Who was Teddy Roosevelt?

The Talented Mr. Roosevelt
Here is a good video from the history channel about Theodore Roosevelt.

The White Man’s Burden and Response

Make sure you read this for our next class meetings on the B/C days. You might want to take some notes comparing the two poems. You should have seen the first one last year, and I would suggest you find out who Rudyard Kipling was.
What do these two poems suggest about imperialism (and anti-imperialism)?

The White Man’s Burden
Rudyard Kipling, 1899

This famous poem, written by Britain’s imperial poet, was a response to the American take over of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War. What was Kipling saying about colonialism? How should the word “burden” be interpreted, and who exactly carries this burden?

Take up the White Man’s burden–
Send forth the best ye breed–
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild–
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man’s burden–
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another’s profit,
And work another’s gain.

Take up the White Man’s burden–
The savage wars of peace–
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.

Take up the White Man’s burden–
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper–
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man’s burden–
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard–
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:–
“Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?”

Take up the White Man’s burden–
Ye dare not stoop to less–
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man’s burden–
Have done with childish days–
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!

Then this response was published in an African-American newspaper…

Why Talk of the White Man’s Burden?
By Bruce Grit, The Colored American (D.C.) (Feb. 25, 1899).

This poem was written in response to Kipling’s and published in a major African American newspaper.

Why talk of the white man’s burden;
What burdens hath he borne
That have not been shared by the black man
From the day creation dawned?

Why talk of the white man’s burden,
Why boast of the white man’s power
When the black man’s load is heavier,
And increasing every hour?

Why taunt us with our weakness,
Why boast of your brutal strength;
Know ye not that the children of meekness
Shall inherit the earth — at length?

“Take up the white man’s burden!”
What burdens doth he bear,
That have not been borne with courage
By brave men everywhere?

Then why the white man’s burden?
What more doth he bear than we —
The victims of his power and greed
From the great lakes to the sea?

This poem was published without a title. It is provided here from the first line.

The Panama Canal

Here’s a cool palindrome about Teddy Roosevelt: A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL: PANAMA

 

Video: 

For more info:

From How Stuff Works: http://geography.howstuffworks.com/central-america/panama-canal3.htm

Timeline of Canal Construction: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/panama/

This explains what it was like for the workers: from WGBH The American Experience: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/panama-workers/ and here is an animation of how it was expected to work: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/bonus-video/panama-locks/

Here’s a video that shows how it works: http://science.discovery.com/tv-shows/big-bigger-biggest/videos/big-bigger-biggest-constructing-the-panama-canal.htm

Chapter 27 questions

Chapter 27 Empire and Expansion

Due Tuesday January 28

1. According to pp 669-670, what general event (think Turner) and 8 specific developments (number them as you answer) caused American to turn its attention to the rest of the world by the 1890s? What did the Rev. Josiah Strong advocate, and why?

2. What was the “Big Sister” policy? How did our “little sister” like it, and how did it treat “her?”

3. Explain the meaning of the editorial cartoon on p. 670, and the meaning of the diner, the waiter, and the menu items.  What are the “Sandwich Islands?”

4. List or chart the major diplomatic crises in the late 1880s and 90s and their outcomes. Make sure you include the president at the time, with whom we were tangling, as well as what we were arguing about, and how these were resolved.

5. Who was Alfred Thayer Mahan, and how did influence government policy? What was his main thesis?

6. What details make the Venezuelan border crisis a perfect example of the competition occurring among countries at the end of the 19^th century? How did it alter US-British relations? Who is the eagle, and who is the lion?

7. How did Americans end up in Hawai’i in the 1820s? How did the McKinley Tariff and the treatment of Japanese workers end up influencing the “sugar lords” to attempt to take over the islands officially? How did they manage this? Why did it take until 1898 for Hawai’i  to be annexed by the US?

8. Why did Cubans rebel against Spanish rule, and what tactics did they use? What were the four reasons most American believed the US should support the insurrectos?

9. How did the planned Panama Canal influence our reaction to the Cuban rebellion?

10. What was the USS Maine doing in Havana harbor? What really happened—and what did people suspect? Why did people suspect this? When did the actual truth come out?

