Doctrine and led to a new British willingness to accept American domination in the Western Hemisphere. Longtime American involvement in Hawai’i climaxed in 1893 in a revolution against native rule by white planters. President Cleveland temporarily refused to annex the islands, but the question of incorporating Hawai’i into the United States triggered the first full-fledged imperialistic debate in American history.
The “splendid little” Spanish-American War began in 1898 over American outrage abut Spanish oppression of Cuba. American support for the rebellion had been whipped up into intense popular fervor by the “yellow press.” After the “mysterious” explosion in February 1898 of the USS Maine, this public passion pushed the reluctant President McKinley into war, even though Spain was ready to concede on the major issues.
An astounding first development of the war was Admiral Dewey’s naval victory in May 1898 in the rich Spanish islands of the Philippines in East Asia. Then in August, American troops, assisted by Filipino rebels, captured the Philippine city of Manila in another dramatic victory. Despite confusion, American forces also easily
The Path of Empire, 1890-1899
Themes/Constructs:
In the 1890s a number of economic and political forces sparked a spectacular burst of imperial expansionism for the United States that culminated in the Spanish-American War—a war that began over freeing Cuba and ended with the highly controversial acquisition of the Philippines.
Various developments provoked the previously isolated United States to turn its attention overseas in the 1890s. Among the stimuli for the new imperialism were the desire for new economic markets, the sensationalist appeals of the “yellow press,” missionary fever, Darwinist ideology, great power-rivalry, and naval competition.
Strong American intervention in the Venezuelan boundary dispute of 1895-96 demonstrated an aggressive new assertion of the Monroe Doctrine and led to a new British willingness to accept American domination in the Western Hemisphere. Longtime American involvement in Hawai’i climaxed in 1893 in a revolution against native rule by white planters. President Cleveland temporarily refused to annex the islands, but the question of incorporating Hawai’i into the United States triggered the first full-fledged imperialistic debate in American history.
The “splendid little” Spanish-American War began in 1898 over American outrage abut Spanish oppression of Cuba. American support for the rebellion had been whipped up into intense popular fervor by the “yellow press.” After the “mysterious” explosion in February 1898 of the USS Maine, this public passion pushed the reluctant President McKinley into war, even though Spain was ready to concede on the major issues.
An astounding first development of the war was Admiral Dewey’s naval victory in May 1898 in the rich Spanish islands of the Philippines in East Asia. Then in August, American troops, assisted by Filipino rebels, captured the Philippine city of Manila in another dramatic victory. Despite confusion, American forces also easily