The Emergence of An American Empire

Study Guide

I.  You should be able to identify and state the historical significance of the following:

• Alfred Thayer Mahan

• James G. Blaine

• Richard Olney

• Valeriano Weyler

• Theodore Roosevelt

• George Dewey

• Emilio Aguinaldo

• Hamilton Fish

• John Fiske

• Josiah Strong

• William Randolph Hearst

• Joseph Pulitzer

• William Howard Taft

• John Hay

2.  You should be able to define and state the historical significance of the following:

• reconcentration

• jingoism

• imperialism

3.  You should be able to describe and state the historical significance of the following:

•  Pan-American Conference

• USS Maine

• Teller Amendment

• Rough Riders                                                           

• Treaty of Paris

• Anti-Imperialist League

• Foraker Act

• Insular Cases

• Platt Amendment

• "Seward's Folly"

• Pelagic Sealing Controversy

• Venezuelan Boundary Dispute

• Yellow Journalism

• de Lome Letter

• Teller Amendment

• White Man's Burden

• Doctrine of Incorporation

• Platt Amendment

• Open Door Policy

• Boxer Rebellion

• Roosevelt Corollary

• Guerilla Warfare

• Spheres of Influence

• Philippine Insurrection

• benevolent assimilation

• Big-stick diplomacy

• Clayton-Bulwar Treaty

• Hay-Pauncefote Treaty

• Hau-Bunau-Varilla Treaty

• Panama Canal

• Portsmouth Conference

• Alegeciras Conference

• Great White Fleet

• Root-Takahira Agreement

III.  Discussion Questions:

1.   Was the Spanish American War really necessary?  List the alternatives to war available to McKinley in 1898 and explain why he rejected them in favor of a war policy.

2. Consider each of the following as a cause of war in 1896:

•     Public Opinion

•     Yellow Journalism

•     Business Interests

•     Strategic Interests           

    3.     Which do you consider the key cause of the war?  Why?

    4.    Define imperialism.  Use your definition to argue that the conduct of American foreign relations between 1890 and 1900 was or was not imperialistic.

    5.      Why is it not entirely true that the United States remained isolated from world events in the late nineteenth century?  Describe some specific instances of American involvement beyond its own shores between 1865 and 1900.   

   6.  Which President conducted American foreign policy more skillfully in the 1890's.  McKinley or Cleveland?  Why?

  7.  Assess the wisdom of:

•         The Teller Amendment

•         The Platt Amendment

•         Decisions rendered in the insular cases

   8.  Assess the U.S. Military performance in the Spanish-American War.  Why did the United States win?

   9.  What was the most important domestic and foreign policy consequences of the Spanish-American War?  Why?

 10.  Rank the following in terms of their ability to explain American interest in "imperialism" at the end of the nineteenth century.  Justify your ranking

• racial theories

• international policy

• trading interests

• religious humanitarianism

 11.  Bailey states that "America did not start the [Spanish American War] with imperialistic motives, but [because of the war] it wound up with imperial and colonial fruits in its grasp."  To what extent do you agree with this version of American actions in 1898?

12.  How did Americans used to justify their imperialism in the late nineteenth century?

13.  How did American policy in Latin America change between 1890 and 1812?

14.  Compare American foreign policy towards Cuba with American policy towards China during the late nineteenth century

IV.  Practice Quizzes to Help You:

        A.  From Bailey   Quiz A              Quiz B

        B.  From              Tindall and Shi