11.  Why did McKinley finally declare war on Spain? What is ironic about this decision? What was the Teller Amendment, and why was it passed?

12. Why did the first engagement of the war begin in the Philippines? Who was the American commander? What happened to the Spanish fleet there? Why couldn’t the American forces quickly complete the capture of the islands?

13. What was the most successful engagement of the war, and what made it possible (think back to page 670)? What did this engagement—reveal as a key weakness for the Spanish military? Which part of our own military was the weakest, and why? What were the causes of injury/death of most casualties?

14. What roles did Teddy Roosevelt and Leonard Wood play in the Spanish- American War? What happened when we invaded Puerto Rico in terms of response form the Spanish?

15. What were the terms of the treaty which ended the Spanish American War (including new territories and approximately where they were)? How long had the war lasted, and what did that indicate? What were the greatest controversies over the terms?

16. Why did the Spanish American War actually inflame anti-imperialist sentiment in the US? What did anti-imperialists argue about the acquisition of the Philippines? How did the acquisition of the Philippines  impact American foreign policy vis-à-vis Asia?

17. Explain the situation surrounding the Insular Cases court decisions, and its implications for future American imperialism.

18. How independent was Cuba after the War? Include an explanation of the Platt Amendment in your answer.

19. How did the Filipino people respond to being acquired by the US? Be specific and thorough in your answer, and include an explanation of “benevolent assimilation.” Who was Emilio Aguinaldo?

20. How did America try to compete with other foreign powers in China? How successful were these attempts? What was the Boxer Rebellion, what caused it, and how was it put down?

21. How did Theodore Roosevelt come to be on the presidential ticket as candidate for vice president in 1900? What had he previously done in public service?

22. How did imperialism influence the election of 1800? Describe the platform of both parties. What impact did Teddy Roosevelt have in this area on the Republican ticket?

23. How did Roosevelt end up being president? How did that end up probably annoying the Republican establishment? What was Roosevelt’s stance regarding presidential power and authority?

24. Explain how the Panama Canal was built including explanation of relevant treaties and the US involvement in the Panamanian Revolt from Columbia.

25. How did Roosevelt’s presidency impact our relations with Latin America? What was the Roosevelt Corollary and the so-called “Bad Neighbor” policy, and how were they related?

26. Why did Japan and Russia go to war, and how did the US intervene? How did Roosevelt get rewarded?

27. Explain the “gentleman’s agreement” and the Root –Takahara agreement.

28. How did the “New Left” historians interpret imperialism?

The first president to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Who was it, and why?

To find out, see these pages: http://portsmouthpeacetreaty.org/,

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1906/roosevelt-bio.html

and this one: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/nobelportsmouth.htm

The “White Man’s Burden” as Prophecy

Senator Benjamin Tillman was a former South Carolina governor who served as senator representing South Carolina. His nickname was “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman because he was a farmer and emphasized his links with the common farmer. He was known for his fiery rhetoric especially as a proponent of white supremacy. Please read the short biographical info found here at http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/tillman.html.

“The White Man’s Burden” as Prophecy
By Benjamin R. Tillman

Extract from a speech delivered in the U.S. Senate, Feb. 7, 1899.

As though coming at the most opportune time possible, you might say just before the treaty reached the Senate, or about the time it was sent to us, there appeared in one of our magazines a poem by Rudyard Kipling, the greatest poet of England at this time. This poem, unique, and in some places too deep for me, is a prophecy. I do not imagine that in the history of human events any poet has ever felt inspired so clearly to portray our danger and our duty. It is called “The White Man’s Burden.” With the permission of Senators I will read a stanza, and I beg Senators to listen to it, for it is well worth their attention. This man has lived in the Indies. In fact, he is a citizen of the world, and has been all over it, and knows whereof he speaks.

“Take up the White Man’s burden–
Send forth the best ye breed– Go, bind your sons to exile,
To serve your captive’s need; To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild– Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.”

