Notes

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, also known as the time period of American Imperialism, there were many events that impacted the United States economically and politically. The era of American Imperialism influenced the creation of the Panama Canal and the "Open Door" Policy, two things that were extremely important in the building of the economic status of America. Along with these two events, the annexation of Hawaii, as well as the Spanish-American War were two major keys to the political point of view of the United States. during the American Imperialism time period.

Throughout the 1800s, transporting goods from the US to other parts of the world was a very big hassle. The only way goods could be delivered was by traveling an estimated 14,000 miles, circling around the bottom of South America. (History Alive!) This created huge amounts of money that were solely dedicated to the importing/exporting shipping fees. In order to cut these costs, the United States needed a shorter travel route. Fortunately, the French had previously began to build a canal-cutting through Panama,-minimizing the trip to just under 5,000 miles. (History Alive!) However, they had failed to complete this due to the widespread disease of malaria that killed off a majority of the workers. The US was then granted permission by Panama to invest in this project in hopes of completing it. In 1904, the Panama Canal was then completed and put to use. Although the Panama Canal allowed trade between the US and other countries to be more accessible, there was still one major country that they did not have affiliations with. In order to improve the social status of America and to gain profit, they needed to expand their business to China. In 1899, US Secretary of State, John Hay, proposed a policy towards China stating that all countries would have equal trade within China. This later on became known as the "Open Door" Policy. With the "Open Door" Policy in place, America has been known as the world's biggest and most successful country.

As an individual nation, the United States had interests in expanding their borders to other territories. On February 15, 1898, a mysterious explosion sank the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor, triggering a war between the US and Spain, also known as the Spanish-American War. The Maine had come to Cuba to protect American citizens while Cuba was fighting to win independence from Spain. The US supported their cause and demanded for Cuba to be released from Spain. This caused another uproar between the two, and later on resulting in America gaining the following territories: Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, and others. This defeat marked the end of Spain’s colonial empire and the rise of the United States as a global military power. After this, President Benjamin Harrison submitted a treaty to annex the Hawaiian islands to the US Senate for ratification (Document 4.) Through many tough battles between deciding whether or not it was worth taking native Hawaiians' land was ethical or not,
it became a final decision by Congress and President McKinley in 1898 for Hawaii to become an official territory of the United States (Document 4.) This proved to, not only Spain, but the rest of the world that America is only growing stronger as they continue to prove their power.

Between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, America has used strategies of imperialization to find its' way to the top of the world. With the economic and political improvements from the Panama Canal, the "Open Door" Policy, the annexation of Hawaii, and the Spanish-American War, America has been able to gain major respect and gratitude from others to continue its' journey to success.