Annexation of Hawaii Essay

The decade of the 1890s marks a diplomatic watershed in the Statesn history. During that period the coupled States embarked upon a very assertive expansionist policy that led to the nation becoming an imperialist power by 1900. The reasons for this change from an essenti everyy low-key, isolationist outside policy stance to an predatory involvement in creation affairs involved fundamental changes in the the Statesn economy and the attitudes of the the Statesn people. The industrial revolution of the last one-fourth of the 19th century was the primary factor in the shifting foreign policy. As the nation became more industrialized it began to look afield for new(a) markets for its manufactured goods and for new sources of raw materials to feed the growing industrial system. To protect these foreign markets and raw materials the united States began to expand its power and entice overseas through the acquisition of trading centers, naval stations, and coaling ports. Indeed one of the major(ip) differences amongst the expansion of the 1890s and previous decades was that the nation did not carry out these new territories as potential states to add to the nation, but as spheres of influence in the aid of foreign duty.Two other elements entered the expansionist/imperialist equation. One was the closing of the American frontier in1890. When the Census report of that twelvemonth proclaimed that thither was no more frontier it meant that the nation could no longer pursue its twin goals of territorial expansion and isolation from world affairs. One or the other would have to be abandoned since thither was no more contiguous territory to annex. The expansionist impulse be stronger than the isolationist one and the nation began acquire an overseas empire. A punt factor was the desire to spread the Christian gospel abroad, which meant securing an opening for American missionaries overseas. Militant Christianity reinforced the mood of American expansionism. A c lassic vitrine of the intertwining of economic and religious impulses was united States annexation of hullo. The first Americans to settle in Hawaii were Christian missionaries whose families remained and exerted a growing influence over the Hawaiian economy.By 1890 American economic and religious interests in the island kingdom were a permanent feature of the society. When the McKinley tariff bill of 1890 sought to stimulate the American sugar beet industry by placing a duty on imported sugar and giving a two cent a pound bonus for domestically grown sugar, the American-owned sugar companies faced a serious economic problem. From the standpoint of the American sugar companies in Hawaii the answer to their economc problem was simple have Hawaii annexed by the unite States so that Hawaiian sugar was domestic, not foreign grown. The flaw in that solution was that the Hawaiian people had no desire to become American. This touristy aversion to annexation was reflected in the ref usal of the Hawaiian expander, Queen Liliuokalani, to request an American take-over. The sugar company executives, with the timely assistance of a contingent of American marines who marched through Honolulu to protect American lives and property, simply staged a political coup and asked for annexation. aft(prenominal) President Cleveland refused, President McKinley acquiesced in 1898. Americas desire to extend its influence beyond its borders was not limit to overt acts of annexation. In the case of a boundary remainder between Venezuela and British Guiana, joined States action took the soma of a virtual diplomatic ultimatum to England, insisting that Britain send no troops to press its boundary claims. The United States would set up a boundary commission to arbitrate the dispute and determine the legitimate boundaries. After initially declining American good offices, bang-up Britain accepted after U.S. Secretary of State Olney asserted that the United States was practically s overeign in this hemisphere and threatened military action. This rather cavalier maneuver reflected growing U.S. power of persuasion. The most dramatic example of Americas increasingly imperialistic foreign policy was the Spanish-American War of 1898.After having remained aloof from Cubas previous attempts to throw off Spanish rule, the United States adopted a more interventionist policy when another Cuban freak out erupted in the 1890s. The American people were sympathetic with the Cuban cause and their rallying send for became Cuba Libra, free Cuba. A sensationalist American press, led by New York City newspaper publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, played up Spanish atrocities against the Cubans and ran front page stories about the Cuban struggle for freedom. Hearst counterbalance sent a photographer to Cuba with instructions to send back pictures of Spanish atrocities. In addition to yellow journalism, anti-Spanish emotions were stirred up by the topic of a private l etter written by the Spanish embassador to the United States, de Lome, considered insulting to President McKinley. Another event fanning the flames of fight pyrexia was the sinking of the American battleship Maine in Havana.Even though there was no proof of any Spanish involvement the rallying cry for pro-warfare forces became Remember the Maine, and to hell with Spain. Even though Spain, trying to avoid confontation with the United States, responded estimateably to a diplomatic ultimatum from the State Department, McKinley yielded to popular pressure for war and delivered a war message. coition, sensing Americas mood, declared war. Congress declaration of war was soon accompanied by the Teller reply promising that the United States would not annex Cuba as a entrust of American intervention in its behalf. When the brief, successful war ( a beautiful little war in the words of our Secretary of State) was ended, however, the Platt Amendment, incorporated in an American-Cub an treaty, accorded the United States the right to intervene in Cuba to preserve its independence and follow law and order. In effect this amendment gave the United States a quasi-protectorate over Cuba.And piece the war did not lead to U.S. acquisition of Cuba it did result in United States annexation of Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands (acquired from Spain). The Philippinos expressed their aversion to becoming an American territory by engaging in a guerilla war against the U.S. when annexation was proposed. Indeed the Philippine insurrection against the U.S. was more costly in terms of money and American lives lost than had been the Spanish-American war. Nor was everyone in the U.S. in favor of Philippine annexation. Anti-imperialists claimed that the Philippines might involve us in a war in the Far atomic number 99, and that forced annexation violated the traditional American belief in government by the consent of the governed. American labour leaders joined in oppositio n to acquisition lest it lead to the founding of cheap Philippine labor.American racism also rallied against acquiring yellow-skinned Americas desire to extend its economic influence to the Far East through opening up trade with China led to even another diplomatic confrontation. By 1900 China had succumbed to European imperialism in the form of spheres of influence each of the major European powers and Japan had established. Concerned that this would lead to those powers excluding the U.S. from the China trade the U.S. sent a round-robin diplomatic note to all of them asserting that it was the U.S. policy, and assumed it was theirs as well, to provide an Open Door for trade with China. This was followed by a second Open Door note affirming notice for the territorial and administrative integrity of China. Reluctantly most of the nations gave lukewarm assent.