I will pause here. I intend to read more, but I wish to call attention to a fact which may have escaped the attention of Senators thus far, that with five exceptions every man in this chamber who has had to do with the colored race in this country voted against the ratification of the treaty[the Treaty of Paris which was ratified Feb. 6, 1899 and ended the Spanish-American War]. It was not because we are Democrats, but because we understand and realize what it is to have two races side by side that can not mix or mingle without deterioration and injury to both and the ultimate destruction of the civilization of the higher. We of the South have borne this white man’s burden of a colored race in our midst since their emancipation and before.

It was a burden upon our manhood and our ideas of liberty before they were emancipated. It is still a burden, although they have been granted the franchise. It clings to us like the shirt of Nessus, and we are not responsible, because we inherited it, and your fathers as well as ours are responsible for the presence amongst us of that people. Why do we as a people want to incorporate into our citizenship ten millions more of different or of differing races, three or four of them?

But we have not incorporated them yet, and let us see what this English poet has to say about it, and what he thinks.

“Take up the White Man’s burden–
No iron rule of kings, But toil of serf and sweeper–
The tale of common things. The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread, Go, make them with your living
And mark them with your dead.”

Ah, if we have no other consideration, if no feeling of humanity, no love of our fellows, no regard for others’ rights, if nothing but our self-interest shall actuate us in this crisis, let me say to you that if we go madly on in the direction of crushing these people into subjection and submission we will do so at the cost of many, many thousands of the flower of American youth. There are 10,000,000 of these people, some of them fairly well civilized, and running to the extreme of naked savages, who are reported in our press dispatches as having stood out in the open and fired their bows and arrows, not flinching from the storm of shot and shell thrown into their midst by the American soldiers there.

The report of the battle claims that we lost only seventy-five killed and a hundred and odd wounded; but the first skirmish has carried with it what anguish, what desolation, to homes in a dozen states! How many more victims are we to offer up on this altar of Mammon or national greed? When those regiments march back, if they return with decimated ranks, as they are bound to come, if we have to send thousands and tens of thousands of re-enforcements there to press onward until we have subdued those ten millions, at whose door will lie these lives — their blood shed for what? An idea. If a man fires upon the American flag, shoot the last man and kill him, no matter how many Americans have to be shot to do it.

The city of Manila is surrounded by swamps and marshes, I am told. A few miles back lie the woods and jungles and mountains. These people are used to the climate. They know how to get about, and if they mean to have their liberties, as they appear to do, at what sacrifice will the American domination be placed over them? There is another verse of Kipling. I have fallen in love with this man. He tells us what we will reap:

“Take up the White Man’s burden,
And reap his old reward– The blame of those ye better
The hate of those ye guard– The cry of those ye humor
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:– ‘Why brought ye us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?'”

Those peoples are not suited to our institutions. They are not ready for liberty as we understand it. They do not want it. Why are we bent on forcing upon them a civilization not suited to them and which only means in their view degradation and a loss of self-respect, which is worse than the loss of life itself?

I am nearly done. Nobody answers and nobody can. The commercial instinct which seeks to furnish a market and places for the growth of commerce or the investment of capital for the money making of the few is pressing this country madly to the final and ultimate annexation of these people regardless of their own wishes.

Preliminary Links for the Spanish-American War

 

A really cool primary source graphic

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/spanishwar/

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_spanish.html

http://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_spanishamericanwar.htm

