Revolt in Cuba:
Cuba’s masses rose against their Spanish oppressors in 1895.
The U.S. had an investment stake of about $50 million in Cuba, and an annual trade stake of about $100 million.
In 1896 Spain sent General (Butcher) Weyler to Cuba.
Hearst sent the gifted artist Frederic Remington to Cuba.
On February 15, 1898 the Maine blew up in Havana Harbor.
260 Officers and men were killed.
- The Spanish officials said the explosion had been internal and presumably accidental.
- The American commission reported that the blast had been caused by a submarine.
“Remember the Maine! … To hell with Spain!”
On April 11, 1898 McKinley sent his war message to Congress.
The Teller Amendment stated that when America had overthrown Spanish misrule, she would give the Cubans their freedom.
The Regular Army numbered 2,100 officers and 28,000 men.
200,000 Spanish troops in Cuba.
Secretary Long and his Assistant Secretary of the Navy – Theodore Roosevelt.
The Philippines:
Roosevelt cabled Commodore George Dewey in Hong Kong, to descend upon Spain’s Philippines.
Dewey sails into Manila harbor with 6 warships.
The entire Spanish fleet was destroyed with nearly 400 Spaniards killed and wounded, and without a single American life lost.
Manila was captured on August 13, 1898 with the help of Emilio Aguinaldo.
McKinley annexed Hawaii on July 7, 1898.
The Rough Riders:
Commanded by Colonel Leonard Wood - Organized principally by the glory-hungry Theodore Roosevelt.
“Wood’s Weary Walkers.”
Brisk fighting broke out on July 1 at El Caney and San Juan Hill, up which Colonel Roosevelt and his horseless “Rough Riders” charged.
The Navy Conflict:
On July 3, the Spanish fleet was entirely destroyed by American guns.
About 500 Spaniards were killed - 1 American casualty.
On August 12, 1898 an armistice was signed.
All told nearly 400 men lost their lives to bullets, over 5,000 to bacteria and other causes.
Treaty of Paris:
The U.S. had acquired Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.
The U.S. paid Spain $20 million for the Philippines.
Puerto Rico:
In 1900 Congress accorded the Puerto Ricans a limited degree of popular government, and in 1917 granted them U.S. citizenship.
Cuba:
A military government was set up in Cuba under General Wood.
Dr. Walter Reed - cleaned up Yellow Fever - Stegomyia mosquito.
U.S. withdrew from Cuba in 1902.
The Platt Amendment:
- Cuba would not impair their independence by treaty, or by contracting a debt beyond their resources.
- The U.S. might intervene with troops to restore order and to provide mutual protection.
- They promised to sell or lease needed coaling or Naval stations to the U.S.
Conclusion: The war was short (113 days). “A Splendid Little War.”
The Philippine Conflict:
“Little Brown Brothers” in the Philippines.
Filipinos assumed that they would be granted their freedom after the war.
Insurrection flared up on Feb. 4, 1899, under Emilio Aguinaldo.
President McKinley in 1899 appointed a Philippine Commission with William H. Taft as its head.
Taft was a lawyer-judge from Ohio and weighed about 350 lbs.
The Philippines finally got their freedom on July 4th, 1946.
John Hay and China’s Open Door Policy:
Japan was victorious in the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895.
Russia and Germany moved into China tearing away leaseholds and economic spheres of influence.
Secretary of State – John Hay – 1899 – Open Door Note.
- Respect certain Chinese rights.
- The ideal of fair competition in everyone’s “territory”.
Italy alone accepted the Open Door unconditionally.
Britain, Germany, France, and Japan accepted conditionally.
Russia outright declined.
The Boxer Rebellion:
In 1900 a super-patriotic group known as the “Boxers” broke loose with the cry-
“Kill Foreign Devils.”
A rescue force of some 18,000 soldiers was sent in.
The U.S. contributed some 2,500 men.
Indemnity of $333 million placed on China - U.S. share was $24.5 million.
The U.S. remitted about $11 million. The Chinese set it aside to educate Chinese students in the United States.
The Election of 1900:
The Republicans re-nominate William McKinley.
His platform endorsed prosperity, the gold standard, and overseas expansion.
Vice-Presidential position was given to Theodore Roosevelt.
Democrats nominate William Jennings Bryan again.
The basic Democratic platform proclaimed that the “paramount” issue was Republican overseas imperialism.
McKinley won 292 to 155 Electoral votes.
September 6, 1901, McKinley was murdered.
Roosevelt became President at age 42, the youngest thus far in American history.
William McKinley - The Man Biography on-line.
T.R’s Presidency:
T.R. authored some 30 volumes of prose.
