Deck 27: Empire and Expansion

Question 1

The "yellow press" of William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer promoted overseas expansionism as

A) an opportunity to develop new markets for their publications.
B) a way to keep up with European imperialist powers.
C) a chance to practice exciting photojournalism.
D) a opportunity for manly adventure and excitement.
E) an opportunity to bring American culture and religion to "native" peoples.

Answer 1

a opportunity for manly adventure and excitement.

Question 2

Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani was removed from power because

A) she refused to allow Christian missionaries in her country.
B) many Hawaiians found her rule corrupt.
C) Hawaiian agriculture had failed under her leadership.
D) President Grover Cleveland believed that U.S.national honor required control of the Hawaiian government.
E) she insisted that native Hawaiians should control Hawaii.

Answer 2

she insisted that native Hawaiians should control Hawaii.

Question 3

In their revolt against harsh Spanish rule, the Cuban nationalist insurrectos

A) attacked Spanish shipping.
B) blew up the battleship Maine.
C) staged guerilla raids on Havana.
D) assassinated Spanish officials.
E) burned sugar mills and attacked passenger trains.

Answer 3

burned sugar mills and attacked passenger trains.

Question 4

The question of the annexation of ____ touched off the first major imperialistic debate in American history.

A) Hawaii
B) Cuba
C) the Philippines
D) Puerto Rico
E) the Virgin Islands.

Question 5

U.S.naval captain Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that

A) free trade was essential to a nation's economic health.
B) control of the sea was the key to the United States' world domination.
C) the United States should develop a "two ocean navy."
D) an isthmian canal between the Atlantic and the Pacific was crucial to America's defense.
E) the U.S.should construct a fleet of steel battleships.

Question 6

The Venezuela boundary dispute was settled by

A) a brief war between Venezuela and British Guiana.
B) British concession of the disputed territory to Venezuela.
C) stationing United States marines along the disputed border.
D) arbitration of the Venezuelan and British claims.
E) the mediation of Brazil and Colombia.

Question 7

A major factor in the shift in American foreign policy toward imperialism in the late nineteenth century was

A) the need for additional population.
B) the desire for more farmland.
C) the construction of an American-built isthmian canal between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.
D) the closing of the frontier.
E) the need for overseas markets for increased industrial and agricultural production.

Question 8

The battleship Maine was sent to Cuba to

A) provoke a war with Spain.
B) protect and evacuate American citizens.
C) show U.S.support for the Cuban revolution against Spain.
D) gain U.S.control of Havana harbor.
E) demonstrate the power of the new U.S.steel navy.

Question 9

In the late 1880s and 1890s, the United States nearly went to war with all the following countries except

A) France.
B) Britain.
C) Chile.
D) Germany.
E) Italy.

Question 10

Most Americans favored aiding the Cuban revolutionaries for all of the following reasons except

A) outrage at the Spanish use of reconcentration camps.
B) fear that the Cuban war would spread to south Florida.
C) a desire to protect substantial American trade and investment in Cuba.
D) democratic sympathy for patriots fighting for their freedom.
E) the atrocity stories reported in the "yellow press."

Question 11

One reason that the British submitted their border dispute with Venezuela to arbitration was

A) their growing tensions with Germany made a war with America seem like a disaster.
B) to see the Monroe Doctrine ruled invalid in a world court.
C) to demonstrate their commitment to the principles of international law.
D) fear that they might lose their last colony in South America.
E) that they recognized America's growing domination of Latin America.

Question 12

Later investigations showed that the battleship Maine was sunk by

A) the Spanish.
B) an explosion on the ship.
C) Cuban rebels.
D) reporters working for William Randolph Hearst.
E) a mine planted by Cuban-Americans from Florida.

Question 13

Of the following, the individual who had the least enthusiasm for U.S.imperialistic adventures as the nineteenth century ended was

A) Theodore Roosevelt.
B) William Randolph Hearst.
C) Alfred Thayer Mahan.
D) William McKinley.
E) Grover Cleveland.