Questions Chapter 27- Imperialism

Chapter 27 questions
Due Wednesday, January 18

1.What was the relationship between American industrialization and the sudden attention to foreign relations and imperialism in the post-Civil War era? (Think back to mercantilism for help.)
2. What 2 policy developments did Alfred Thayer Mahan help encourage?
3. How was the Big Sister policy paternalistic?
4. What three events were used as examples of America’s new belligerence?
5. Why did Britain finally decide to play nice with the US?
6. Why did the McKinley Tariff create a crisis among white plantation owners in Hawai’i? Why was the Hawai’ian situation not resolved for another 5 years?
7. What did Hawai’i and Cuba have in common?
8. What does “you furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war” mean?
9. What actually happened to the Maine? What was implied at the time, and why would this matter?
10. In what way was the Teller amendment like the Wilmot Proviso?
11. Where were the first shots fired in the Spanish-American War? How is that different from where the issue was that caused the declaration of war? What was the shape of the Spanish navy?
12. Why did the Spanish-American War make Hawai’i more important, strategically? What then happened?
13. What is the connection between Leonard Wood and Missouri (you may need to google this)? Why were the Rough Riders so famous?
14. What were the leading causes of American casualties during the war?
15. What were the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898? What specific religious concerns influence the negotiations? Why was the treaty controversial at home?
16. What were the concerns of the Anti-Imperialist League and its allies? What was the “White Man’s Burden?” How did the Insular Cases exemplify the confusion over our new overseas possessions?
17. How did the Platt Amendment attempted to lessen the impact of the Teller Amendment?
18. Why was the Spanish-American War called a “splendid little war?”
19. What were the causes and effects of the Philippine Insurrection?
20. What does “benevolent assimilation” mean?
21. Why did the United States find itself involved in China, and what were the consequences of that involvement? How did the Chinese feel about Western interference?
22. What specific criticisms did William Jennings Bryan make during the presidential campaign of 1900?
23. How (and when) did the plot to remove Theodore Roosevelt from influence backfire?
24. Explain the differences among the three treaties that dealt with the construction of an isthmian canal. Why were the French involved, but the British less so?
25. What was the total cost of building the Panama Canal, in money, lives, and time?
26. What was “preventive intervention,” and what was it better known as? Where did this apply?
27. How did Teddy Roosevelt become the first US president to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize?
28. Why did anti-Asian sentiment break out in California again by 1906? What two agreements were concluded with Japan, specifically?

MC practice for Test 27-28 on Monday

Because I am being kind…

1. On the question of whether American laws applied to overseas territory acquired in the Spanish-American War, the Supreme Court held that

A. federal but not state laws applied.

B. only the President’s rulings counted and Congress had no voice in the matter.

C. American laws did not necessarily apply; it was up to Congress to apply constitutional protections on a territory by territory basis.

D. only tariff laws could be enforced.

E. only the Bill of Rights applied.

______________________

2. America’s initial Open Door policy was an argument to promote

A. free trade in China.

B. equal spheres of influence in China.

C. military protection for the Chinese emperor.

D. exclusive trade concessions for the US in Shanghai,

E. the principle of self-determination.

_______________________

3. Teddy Roosevelt became the first US president awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for

A. his work as the assistant secretary of the navy.

B. negotiating the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo Japanese War of 1904.

C. his treatment of the Filipino people.

D. his demand for fair treatment for Japanese laborers living in the US.

E. his principled status as a conscientious objector during the Spanish-American War.

______________________

4. The real heart of the progressive movement was the effort by reformers to

A. preserve world peace.

B. ensure the Jeffersonian style of government.

C. use the government as an agent for social welfare.

D. get the government off the backs of the people.

E. remove power from state and local governments.

______________________

5. The real purpose of Teddy Roosevelt’s assault on trusts was to

A. fragment big business.

B. establish himself as a bigger trustbuster than Taft.

C. halt the trend toward combination and integration in business.

D. prove that government, not big business, ruled the country.

E. demonstrate his complete mastery over the country.

______________________

6. All of the following were causes of US imperialism EXCEPT:

A. economic competition among industrialized nations.

B. a search for raw materials.

C. political and military competition, including the creation of a strong navy.

D. a belief in the racial and cultural superiority of American (WASP) people.

E. requests for American assistance from native peoples.

______________________

7. The acquisition of the Philippines resulted in the United States

A. gaining a weaker defensive position in the Far East.

B. openly challenging the British in imperialist competition.

C. gaining a new war to fight against nationalist Filipinos.

D. being hailed as saviors by the Filipino people.

E. gaining valuable spice sources.

______________________

8. The US gained a perpetual lease on the Panama Canal Zone in the

A. Hay- Bunau- Varilla Treaty.

B. Hay-Pauncefote Treaty.

C. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.