“The Tennis Cabinet”
“Speak softly and carry a Big Stick”
Roosevelt believed that the President should lead Congress and the nation.
The Panama Canal:
The Nicaraguan Route vs. The Panamanian Route.
Philippe Bunau-Varilla – from the French Canal Company.
Offered the U.S. the sale price of $40 million.
The Colombian government (of which Panama was a part) rejected the U.S. offer.
The Panamanian revolution occurred on Nov. 3, 1903.
American naval forces intervened on the side of Panama.
Three days after the uprising Roosevelt extended U.S. recognition of Panama.
Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty: The price of the canal strip was $10 million with an annual payment of $250,000 and a canal zone of 10 miles wide.
Building the Canal:
Col. William C. Gorgas exterminated Yellow Fever.
Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal site in 1906.
He was the first President to leave the U.S. for foreign soil.
Completed in 1914 at an initial cost of about $400 million.
T.R.’s Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine:
Many weak countries in Latin America were not able to make good on their European debts.
“Preventive intervention”, better known as the Roosevelt Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine.
It did much to promote the “Bad Neighbor” policy.
Canada / Alaska Boundary Controversy:
There were disputes between Canada and Alaska over the Alaskan panhandle border.
In 1903 a treaty was worked out in favor of the U.S.
The Canadians felt betrayed by Britain.
The Russo – Japanese War:
1904 – 1905 Japan and Russia were involved in the Russo-Japanese War.
Japan asked Roosevelt to be the mediator.
Neither side was happy with the results.
In 1906 Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
The Gentlemen’s Agreement:
Japanese laborers began to pour into the California valleys.
By 1906 approximately 70,000 Japanese lived on the Pacific Coast.
1906 **California Earthquake**
Oriental children should attend a special school.
The Californians were induced to repeal the offensive school order.
“The Gentlemen’s Agreement” - The Japanese government agreed to stop the flow of laborers to the American mainland by withholding passports.
The Great White Fleet:
The American Navy was 2nd in the world… and Japan’s was 5th.
Partly to impress the Japanese Roosevelt wanted to send the entire battleship fleet around the world.
1907 all 16 battleships steamed out.
“Join the Navy and See the World.”
The Progressive Movement:
“Progressives” waged war on many evils, notable monopoly, corruption, inefficiency, and social injustice.
Jacob A. Riis (1890) - How the Other Half Lives.
The Muck Rakers:
Beginning about 1902 the exposing of evil became a flourishing industry.
McClure’s, Cosmopolitan, Collier’s, and Everybody’s.
President Roosevelt branded them as “Muckrakers” in 1906.
Lincoln Steffens - The Shame of the Cities.
Ida M. Tarbell – wrote factual exposé’s of the Standard Oil Company.
Muckraking magazines went to great pains and expense to check their accuracy.
David G. Phillips - The Treason of the Senate (1906)
Some of the most effective fire of the muckrakers was directed at social evils:
- White slave traffic in women.
- The rickety slums.
- Appalling numbers of industrial accidents.
- The subjugation of Blacks.
- Child labor.
- Venders of potent patent medicines.
***Ultimately Muckrakers sought not to overthrow Capitalism, but to cleanse it.
Political Progressivism:
Progressives had two goals:
- To use State power to curb the trusts.
- To stem the Socialist threat by generally improving the common person’s conditions of life and labor.
Direct Primary Elections
Initiative – so that voters could directly propose legislation themselves.
Referendum – place laws on the ballot for final approval by the people.
Recall – remove faithless elected officials.
Progressives also got legislation passed to limit the amount of money that a candidate could spend for his election – and restricted huge gifts from corporations.
Direct election of U.S. Senators – “The Millionaires Club”
The 17th Amendment (1913) established the direct election of Senators.
“Suffragists” – for the female vote – cried “No Taxation without Representation.”
The West first extended the vote to women.
Robert M. LaFollette (Fighting Bob) of Wisconsin was a leading progressive Republican leader.
Some accomplishments of the Progressive Movement:
Safety and sanitation codes for industry.
Juveniles were eliminated from certain harmful trades.
Workingman’s compensation laws.
Maximum hours and minimum wages.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Anti-Saloon League were instrumental in causing many counties to pass “dry” laws.
The 18th Amendment in 1919 abolished alcohol. (Prohibition)
Teddy Roosevelt (T.R.’s ) Square Deal:
“Square Deal” for capital, labor, and the public at large.
1902 the Anthracite coal mines went on strike in Pennsylvania.
The mine owners refused to arbitrate or even negotiate.
Roosevelt threatened to seize the mines and operate them with Federal troops.
Compromise reached = 10% pay increase for the laborers and a 9 hour working day.