Rise of Imperialism:

• Policy of conquering other countries in order to build an empire
   
• Reasons
   
  • Need for markets and materials
  • Belief in Anglo-Saxon superiority
  • Need for sea power and therefore refueling spots around the world
    • Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
   
• Spanish American War
   
  • Cuban rebels were fighting for independence from Spain
     
  • American public opinion was leaning toward Cuba, but McKinley did not want to go to war
     
  • Two incidents led to war
    1. The de Lome letter
       • Letter leaked to Hearst's newspaper in which the Spanish minister called McKinley weak and a common politician
    2. Sinking of the USS Maine
       • Ship blew up and sank outside Havana
       • Cause was unknown
       • Hearst's paper said it was the Spanish, and the public believed it
     
  • The United States declared war on Spain in April 1898
     
  • Very brief - ended December 1898
     
  • Battle of San Juan Hill
    • Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders
    • Led to the fall of Santiago
     
  • Fought on two fronts
    1. Caribbean
    2. Philippines
     
  • Results
    • Treaty of Paris
      • Cuba became independent
      • U.S. took over Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines
    • Cuba was really under U.S. control
    • Hawaii became a territory of the U.S.
    • Colonel Roosevelt's report to the Secretary of War on Sep 10th