D. Gentlemen’s Agreement.

E. Teller Amendment.

______________________

9. Female progressives justified their reformist political activities on the basis of

A. their actions being an extension of women’s traditional roles as wives and mothers.

B. America’s need to catch up with more progressive European nations.

C. women’s inherent rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

D. the harsh treatment of women by their employers.

E. the need to assert female power against male oppression.

______________________

10. In the United States, prohibition

A. began with passage of the 18^th Amendment.

B. was already in place in most urban areas before being added to the Constitution.

C. was considered to be a proper issue for men only to discuss, since women were less likely to be drinkers.

D. was considered to be the same thing as temperance.

E. laws were first passed in the state of Maine in 1851.

______________________

11. In the 1908 landmark case of Muller v. Oregon the Supreme Court ruled that

A. sanitation codes were legal.

B. workingmen’s compensation was legal.

C. antiliquor laws were constitutional.

D. laws protecting female workers were legal.

E. antitrust laws were constitutional.

______________________

12. The public outcry  after the horrible Triangle Shirtwaist fire led many states to pass

A. mandatory fire escape plans for all businesses employing more than ten people.

B. safety regulations and workmen’s compensation laws for job injuries.

C. restrictions on female employment in the garment industry.

D. zoning regulations limiting where factories could be located.

E. laws guaranteeing unions the right to raise safety questions.

______________________

13. The Elkins and Hepburn Acts dealt with the subject of

A. regulation of the railroad industry.

B. the purity of food and drugs.

C. conservation of natural resources.

D. women’s working conditions.

E. regulation of municipal utilities.

______________________

14. The idea of “multiple use resource management” included all of the following EXCEPT:

A. recreation.

B. damming of rivers.

C. sustained yield logging.

D. summer stock grazing.

E. watershed protection.

______________________

15. The Supreme Court’s “rule of reason” as applied in the case of Standard Oil v. US in 1911 held that

A. it was immensely reasonable to assume that all trusts harmed the public welfare.

B. the amount of profits generated by Standard Oil was unreasonable, and therefore the company should be dissolved.

C.  only trusts that unreasonably restrained trade were subject to penalty under the Sherman Act.

D. any sort of limitations placed on corporations was unreasonable.

E. corporations reasonably behaved as persons under the law, and therefore were protected under the 14^th Amendment.

______________________

16. Theodore Roosevelt defended his building of the Panama Canal by claiming that

A. other nations in Latin America had requested his help.

B. the canal would strengthen the American relationship with Latin American nations.

C. he had received a “mandate from civilization.”

D. Britain would have built the canal had the US not taken the initiative.

E. it would enhance the economic development of the West Coast.

______________________

17. The Roosevelt Corollary added a new provision to the Monroe Doctrine that was specifically designed to

A. enable the US to rule Puerto Rico and the Canal Zone.

B. stop European colonization in the Western Hemisphere.

C. restore cordial relations  between the US and Latin Americans countries.

D. establish a friendly partnership with Britain so that together the two countries countries could police Latin American affairs.

E. justify US intervention in the affairs of Latin American countries.

______________________

18. The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” that Teddy Roosevelt worked out with the Japanese in 1907-1908

A. concluded the Russo-Japanese War.

B. helped him win the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize.

C. restricted Japanese immigration to upper class Japanese males.

D. ended racist “yellow journalism” being practiced in the US.

E. caused Japan to halt the flow of laborers to the US in exchange for the repeal of a racist San Francisco school board decree.

______________________

19. In the Root-Takahara agreement of 1908,

A. the US and Japan agreed to respect each other’s territorial holdings in the Pacific.

B. the Japanese government agreed to limit Japanese laborers entering the US.

C. the US agreed to accept a Japanese sphere of influence in China.

D. the US recognized Japanese control of Korea.

E. Japan  accepted US control of the Philippines in exchange for Japanese control of Manchuria.

______________________

20. When the US captured the Philippines from Spain,

A. Filipinos were granted US citizenship.

B. they did so without Filipino assistance.

C. Spain immediately asked for an end to the war.

D. Hawai’i was annexed as a key territory in the Pacific.

E. America granted the Philippines their independence.

1993 Resolution of Apology to the Native Hawai’ians

Go here (http://www.hookele.com/non-hawaiians/apology.html) to read the resolution. You can click on a link at the top and see a picture of President Clinton signing the document.

Make sure you note the disclaimer at the bottom of the resolution.