Chapter 21, Henretta IMPERIALISM & IDEALISM, 1877 to 1918

Important strands in Chapter 21 Where should America expand next? The United States had been expanding since before its creation as a country. As the 19th Century drew to a close, and the country extended from Atlantic to Pacific, “Manifest Destiny” turned into “American exceptionalism,” the idea that the United States’s unique virtues gave it the responsibility to move elsewhere on the globe. The only question was where to expand next – and what kind of expansion it would be. William Seward’s Prescient Idea Lincoln’s secretary of state (and the man who insisted on buying Alaska in 1867) foresaw in the 1860s that America’s further growth as a powerful country depended on access to global markets for its goods. His ideas were too advanced for his own time, but they began to become popular in the 1890s.

Important strands in Chapter 21 A new kind of empire European powers in the 19th Century had actively taken over parts of Africa and Asia as colonies; the U.S. did a little of that (Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii) but more often pressured “independent” nations into doing what Washington wanted them to do (as in Cuba, Japan, China, Panama and elsewhere). The U.S. needed markets for its manufactured goods and refueling stations for its modern, dominant navy.

Important strands in Chapter 21 Wars, skirmishes and rebellions The United States used its military weight to get its way in many parts of the globe between the 1870s and America’s entry into World War I in 1917: Cuba, Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico (War of 1898) China (Boxer Rebellion, 1900) Panama (Panama’s rebellion against Colombia, 1903) Mexico (Invasion of Veracruz, Villa raids, 1914-1916) In each case, the U.S. acquired the territory, ports or access to markets that in wanted, even though each use of force was launched on a different pretext, often on humanitarian grounds.

Important strands in Chapter 21 World War I: A Real World Power Since George Washington, U.S. leaders had tried to remain aloof from European conflicts, but we were drawn gradually into World War I by 1917. It transformed the United States: A booming wartime economy “Great Migration” to the North for wartime jobs Government involved in all areas of life Crackdown on speech and civil liberties Women’s suffrage as a “war measure” Power-broker in Treaty of Versailles Taking Progressivism abroad: Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Important strands in Chapter 21 … And in the rest of the world From here on out, U.S. history is also about what’s happening in the rest of the world, in which the U.S. is inextricably involved. Rise of Japan as the first non-European world power Instability in Latin America Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I – one of the great, unmitigated disasters of world history, setting up a second world war (in which the U.S. would fight) as well as colonial wars of the 1960s