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C O U R S E L E C T U R E Early 20th Century American Imperialism Notes taken on September 15, 2016 by Edward Tanguay |
Europeans were not the only powers to scramble for new opportunities in the rest of the world at the end of the 19th century
Americans had joined this project as well
although it held back from formal colonization
as in the type Europe was engaging in
in one sense a colony before they became a state
avoided formal colonization
tried to rely on market forces to incorporate an American order into their areas
instead of formally annexed territories to the American inland, relied on informal mechanisms
by 1914 the United States exported capital to the rest of the world
80% direct foreign investment to its neighbors
companies played this role
The United Fruit company
from Central America and from Colombia
to American consumers through the ports of New Orleans and New York
the forerunner of Chiquita Bananas
known in Central America as "el pulpo", or the octopus
because of its tentacular presence
produced a recipe book in order to market the consumption of this new tropical commodity
a harbinger of things to come
invariably drew the United States into formal entanglements with political neighbors
1898 Spanish-American War
first time United States went to war with a European power since 1812
Europe's oldest empire running up against Neoeurope's first empire
Spain had a few remaining colonies
Cuba and the Philippines
increasing agitation for independence from Spain
the United States imagined itself as a savior to rescue those who were struggling to free themselves from this old empire
the U.S. press painted Spain as a venal and corrupt Old World empire
showed Uncle Sam rescuing Cuba, represented as a child, from a crocodile
the press played a role in showing how the United States could move into foreign markets as an ethical model
this was unlike what the Europeans were deploying in Africa
the United States could portray itself as ethically committed to freeing the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spanish tyranny
many of the insurgents of these countries were beginning to win their struggle against Spain
the U.S. feared that the instability would pose a threat to the United States
a very quick defeat of the Spanish
led to the freedom of Spain's last colonies
these possessions would pass to informal U.S. control
as in Berlin with the Africa conference, there was no Cuban, Puerto Rican or Filipino present
the U.S. had to consider what to do in these places
embroiled in local guerilla warfare
much debate whether the United States was becoming an empire just like Europe
Empire could lead to a corrosion of the American constitution
news of violence and carnage being released in the warfare of these far away places
American troops and Filipino insurgents
press core getting pictures back to the American population
consternation as to what to do
forced American to rethink the purpose of their empire and their power over these countries
witnessed the American anxieties about empire in newly independent areas of the world
McClure's Magazine: "The White Man's Burden"
Subtitle: The United States and the Philippines
you're sacrificing yourself for others
"fill forth the mouth of famine"
evoking the relationship between empire and race
the moral purpose of expansion and this new language of uplift
this colonial rhetoric fueled Cuban and Philippine nationalism
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