chapter19

= Building an Empire: Your Land is My Land =

In the late 1800s the U.S. emerged as the world’s leading industrial producer and agricultural exporter. This economic success encouraged the nation to establish overseas colonies, just as the European powers were doing. The U.S. hoped colonization would provide new markets for its goods and new sources of raw materials. U.S. involvement in Samoa and a short war with Spain in 1898 increased the American role in the Pacific and the Caribbean. America’s war with Spain began over Cuba. But, in addition to establishing a U.S. presence in the Caribbean, the war extended the U.S. presence in Asia and the Pacific. After the war, the U.S. established political control over the Philippines and added Hawaii to its colonial holdings. The U.S. also became further involved in affairs in China and took a new interest in Japan. From 1898 onward, as American power grew in the Pacific, the U.S. role in Latin America expanded as well. Cuba came under strong U.S. control, while Puerto Rico became an out-and-out American possession. The U.S. built a canal across the Isthmus of Panama in these years, and the U.S. presence was felt throughout Latin America. Dollar diplomacy played a significant role in another Latin American country: Mexico. Though many Mexicans uneasily referred to the U.S. as “the Colossus of the North,” economic ties between the two countries increased in the late 19th century. But the Mexican Revolution of 1910 threatened these ties, bringing the two countries to the brink of war.
 * === War with Spain﻿ ===
 * People:** Te’o Tuvale, José Martí, Valeriano Weyler, William Randolph Hearst, Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, George Dewey, Emilio Aguinaldo ||  ||
 * === Expansion in the Pacific ===
 * People:** Kalakaua, Liliuokalani, John Hay, Matthew Perry ||  ||
 * === Expansion in Latin America ===
 * People:** Leonard Wood, Carlos Finlay ||  ||
 * === Conflict with Mexico ===
 * People:** Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, Venustiano Carranza, Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Álavaro Obregón, John J. Pershing ||  ||
 * After your test, check out this article about the Span-Am War, WWI and TR called Why Men Love War. ||  ||