Curriculum

The Birth of an American Empire

Birth of an American Empire: Columbia's Easter Bonnet
Photo caption

"Columbia's Easter Bonnet." 1901 Puck magazine cover celebrating America's new-found confidence as a budding world power.

Wikimedia Commons

The last decade of the 19th century was a time of great hope and anxiety. The major European empires and Japan threatened to exclude U.S. businesses from vital overseas markets and challenge U.S. security in the Western Hemisphere. Yet Americans shared the general optimism of the era that science, commerce and civilization had reached the point where great power conflict might be prevented or at least limited by international cooperation.

Guiding Questions

Why did the United States pursue national expansion and imperialism in the late 19th century?

To what extent was the Spanish-American War a fundamental shift in U.S. foreign policy? 

What purpose did the Open Door Notes serve for U.S. foreign policy?

What role should the United States play in the world?

Learning Objectives

Define imperialism and evaluate its impact on the United States. 

Analyze the arguments presented by the imperialists and the anti-imperialists.

Evaluate the short and long-term effects of the Spanish American War on domestic and foreign policy.

Evaluate the short and long-term effects of the Open Door Notes from multiple perspectives.

Curriculum Details

Background

Many Americans felt that their burgeoning economic power and the moral authority of their democratic society entitled them to exert greater influence over this brave yet frightening new world. They disagreed considerably over the means and ends of doing so, however. Some Americans wanted to enter the imperial sweepstakes directly. Others favored the use of indirect means, such as U.S. economic power or moral suasion, to preserve global opportunities for American commerce and moderate the worst effects of European imperialism. Still others wanted to remain politically aloof from the wars and quarrels of the larger world.

The public debate over the future global role of the United States soon had a particular policy focus: how to respond to a bloody rebellion against Spanish colonial rule in Cuba. U.S. public pressure for intervention grew following a series of inflammatory incidents in early 1898, which included the explosion of the battleship Maine. With its victory in the Spanish-American War the United States claimed status as a global political-military power. President William McKinley’s decision to annex the Philippine islands galvanized anti-imperialist sentiment. The anti-imperialists fought against Senate ratification of the peace treaty with Spain in early 1899; and then tried to foil President McKinley’s reelection bid in 1900. McKinley won these political battles but a Filipino rebellion against U.S. rule, which was suppressed at considerable humanitarian cost, discouraged Americans from seeking a full-blown overseas empire.

Meanwhile, the European imperial powers and Japan seemed on the verge of partitioning the once-fabled Chinese Empire. In 1899-1900, Secretary of State John Hay issued what became known as the Open Door Notes. Secretary Hay called on those foreign powers involved in China to respect the rights of each other, to agree to an open market and equal trading opportunities, and to respect the territorial and administrative integrity of China. The Open Door Notes were an important step in the process by which the United States asserted a distinctive and expansive set of interests in East Asia.

Throughout this unit, students will be able to explore the rising tensions between the United States and other countries as they raced to develop empires and create economic opportunities around the globe.

Lesson Plans in Curriculum

Lesson 1: The Question of an American Empire

This lesson will introduce the students to the challenges of American foreign policy in the late 19th century and specifically to the political debate over whether the United States should acquire further territory and/or become a European-style empire.

Lesson 2: The Spanish–American War

On April 11, 1898, two months after the battleship U.S.S. Maine was destroyed by an explosion in Havana harbor, President McKinley sent a message to Congress requesting authority to use the U.S. armed forces to end a brutal civil war in the Spanish colony of Cuba. This lesson plan, through the use of primary sources and a WebQuest Interactive, will focus on the causes of the war and the political debate in the United States over the advisability of intervening militarily in the affairs of countries.

Lesson 3: The Matter of the Philippines

The treaty of peace ending the Spanish-American War resulted in the United States obtaining the Philippine Islands from Spain. Despite intense political opposition to the acquisition of the islands, the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty. The political impact of anti-imperialist arguments, the difficult experience of suppressing native Filipino resistance, and the lack of attractive opportunities for further territorial expansion, all effectively stalled the American imperialist/expansionist movement.

Lesson 4: Imperialism and the Open Door

In 1899 and 1900, Secretary of State John Hay issued what became known as the Open Door Notes to foreign powers involved in China. Secretary Hay called on those powers to respect the rights of each other, to agree to an open market and equal trading opportunities for merchants of all nationalities, and to respect the territorial and administrative integrity of China.

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