1. Imperialism- Chapter 7
-By the late 1800s, Americans began to set their sights on lands abroad. Before, the concern
was rebuilding the South and expanding in the West.
-Before the U. S. even thought about expanding abroad, European nations had already begun
the process.
-imperialism- economic and political domination of a strong nation over a weaker one.
-Reasons for imperialism:
* the demand for raw materials for factories (raw materials came from a variety of places)
* the desire to get around other countries’ tariffs (price each country paid to do business on
another country’s soil- most of the more industrialized nation looked for overseas territories to
keep from having to pay high tariffs)
*cultural superiority
-European countries began investing money in Asia and Africa. Both had an abundance of raw
materials.
*To protect their investments, they began to establish colonies and protectorates in these
territories (basically gave them political and economic control of these areas)—Remember to
mention King Leopold and the Congo.

2. -Americans began to take notice of this overseas expansion and wanted in on the action
(Remember Manifest Destiny from our chapter on the West- Manifest Destiny said that it is our
“destiny” to conquer these lands or territories. Supporters of this theory believed that it was
what the Lord intended for them to do).
-Americans began to use the whole “survival of the fittest” (Social Darwinism) theory to justify
their wanting to expand overseas.
-The idea of Anglo-Saxonism surfaced. Anglo- Saxonism said that only English- speaking nations
were superior in character, ideas, and systems of govt. Nations that didn’t fit this characteristic
were believed to be uncivilized. Again, we used the Manifest Destiny theory….Americans said
that it was our “destiny” to bring civilization to these lesser nations.
-The desire to expand and the need to protect our overseas markets led to the cries for our
own modern Navy. We realized that if we did acquire bases overseas we couldn’t trust
European nations to protect our interest.
AMERICAN EXPANSION IN THE PACIFIC
-American businesses had been trading in East Asia long before we actually began trying to
acquire territory.

3. -Americans were already trading with China, but we also wanted to trade with Japan. The
problem with that was….Japan didn’t want to trade with us. They only allowed trade with the
Chinese and the Dutch.
*They didn’t trust the West- thought that trading with us would lead to their destruction.
-U. S. Congress members were so upset by Japan’s not wanting to trade with us that they
pressured the president to force them to trade with us. Commodore Matthew C. Perry was
sent to Japan to see if he could “negotiate” a trade treaty.
*Commodore Perry to 4 American wasrships to Japan- The Japanese were so impressed by the
technology and the firepower on the steamships that they signed an agreement with us agreed
to trade. The treaty also included a “truce” between the two nations as well as a promise to
help any American ships that found themselves shipwrecked off the Japanese coast.
-As a result of this trade, Japan built their own powerful Navy and began conquering territories
abroad (This is known as Japanese imperialism).
ANNEXING HAWAII
-This open trade in Asia brought on the need for ports to resupply and refuel (before they
crossed the Pacific Ocean).
*Americans negotiated a deal and got permission to open a base in the Samoan Islands (in the
South Pacific), but they also had their sights set on Hawaii.

4. -American settlers had already found out that Hawaii’s climate and fertile soil was perfect for
growing sugarcane. Businessmen from America jumped on this and began establishing
plantations there.
-When Hawaii’s economy hit a recession, Americans worried that they might have to seek help
from either the British or the French, so we offered it to them first.
*The U. S. signed a treaty saying that Hawaii guar would be exempt from tariffs. When the
treaty expired, the U. S. refused to renew it without Hawaii promising to give us exclusive rights
to the Navy Base at Pearl Harbor.
*The treaty benefitted both Hawaii and the U. S. well. Hawaii’s economy hit a boom and
American businessmen profited greatly from their sugar plantations there.
-Before long, American businessmen in Hawaii began putting pressure on the Hawaiian king to
accept a constitution limiting his authority. Yes, you read that right. At the same time, sugar
planters in the U. S. began receiving subsidies---these subsidies made Hawaiian sugar higher
than sugar that was grown in the U. S.
*The American businessmen in Hawaii began hatching a plan to make Hawaii an official part of
the U. S.---this was the only way they saw increasing their sales.
-When Queen Liliuokalani took the throne in Hawaii, she began trying to restrict the
businessmen’s influence—She distrusted them and saw their influence as detrimental to the
Hawaiian way of life.
*She tried to establish a new constitution giving her more power as ruler. The American
planters were so upset by this that they tried to overthrow her as ruler. Again, yes, you read
that right.
*Marines were called in and the Queen was forced to step down. After she was thrown from
the throne, they set up their own government and began asking for the U. S. to annex Hawaii.
-Grover Cleveland was president at the time. He was against imperialism altogether and
definitely against what had just happened in Hawaii. He even tried to return the Queen to
power. The Senate knew that President Cleveland would never support annexing Hawaii, so
they simply waited until he was out of office. Hawaii was annexed 5 years later.