The Spanish-American War American Imperialism

Take a few minutes and try your best to define the following terms. The Monroe Doctrine: Manifest Destiny: Imperialism: Isolationism:

The Monroe Doctrine was a doctrine established in 1823 which stated that European powers could not longer colonize or interfere with the affairs of independent nations of the Americas. Manifest Destiny was the belief that the U.S. had the ‘obvious right’ to expand its territory. It was originally used to justify Americas expansion west and was later used to justify further American expansion

Imperialism is the policy of establishing colonies and building empires in order to expand the influence on one single power around the world. Isolationism is the political policy of separating oneself and one’s country from the political affairs of other countries. (Originally established by George Washington)

Fulfilling the Monroe Doctrine: Securing the Americas Step 1: Kick the French out of Mexico – Because Mexico refused to pay its debts in 1860 France came in to force them to pay. The French then stayed until Finally the U.S. sent 50,000 troops to the border and made the French withdraw.

Fulfilling the Monroe Doctrine: Securing the Americas Step 2: Get territory from Russia – The czar of Russia saw little value in a far off land and sold Alaska to the U.S. for 7.2 Million dollars in (less than 2 cents an acre)

Securing the Americas Step 3: Annex Hawaii – Hawaii had been closely tied with the U.S. economy since the early 1800s. – But when Queen Liliuokalani tried to bring control back to the Hawaiian people some American business leaders with the help of some marines took over the Hawaiian government. – Hawaii was annexed in 1898

Strengthen the Navy By 1880 the U.S. navy was very limited in size and very outdated. Captain Alfred Mahan called attention to this problem and believed the U.S. needed more influence abroad and needed a strong navy to do that. By 1895 Congress had passed legislation for 20 new naval ships, 6 of which were battleships.

America Gains New Territory The treaty between American and Spain after the war was very beneficial to America. The U.S. gained territory throughout the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It gained influence or governance over the following islands: – Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines (The Philippines cost 20 Million Dollars.)