American Imperialism
Imperialism- A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.
Spanish American War- War fought between the USA and Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. It lasted less than 3 months and resulted in Cuba’s independence as well as the USA annexing Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
Platt Amendment- Allowed the United States to intervene in Cuba and gave the United States control of the naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Big Stick Policy- Theodore Roosevelt’s method for achieving American goals in the Caribbean; it featured the threat and use of military force to promote America’s commercial supremacy, to limit European intervention in the region, and to protect the Panama Canal.
Open Door Policy- A policy, proposed by the United States in 1899, under which all nations would have equal opportunities to trade in China.
World War I and the 1920’s
Lusitania- A British passenger ship that was sunk by a German U-boat on May 7, 1915. 128 Americans died. The sinking greatly turned American opinion against the Germans, helping the move towards entering the war.
Zimmerman Note- Written by Arthur Zimmerman, a German foreign secretary. In this note he had secretly proposed a German- Mexican alliance. He tempted Mexico with the ideas of recovering Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. The note was intercepted on March 1, 1917 by the U.S. government. This was a major factor that led us into WWI.
The Term Paper on American foreign policy 2
When one looks to the United States, both in the past and present, and its international presence, one common theme constantly pops up. Whenever the flag moves beyond the borders of the country, there always is a democratic or humans rights or peace reason for doing so. Regardless of the actual motives of the government and the American people, to us and the rest of the world, the United States ...
Espionage and Sedition Acts- A law enacted on May 16, 1918, during World War I, to restrict public opinion of the U.S. war effort. An amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917, it prohibited spoken and written attacks on the U.S. government or the Constitution and led to numerous arrests. It was repealed in 1921.
War Industries Board- This government agency oversaw the production of all American factories. It determined priorities, allocated raw materials, and fixed prices; it told manufacturers what they could and could not produce.
Fourteen Points- The war aims outlined by President Wilson in 1918, which he believed would promote lasting peace; called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations.
Treaty of Versailles- The armistice that was signed to officially end the war. Its result was that Germany would lose significant amounts of land and military, pay $32 billion for damages, and take full responsibility for the war. This was intended to make sure that they would never rise to a powerful position in Europe again.
Marcus Garvey- African American leader during the 1920s who founded the universal Negro improvement association and advocated mass migration of African Americans back to Africa.
Universal Negro Improvement Society founded by Marcus Garvey to unite all the Negros of the world and establish a black nation in Africa.
Harlem Renaissance- Black artistic movement in New York city in the 1920s, when writers, poets, painters, and musicians came together to express feelings and experiences, especially about the injustices of Jim Crow laws; leading figures of the movement included Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Duke Ellington, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes.
Sacco and Vanzetti- Two Italian men that were accused of robbing a bank and murder; anarchists; heighted American fear of foreigners; executed with hardly any proof because of their nationality and political beliefs.
National Origins Act- Act which restricted immigration from any one nation to two percent of the number of people already in the U.S. of that national origin in 1890. Severely restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe, and excluded Asians entirely.
The Essay on Cold War Or New War American Foreign Policy Since 9 11
... Soviet Union versus the United States. Both nations foreign policies were shaped in ... has also been able to transcend national boarders because only a small ... is a recent phenomenon fueled by American foreign policy, not an epochal ... containment during the Cold War stated that the United States would support any free ... policies in place whereby there will act on perceived threats and interests, ...
Scopes Trial- A highly publicized trial in 1925 when John Thomas Scopes violated a Tennessee state law by teaching evolution in high school.
William Jennings Bryan- United States lawyer and politician who advocated free silver and prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925).
Red Scare- Most intense outbreak of national alarm began in 1919. Success of communists in Russia, American radicals embracing communism followed by a series of mail bombings frightened Americans.
19th Amendment- Prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Suffrage- The right to vote.
Flapper- A young woman in the 1920s who flaunted her unconventional conduct and dress.
Four-Power Treaty- All parties agreement to maintain the status quo in the pacific, by respecting the pacific holdings of the other countries signing the agreement, not seeking further territorial expansion and mutual consultation with each other in the event of a dispute over territorial possessions. However, the main result of the four-power treaty was the termination of the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902.
Washington Conference- An international conference on the limitation of naval fleet construction begins in Washington. Under the leadership of the American secretary of state Charles Evans Hughes the representatives of the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy, and japan pledge not to exceed the designated sizes of their respective naval fleets.
Kellog Briand Act- 1928, signed by a number of nations when they met and decided to renounce war as a means of solving international disputes. Prohibited use of war as an instrument of national policy. Except in the matters of self-defense.