Question 14

Before a treaty annexing Hawaii to the United States could be rushed through the Senate in 1893,

A) President Harrison's term expired and anti-imperialist Grover Cleveland became president.
B) war broke out between the United States and Spain.
C) the white American "sugar rebels" decided that Hawaii should remain independent.
D) popular opinion in the United States turned against such colonial ventures.
E) the pro-annexation forces demanded that Hawaii be admitted to the Union as a state.

Question 15

The numerous diplomatic crises and near-wars of the United States in the late 1880s and 1890s demonstrated

A) the resistance of native peoples to American expansionism.
B) that other nations were jealous of American power.
C) the growing tensions between the United States and Britain.
D) the failure of the Monroe Doctrine.
E) the aggressive new national mood.

Question 16

President Grover Cleveland refused to annex Hawaii to the United States because

A) incorporation of the islands would threaten the American sugar industry.
B) the United States did not have the naval power to protect the islands.
C) the coup against the queen had been carried out against the will of a majority of native Hawaiians.
D) he did not want to incorporate non-white peoples into the United States.
E) the United States would then have to establish military bases in Hawaii.

Question 17

In his book Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis, the Reverend Josiah Strong advocated American expansion

A) to keep the American frontier spirit alive.
B) to open up new markets for industrial goods.
C) to spread American religion and values.
D) to ease labor violence at home.
E) to maintain white racial superiority.

Question 18

President William McKinley asked Congress to declare war on Spain mainly because the

A) business community favored the conflict.
B) Spanish government had refused to negotiate.
C) justice of obtaining Cuban independence was clear.
D) United States hoped to acquire a naval base at Guantanamo.
E) American people demanded it.

Question 19

Imperialist advocates like Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge argued that America should acquire colonies because

A) they would be places where America's surplus population could settle.
B) in the Darwinian struggle for power, only the strongest and "fittest" nations would survive.
C) they would provide strategic defense for the U.S.coasts.
D) America's founding values were based on expansion and domination.
E) America's superior culture should be spread around the world.

Question 20

To justify American intervention in the Venezuela boundary dispute with Britain, Secretary of State Richard Olney invoked the

A) Platt Amendment.
B) Open Door policy.
C) Monroe Doctrine.
D) Foraker Act.
E) Gentlemen's Agreement.

Question 21

All of the following became possessions of the United States in 1898-1899 except

A) Puerto Rico.
B) Guam.
C) the Philippine Islands.
D) the Virgin Islands.
E) Hawaii.

Question 22

The "Rough Riders" organized by Theodore Roosevelt,

A) were trained as an elite professional military unit.
B) were trained in guerilla warfare.
C) proved largely ineffective in combat against the Spanish.
D) consisted primarily of Roosevelt's upper-class friends.
E) were a volunteer regiment with little military background.

Question 23

During the Spanish-American War, almost the entire Spanish fleet was destroyed at the Battle of

A) Havana.
B) Santiago.
C) Guantanamo.
D) the Isle of Pines.
E) Manila Bay.

Question 24

The 1899 Philippine insurrection began because

A) remaining Spanish officials tried to regain political control.
B) the United States refused to give the Filipinos their independence.
C) Communist insurgents attempted to seize control of the islands.
D) American occupiers were neglecting the economic and social needs of the Filipinos.
E) American missionaries tried to convert Catholic Filipinos to Protestantism.

Question 25

The Teller Amendment

A) guaranteed the independence of Cuba after the overthrow of Spanish rule.
B) declared that the United States would exercise temporary colonial control over Cuba.
C) authorized President McKinley to order American troops into Cuba.
D) stipulated that no part of Cuba could be annexed by the United States.
E) granted the United States a base at Guantanamo Bay.

