1898 was a year of headlines for most Americans. The so-called “yellow press” not only provided the stories that led to those headlines, but fueled the cause of imperialism and sensationalism throughout the year. Before 1898, the United States held no significant overseas possessions. By the start of 1899, the nation had formally acquired Cuba, Puerto Rice, Hawaii, and the Philippines. 1898 changed the self-identity of the American nation, prompting critics to argue that the U.S. had forsaken its freedom-loving past. The events of that year also demonstrated that the U.S. could compete globally with the imperialist powers of Europe. It was the first step away from isolationism.
The Sinking of the USS Maine and the Spanish-American War
The sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in February 1898 was widely viewed as a violently provocative act perpetrated by Spanish agents, despite evidence to the contrary. The fact that one of America’s newest war ships had been destroyed, ostensibly by a mine, was enough to provide Americans with a rallying cry once war against Spain was declared in April 1898: “Remember the Maine!”
Although not the only cause of the war, the sinking helped the efforts of imperialists like Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay, Admiral Mahan, and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in positioning the U.S. for the conflict with Spain, and pressuring moderates like President William McKinley to submit a war declaration to Congress.
The Shortest War Leads to a Long Occupation and Civil War in the Philippines
By July 1898, the Cuban phase of the war had ended. Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders had become heroes and Admiral Dewey’s sinking of the Spanish fleet at Manila earned him a victory parade in New York City. In the midst of the war, the U.S. Congress quietly annexed Hawaii. The August peace negotiations ceded Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the U.S.
The victory achieved by the “splendid little war,” however, involved the United States in a prolonged and bloody civil war in the Philippines, necessitating military occupation until the Filipinos were considered fit for independence. During the civil war, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, atrocities were committed by both sides, including the use of water board torture by U.S. troops.
American Foreign Affairs after 1898
Imperialism was the new American frontier. Although critics like the members of the Anti-Imperialist League challenged the principles of imperialism, suggesting that U.S. actions were contrary to national history and principle, most Americans agreed with the necessity of expansionism. Some even viewed it a part of God’s divine mission for the nation, enabling Christian missions to more effectively carry the Gospel to the heathen.
In 1900, imperialism was a chief issue in the presidential election. William Jennings Bryan – the “Great Commoner,” rejected imperialist principles and practices. Most Americans disagreed with Bryan and McKinley won the election with 292 electoral votes versus 155 for Bryan. By this time, the U.S. had become involved in the scramble for China, publishing John Hay’s Open Door Notes and participating in the liberation of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.
Teddy Roosevelt was most probably the first truly internationalist president. Upon the death of McKinley in 1901, Roosevelt capitalized on the events of 1898, building his “Great White Fleet,” a canal though Panama, postulating the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and involving the U.S. in several Caribbean and Latin American crises. When the Great War began in 1914, Roosevelt bitterly criticized Woodrow Wilson’s call for neutrality.
The Events of 1898 Made the U.S. a Global Player
The Spanish-American War and the events surrounding it thrust the United States onto the world stage as a viable, competitive player in global considerations. Imperialism helped American manufactures and made foreign products more readily available.
Most importantly, Americans saw their national mission extended beyond the continent. This included “rescuing the perishing” through Christian missions, spreading democratic ideals - though often through exploitation - and propagating a western ideal of civilization that was, too often, founded in notions of Anglo-Saxonism and Social Darwinism.
References:
- Ivan Musicant, Empire By Default: The Spanish-American War and the Dawn of the American Century (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1998)
- James Ford Rhodes, The McKinnley and Roosevelt Administrations 1897-1909 (NY: The Macmillan Company, 1922)
- Albert K. Weinberg, Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism In American History (The Johns Hopkins Press, 1935)
- Warren Zimmermann, First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country A World Power (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (on-line edition)
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