Chapter 22: America Becomes A World Power

Chapter 22 America Becomes A World Power

Important Changes Alaska acquired in 1867 2. Western frontier settled by 1890 3. American inventors impressed the world 4. Businesses were bigger 1.

Spanish American War  Cuba was a Spanish colony  Americans lived in Cuba  President McKinley offered to buy Cuba  Spain refused  McKinley sent the battleship U.S.S. Maine to protect

Americans

Spanish American War  February 15, 1898  Maine exploded  Killed 260 sailors  America blamed Spain  Assistant Secretary of Navy—Theodore Roosevelt

sent Admiral Dewey and a fleet to Philippines  Dewey given orders to attack if war broke out

War Declared  April 9, 1898 Spain agreed to stop fighting  “Remember the Maine”  Americans wanted Spain punished  April 11, 1898 McKinley asked Congress to declare

war

Yellow Journalism New York Journal – William Randolph Hearst New York WorldJoseph Pulitzer Late 1800s most newspapers were not as accurate as they are today. Two sensationalistic papers were competing to see who could sell more newspapers.

“Splendid Little War”  Admiral Dewey destroyed Spanish fleet in

Philippines  Roosevelt organized the “Rough Riders”  Charged up San Juan Hill

The Unprepared US Army  Thousands of

volunteers rushed to join-all kinds of people from socialites to outlaws  Lacked guns, tents, and blankets  Needed training

 Given heavy woolen

uniforms to fight in the warm tropics  The food was leftover canned rations from the Civil War –Rotten and disgusting  No proper sanitary areas

AMAZING NUMBERS  Total in the War—

5,462 Americans lost their lives  Only 379 died in combat  The rest from unsanitary conditions which caused plague and yellow fever

“Splendid Little War”  US Navy sank all Spanish ships in Cuban harbor  Agreed to stop fighting to discuss ending the war  Armistice  War ended December 10, 1898

Results  USA gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines  Secretary of State—John Hay—declared the Spanish-

American War a “Splendid Little War”  War lasted 4 months

The Nation Increases Its Power  Gained the Hawaiian Islands in 1900

Queen of Hawaii-Liliuokalani

The Nation Increases Its Power  Focused on China  Afraid other countries were controlling trade  Secretary of State—John Hay—offered a new trading

policy called the “Open Door Policy”  Convinced the foreign nation in China to Allow open and free trade for all countries  Chinese “Boxers” rebelled

Election of 1900  William McKinley vs. William J. Bryan  McKinley reelected—25th president  Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt  McKinley was assassinated (shot) in 1901 by Leon

Czolgosz

Theodore Roosevelt  26th president  Youngest president to take office (42 years old)  Believed Americans deserved a better deal  Interested in Americans receiving a “Square Deal”

Theodore Roosevelt  Coal Miners Strike 1902  Used government to bring it to an end  Big businesses were scared of Roosevelt  “Trustbuster”  He believed that big companies should be broken

into smaller companies

Progressives  Reformers who believed America should make

progress to become a better country

Protecting America  Passed laws to protect Americans

*Meat Inspection Act *Pure Food and Drug Act 1906  Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle

Foreign Policy  Europe—neutrality  Latin America—Monroe Doctrine  Asia—Open Door

Panama Canal  Wanted to build up the US Navy  Needed a fast way to get from Atlantic to the Pacific  Canal—man-made waterway  1903 Panama revolted against Columbia  Roosevelt sent battleships to help Panama  Panama won independence

Panama Canal  USA paid $10   



million 10-mile wide strip of land “Big Ditch” 11 years to finish Saved over 7,000 miles

Big Stick Policy  Latin America had economic problems  Borrowed money for European nations  Roosevelt convinced countries to settle in World

Court  Roosevelt revised the Monroe Doctrine  Roosevelt Corollary  USA became a “police power” in Latin America

Big Stick Policy  Old African saying “Speak softly and carry a big

stick.”  Roosevelt’s willingness to use military power was called “Big Stick Policy”

Election of 1908

Largest US President

7-foot-1-inch-long bathtub custom built for the 340-pound, 6-foot frame of President William Howard Taft).

Election of 1912