Question 26

American imperialists who advocated acquisition of the Philippines used all of the follow arguments except

A) American missionaries could convert and Christianize the Filipinos.
B) the islands' economic potential for expanding American trading profits.
C) the islands would provide a strategic base for further American expansion into China.
D) it was wealthy America's responsibility to "take up the White Man's burden" and uplift the underprivileged Filipinos.
E) Germany might acquire them if the United States did not.

Question 27

The most controversial event associated with the Spanish-American War proved to be

A) the justification and rightness of declaring war on Spain.
B) the debate over whether to permanently annex Cuba.
C) the acquisition of Puerto Rico and Guam as American colonies.
D) the acquisition of the Philippines as an American colony.
E) the growing migration of Cubans and Puerto Ricans to the United States.

Question 28

The Philippine nationalist who led the insurrection against both Spanish rule and United States occupation was

A) Valeriano Weyler.
B) Emilio Aguinaldo.
C) Dupuy de Lóme.
D) Pasqual de Cervera.
E) Ramon Macapagal.

Question 29

The American invasion of Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War

A) encountered stiff resistance from the Spanish.
B) was the final blow that forced Spain to surrender.
C) was a quick and easy military success.
D) was resisted by Puerto Rican rebels seeking independence.
E) occurred with no intentions of permanently acquiring Puerto Rico.

Question 30

Immediately after the United States captured the Philippines from Spain,

A) Congress voted to annex Hawaii to United States.
B) America granted the Philippines its independence.
C) Admiral Dewey brought Emilio Aguinaldo from China to the Philippines.
D) the Filipinos were granted American citizenship.
E) the U.S.Navy established a base at Manila Bay.

Question 31

American military success during the Spanish-American War came mainly from

A) its small but highly trained army.
B) its effective alliance with Cuban and Filipino guerilla rebels.
C) its sophisticated young generals and War Department military planners.
D) its advantages in economic strength and weapons production.
E) its navy.

Question 32

In the Platt Amendment, the United States partly impaired Cuba's independence by asserting

A) its right to prevent Cuba from forming alliances with any foreign power.
B) its right to militarily intervene in Cuba and permanently maintain a naval base at Guantanamo.
C) that Cuba must maintain a democratic form of government.
D) that American property rights in Cuba would be guaranteed by the United States.
E) that American citizens could establish gambling casinos and nightclubs in Havana.

Question 33

The greatest loss of life for American fighting men during the Spanish-American War resulted from

A) naval battles in the Caribbean.
B) the war in the Philippines.
C) land battles in the Cuban campaign.
D) disease and contaminated food in both Cuba and the United States.
E) the poor performance of amateurish volunteer military units.

Question 34

A major weakness of Spain in the Spanish-American War was

A) the lack of support from its European allies.
B) the antiquated and overmatched vessels in its navy.
C) the lack of an effective strategic military plan.
D) its unpreparedness to fight in a tropical climate.
E) its inability to wage guerilla war.

Question 35

Starting in 1917, many Puerto Ricans came to the mainland United States seeking

A) independence.
B) freedom from political persecution.
C) to learn English.
D) citizenship.
E) employment.

Question 36

By acquiring the Philippine Islands at the end of the Spanish-American War, the United States

A) assumed rule over millions of Asian people.
B) became a full-fledged East Asian power.
C) assumed commitments that would be difficult to defend.
D) justified developing a big navy and promoted popular support for it.
E) all of these.

Question 37

President McKinley justified American acquisition of the Philippines primarily by emphasizing that

A) the Filipinos wanted to be annexed by the United States.
B) they would provide a valuable check on the growing power of Japan in the Pacific.
C) only annexation could guarantee control of U.S.naval bases there.
D) the Philippines were America's spoils of war by right of conquest.
E) it seemed the only alternative to anarchy or loss of the islands to another foreign power.

