Chapter 19 Yawp Discussion Questions PDF

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Respond to each question in a brief paragraph. For at least half of the questions, include references from outside sources (not discussed in class) and highlight them within your response. Respond right below each question. This is the link to the American Yawp: http://www.americanyawp.com Feel free to also use outside resources. Crash Course US History is always a great resource for our curriculum: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s Video #28 is very helpful for this chapter. Chapter 19 - American Empire 1. What were the primary reasons for American intervention in foreign affairs in the late-19th and early-20th century? America decided to intervene in foreign governments mainly to protect American economic interests abroad. As a country that transitioned from isolationism to imperialism through conquest (which they believed was justified due to its contribution to the spread of democratic and communist ideals), they believed that they should help out the countries that they viewed as underdeveloped and less civilized. For example, they believed that if the Senate accepted the treaty that would allow them to acquire the Philippines, then the people living in the Philippines would become more civilized and be able to thrive financially. As a result, they promoted political propaganda such as the “White Man’s Burden.” 2. How did yellow journalism contribute to the outbreak of the Spanish-American War? Yellow journalists used sensationalism in order to make the American people hostile towards the Spanish. After a battleship named Maine exploded in the Havana harbor, yellow journalists took this opportunity to capitalize on the outrage and promote more and more sensational stories in order to paint Spain as “evil” and cause a majority of American citizens to want to go to war with Spain. As a result, the Spanish-American War began, mainly due to yellow journalism in the US. 3. Why was the Spanish-American War referred to as a “splendid little war?” Is that description fitting? The Spanish-American War was referred to as a “splendid little war” because there were very few casualties and it was a relatively short war – “Fewer than four hundred Americans died in battle in a war that lasted about fifteen weeks.” This description was fitting because it allowed America to showcase its military might to the world as a world power. The Spanish American War was the first major war after the Civil War, giving the Americans more of a reason to be nationalists and be proud of their country. This war lifted American reputation as a world power to the rest of the world. 4. How did the United States gain control of the Philippines?

The acquisition of the Philippines came after the victory of the Spanish-American War. A victory during the war in the battle of Manila Bay gave America access to Manila, a key foothold in the Pacific. As the Spanish-American War ended, the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1898 and America gave $20 million to Spain in exchange for the Philippines. However, America had acquired the Philippines while they were in the midst of a bloody war for independence from Spain. As a result, “Filipinos who had fought for freedom against the Spanish now fought for freedom against the very nation that had claimed to have liberated them from Spanish tyranny.” This resulted in the beginning of the Philippine-American War, where American soldiers fought on foreign terrain. America placed the Philippines under martial law until the fighting died down in 1902, causing them to declare victory. 5. What was the Roosevelt Corollary and how did it change American foreign policy? The Roosevelt Corollary changed American foreign policy by increasing American influence internationally as an addition to the Monroe Doctrine. This policy allowed America to “treat any military intervention in Latin America by a European power as a threat to American security” and allowed them to interfere with Latin American affairs. This policy also paved the way for Americans to step in when met with no other choice in order to make sure that other countries were able to carry out their economic responsibilities such as paying off their debt. 6. What is meant by the phrase “dollar diplomacy,” and how did it pertain to US interventions in Latin America? “Dollar diplomacy” was aimed at furthering the interests of the U.S. abroad by encouraging the investment of U.S. capital in foreign countries, specifically, Latin and South America. (Oxford) This policy, employed by Taft, went against the ideals of Roosevelt’s big stick diplomacy. While the big stick diplomacy represented militaristic interference, the dollar diplomacy shifted the ability of the US from military action to world affairs, allowing the US to exert influence abroad. Taft thought that this shift would be far more progressive, so he employed the dollar diplomacy to “further [America’s] objectives, but it did not have the ability or the inclination to militarily impose its will on the entirety of South and Central America. The United States therefore more often used informal methods of empire, such as so-called dollar diplomacy, to assert dominance over the hemisphere.” 7. What issues existed concerning immigration in the US in the late-19th and early-20th centuries? Be sure to consider the factors behind immigration, questions of assimilation, and political responses in your answer. Although immigrants were needed in order to satisfy the growing US economy in factories and mills, many Americans did not like the idea of immigrants and reacted negatively to them. Some felt that “the new arrivals were unfit for American democracy, and that Irish or Italian immigrants used violence or bribery to corrupt municipal governments,” while others (often earlier immigrants) felt that more immigrants meant fewer jobs and lower wages for them. Additionally, measures that had been pushed for assimilation were intolerant towards different cultures, such

as Asian culture. They wanted immigrants that would readily transform to a Westernized way of life by resorting to the norms of American culture such as by only speaking English. 8. What kinds of immigrants were most likely to be “excluded” from entry into the United States? Why? Paupers, people with mental illnesses, or convicted criminals were excluded from entry into the US. These people would hinder the growth of the United States and would threaten the security of the nation. Additionally, “foreign workers migrating under labor contracts with American employers,” “people who seemed likely to become wards of the state, people with contagious diseases, and polygamists,” as well as “those who would pose ideological threats to American republican democracy, such as anarchists and socialists” were excluded from entry and were subject to deportation. Finally, Asians were excluded from entry, as they were “poorer, spoke languages other than English, and were likely Catholic or Jewish” and were regarded as inferior. The American people felt threatened by Asians, as they were scared that their jobs would be “stolen.”...