The American Empire Post 3

For this part of the project, my group used Videolicious, an app used to record your voice over slides of pictures. We used pictures that pertained to our topic: Imperialism in America. In the slides, we explained our enduring understandings, and read quotes that related to it. With each member contributing at least one enduring understanding, we all got to hear what the other members of the group thought about the topic, which gave us a better understanding. One enduring understanding in particular being "Extreme nationalism creates people that are entitled, selfish, and unwelcoming to anyone unless they want to join their “utopian” society." This enduring understanding helped our group understand why United States felt they needed to be more involved in foreign affairs, and enact policies such as Manifest Destiny.

The photo essay comprised of a few main steps. The first being finding the pictures to represent the topic. The pictures chosen and arranged into groups of two, each group representing an enduring understanding. Next, we briskly recorded our points over the slides in order to fit the sixty second time limit Videolicious has. I think we did a pretty good job of relating our enduring understandings to our pictures and quotes, but perhaps alternating speaking in the video essay would have been better.

The sinking of the USS Maine. Used as an example of propaganda for the enduring understanding; "The press has much power, it is able to sway opinions and change minds."

Here is the link to our
Videolicious: http://video.videolicious.com/0d2c5fcb-0bea-4de1-824a-c9477a0fad0e
and 
Survey Monkey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XTGHX5D

The American Empire Post 2

Key Terms and Definitions:

Imperialism - a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Nationalism - devotion to ones nation

Annex - to join a new territory to an existing territory

Arbitration - the settlement of a dispute by a person or panel that was chosen to listen to both sides and make a decision

Spheres of influence - areas of economic and/or political control

Reconcentrados - Cuban citzens who had been moved into concentration camps by the Spanish during the Cuban revolution.

Banana Republic - another name for the Central American nations, due to their exportation of bananas to the U.S.

Platt Amendment - amendment that the US would withdraw troops from Cuba, if they did not involve themselves in other foreign countries

Manifest Destiny - the widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent (coined by journalist John O'Sullivan in 1845)

Spanish American War - A war started somewhat by the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine in 1898, America won and freed Cuba

U.S.S. Maine Incident - U.S. ship sunk in 1898, Spain blamed for sinking

Alfred T. Mahan - Captain (later admiral) who argued that Americas future hinged on gaining new markets abroad. influenced Roosevelt in expansion.

"Seward's Folly" - Alaska, when first purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867

The expansion of a territory will cause it to gain power and resources.

• US Acquisition of Alaska gave them access to to its "rich resources". (American History: Pathways to the Present Chapter 17 Section 1)

• The US Acquisition of Hawaii in 1853 allowed the United States exclusive access to Hawaii's sugar trade. (American History: Pathways to the Present Chapter 17 Section 1)

Wealthy people have more influence in their country than those of lower social class

• Rockefeller brothers urging government to become more imperialistic and to develop more assertive polices (“The Empire and the People”)

Individuals that have obtained power, will only seek more in their conquest in order to expand their empire and its power.  

• “In Cuba, alone, there are 15,000,000 acres of forest unacquainted with the axe. There are exhaustless mines of iron…. There are millions of acres yet unexplored….It means new employment and better wages for every laboring man in the Union….” (Albert J. Beveridge’s Senate campaign speech, September 16, 1898.)
• “All the great masterful races have been fighting races… No triumph of peace is quite so great as a triumph of war.”(The Empire and The People, 300)

At the bottom of the "pyramid" we see the reconcentrados, or the Cubans put into concentration camps at the time of the Spanish-American War. These people had no rights during the war, and had to accept the terms of the treaty as they were. These Cuban citizens were also subject to U.S. military intervention until the Platt Amendment was instituted. The war had a severe impact on these people for years after the peace, a lasting wound caused by America's imperialistic ideals.

The American Empire Post 1

The unit that we are currently on is about how people, places, and power can affect different societies. These three things can have a huge impact on the world, and changing it for the better, or for the worse. My group selected the topic: Imperialism in America, which is about the expansion of America's influence and trade throughout the rest of the world.

Key Terms and Definitions:

Imperialism - a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Nationalism - devotion to ones nation

Annex - to join a new territory to an existing territory

Banana Republic - another name for the Central American nations, due to their exportation of bananas to the U.S.

Manifest Destiny - the widely held belief in the United States that American settlers were destined to expand throughout the continent.

George Washington - first president, advised Americans to "steer clear of permanent allies"

James Monroe - established Monroe Doctrine; main principle of foreign policy, broadened to support American Imperialization

Alfred T. Mahan - Captain (later admiral) who argued that Americas future hinged on gaining new markets abroad. influenced Roosevelt in expansion.

"Seward's Folly" - Alaska, when first purchased by the United States from Russia in 1867

Enduring Understandings:

The expansion of a territory will cause it to gain power and resources.

• US Acquisition of Alaska gave them access to to its "rich resources". (American History: Pathways to the Present Chapter 17 Section 1)
• The US Acquisition of Hawaii in 1853 allowed the United States exclusive access to Hawaii's sugar trade. (American History: Pathways to the Present Chapter 17 Section 1)

Wealthy people have more influence in their country than those of lower social class

• Rockefeller brothers urging government to become more imperialistic and to develop more assertive polices (“The Empire and the People”)

This topic represents the theme, "People, Places, and Power", in a few ways. The expansion of American influence caused the United States to gain power through foreign trade markets, annexation of new territory, or investing in new nations such as the ones in Central America. Men such as Alfred T. Mahan would classify as a "person" in this theme. He argued how America needed to venture abroad into new trade markets, breaking free of anti-foreign policy set by James Monroe. Some examples of power would include the Rockefeller brothers influencing the government. The Rockefeller brothers, being very wealthy, had a large influence on the United States, pressuring them to adopt more dynamic foreign policies for their benefit.