Question 38

Anti-imperialists presented all of the following arguments against acquiring the Philippine Islands except that

A) it would violate the "consent of the governed" philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
B) the Filipinos themselves were demanding independence, not colonial rule.
C) Filipinos might come to the United States and demand American citizenship.
D) annexation would propel the United States into the political and military cauldron of East Asia.
E) despotism abroad might well beget despotism at home, plus imperialism was costly and unlikely to turn a profit.

Question 39

On the question of whether the Constitution and American laws applied to the territory acquired in the Spanish-American War, the Supreme Court decided that

A) those under American rule did not enjoy full constitutional and legal rights.
B) Congress could extend the Bill of Rights to the colonial subjects if it chose.
C) the Constitution applied but federal laws did not.
D) no tariffs could be established against Hawaiian or Puerto Rican products.
E) the people of all the territories must eventually be granted citizenship.

Question 40

The United States declared war on Spain even though the Spanish had already agreed to

A) sign an armistice with the Cuban rebels and end reconcentration.
B) accept Cuban independence.
C) transfer Cuba to American possession.
D) apologize for the sinking of the Maine.
E) accept international arbitration of the conflict.

Question 41

In the 1900 presidential election, the Democratic party and its candidate, William Jennings Bryan, insisted that ____ was the "paramount issue" of the campaign.

A) tariff protection
B) imperialism
C) free silver
D) social reform
E) national defense

Question 42

The United States 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.

Question 43

In response to the Boxer Rebellion, the United States

A) refused to accept any indemnity for the losses that it incurred while putting down this uprising.
B) sent more American missionaries to China.
C) sent money but no troops to help a multinational contingent to crush the uprising.
D) became an East Asian power.
E) abandoned its general principles of nonentanglement and noninvolvement in overseas conflict.

Question 44

Teddy Roosevelt's role in the Panamanian Revolution involved

A) using American naval forces to block Colombian troops from crushing the revolt.
B) ordering an economic embargo of Colombia.
C) declaring in advance that he would recognize Panama if it revolted.
D) sending in American ground troops.
E) funding the Panamanian rebels.

Question 45

Besides Panama, the route seriously considered as the location for a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was through

A) Guatemala.
B) Nicaragua.
C) Honduras.
D) Mexico.
E) Costa Rica.

Question 46

When Filipinos first came to the United States, they worked mainly as

A) chefs.
B) railroad laborers.
C) servants in the navy.
D) industrial laborers.
E) agricultural laborers.

Question 47

The Republicans won the 1900 election mainly because of

A) the popularity of their imperialist policies.
B) divisions between the Democrats and former Populists.
C) vice-presidential nominee Theodore Roosevelt's ability to win over key electoral states.
D) Bryan's lackluster campaign.
E) the prosperity achieved during McKinley's first term.

Question 48

China's Boxer Rebellion was an attempt to

A) overthrow the corrupt Chinese government.
B) show that Chinese martial arts could defeat Western weaponry.
C) throw out or kill all foreigners.
D) attack European powers by allying with the United States.
E) expel all Christian missionaries and restore traditional Chinese religion.

Question 49

Teddy Roosevelt won the Republican vice-presidential nomination in 1900 mainly because

A) his progressivism balanced McKinley's conservatism.
B) New York political bosses wanted him out as governor.
C) as a New Yorker he would balance the Midwestern McKinley.
D) Mark Hanna thought his "cowboy" image would add excitement to the ticket.
E) he would be able to hold his own in debates with William Jennings Bryan.

Question 50

America's initial Open Door policy was essentially 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 United States in Shanghai.
E) the principle of self-determination.

Question 51

At the time he became the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 1900, Theodore Roosevelt was

A) assistant secretary of the navy in McKinley's cabinet.
B) a colonel in the Rough Riders military unit.
C) a U.S.senator from New York.
D) governor-general of the Philippines.
E) governor of New York.

Question 52

The American desire to construct a canal across Central America was motivated primarily by

A) a desire to improve the defense of the United States.
B) the Panamanian Revolution.
C) a desire to expand commercial shipping between the east and west coasts.
D) a desire to prevent the French or British from doing so.
E) growing American economic interests in Central America.

Question 53

President McKinley's policy of "benevolent assimilation" in the Philippines

A) fell far short of solving sanitation and public health problems.
B) was aimed at preparing the Filipinos for American citizenship.
C) was largely resented by the Filipinos.
D) was supported and carried out by the American military.
E) recognized the value of traditional Filipino culture.

Question 54

The United States entered the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty with ____, the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with ____, and the Gentlemen's Agreement with ____.

A) Panama; Britain; Britain
B) Japan; Britain; Panama
C) Britain; Britain; Japan
D) Panama; Britain; Japan
E) Panama; France; Britain

Question 55

Many Americans became concerned about the increasing foreign intervention in China because they

A) feared that American missions would be jeopardized and Chinese markets closed to non-Europeans.
B) wanted exclusive trade rights with the Chinese.
C) feared German military domination of China.
D) believed that such intervention undermined Chinese sovereignty.
E) disliked the racial attitudes displayed by the Europeans.

Question 56

The Democratic presidential candidate in the election of 1900 was

A) Alton B.Parker.
B) Woodrow Wilson.
C) Champ Clark.
D) William Jennings Bryan.
E) Adlai E.Stevenson.

Question 57

The American war against the Filipino nationalist rebels

A) was won with fewer casualties than the war in Cuba.
B) demonstrated the effectiveness of antiguerilla tactics.
C) led to brutal atrocities on both sides.
D) exemplified Americans' commitment to democratic ideals.
E) was highly popular in the United States.

Question 58

The British gave up their opposition to an American-controlled isthmian canal because they

A) sold their rights to Philippe Bunau-Varilla.
B) had already spent large sums on a failed canal effort.
C) confronted an unfriendly Europe and were bogged down in the Boer War.
D) were involved in a war with India.
E) accepted American domination of Latin America.

Question 59

The Philippine insurrection was finally broken in 1901 when

A) American troops overwhelmed the Filipino rebels.
B) William Howard Taft was dispatched as U.S.administrator of the islands.
C) the United States pledged to grant independence to the Philippines in 1946.
D) the Filipino resistance army splintered.
E) Emilio Aguinaldo, the Filipino leader, was captured.

Question 60

The revolution in Panama began when

A) Panamanian units of the Colombian army revolted.
B) Colombian troops invaded the isthmus.
C) the U.S.Congress rejected a treaty for the sale of Panama to Colombia.
D) Bunau-Varilla and the Panamanians feared the loss of U.S.canal funds.
E) a Colombian officer shot several Panamanian civilians.

Question 61

In the Root-Takahira agreement of 1908,

A) the Japanese government agreed to limit the number of Japanese immigrant laborers entering the United States.
B) the United States and Japan agreed to respect each other's territorial holdings in the Pacific.
C) the United States agreed to accept a Japanese sphere of influence in China.
D) the Japanese agreed to accept the segregation of Japanese children in California schools in return for the United States' recognition of Japanese control of Korea.
E) Japan agreed to accept U.S.control of the Philippines in exchange for Japanese domination of Manchuria.

Question 62

In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War started because

A) Russia seemed ready to take permanent control of Chinese Manchuria.
B) the United States refused to force Russia from Sakhalin Island.
C) Russia and Japan were competing to take control of Korea.
D) Russia feared growing Japanese power in the Pacific.
E) of racial tensions between Russians and Japanese.

Question 63

Describe and analyze the three most important consequences of the Spanish-American War.

Question 64

Assess the validity of the following statement, "the Spanish-American War represented an end to the strong isolationist tradition in American foreign policy."

Question 65

Arrange the following events in chronological order: (A) American declaration of war on Spain, (B) sinking of the Maine, (C) passage of the Teller Amendment, (D) passage of the Platt Amendment.

A) A, B, D, C
B) D, C, B, A
C) B, A, D, C
D) B, A, C, D
E) C, D, A, B

Question 66

American intervention in Latin American nations in the early twentieth century usually derived from

A) the need to defend these nations against Spanish or German threats.
B) the hope of acquiring new territories for American colonial expansion.
C) the fact that they were chronically in debt.
D) the desire to control the flow of Latin American immigrants into the United States.
E) a desire to strengthen Latin American democracy.

Question 67

Theodore Roosevelt in effect created a "Bad Neighbor" policy toward Latin American primarily by

A) building the Panama Canal.
B) making Puerto Rico a U.S.colony.
C) involving the United States in the border dispute between Venezuela and Britain.
D) adding the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
E) sending U.S.troops to the Dominican Republic.

Question 68

To what extent did the role of "race" place in the debates over the acquisition of Hawaii, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico? How did both imperialists and anti-imperialists take account of "racial difference" in their arguments?

Question 69

President Roosevelt organized the conference at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1905 to

A) develop a plan for granting independence to the Philippines.
B) mediate a conflict between Germany and Spain over North Africa.
C) arrange a mutual defense pact with Great Britain.
D) establish a colonial office to manage the United States' new empire.
E) mediate a peaceful conclusion to the Russo-Japanese War.

Question 70

Theodore Roosevelt became involved in the peace settlement for the Russo-Japanese War

A) on his own initiative.
B) as a way of enhancing America's position in East Asia.
C) when Russia secretly asked for his assistance.
D) because he feared that the British might ally themselves with Japan.
E) when Japan secretly asked him to help.

Question 71

What military strengths and weaknesses did the United States display in the Spanish-American War? Is it correct to say that this war marked the emergence of the United States as a great world power?

Question 72

What did the Insular Cases reveal regarding America's attitudes and treatment of people under its "colonial" rule? How did the subsequent histories of Hawaiians, Filipinos, and Puerto Ricans show the great variety of outcomes that emerged from the acquisitions of 1898-1899?

Question 73

Theodore Roosevelt's "Gentlemen's Agreement" with Japan

A) concluded the Russo-Japanese War.
B) helped him to win the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize.
C) caused Japan to halt the flow of laborers to America in return for the repeal of a racist school decree by the San Francisco School Board.
D) put a stop to the racist "yellow journalism" being practiced in the United States.
E) restricted Japanese immigration to upper-class gentlemen.

Question 74

Assess the validity of the following statement, "the United States had to join the imperialistic scramble of the age or be permanently left behind as a great power."

Question 75

Theodore Roosevelt vehemently rejected charges that

A) he had taken bribes to choose the Panama route over Nicaragua.
B) he had violated the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Britain.
C) he would be unable to construct the canal on time and on budget.
D) he had failed to offer enough money to Colombia and the French canal company.
E) he had actively plotted to stage Panama's revolt against Colombia.

Question 76

Was the Spanish-American War fundamentally justified or not? How did a war originally fought for Cubans' independence turn into a war of colonial acquisition?

Question 77

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declared that

A) the United States had the right to rule Puerto Rico and the Canal Zone.
B) the last few European colonies in the Americas must be granted independence.
C) the British and German navies should cease patrolling Latin American waters.
D) the United States would be the senior partner in the Pan American Alliance.
E) the United States alone could intervene in the affairs of Latin American countries if need be.

Question 78

Was the Spanish-American War inevitable? What alternatives to war were available to McKinley in 1898 and explain why he did not pursuer any of these?

Question 79

Given America's strong anticolonial and democratic history, how were a majority of Americans able to justify acquiring colonial possessions? How strong were imperialists' arguments, and why did they arouse such strong opposition from other Americans?

Question 80

Evaluate the fundamental causes of the burst of American imperialism in the late 1890s? Which of the many factors was most important, and why?