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"The Age of Imperialism" unit combines an engaging narrative with the broad resources available to students on the Internet. You can use this chapter in place of a standard textbook treatment of nineteenth-century American expansionism, or you can use it to supplement your existing Social Studies materials. The following lesson plan helps you establish and extend historical and instructional contexts and integrate the material into your United States history curriculum.
"The Age of Imperialism" remains a work in progress. If you would like to contribute ideas and suggestions, please contact us by e-mail at planet@smplanet.com.
Outline
Objectives
As a result of completing this unit, students will be able to...
- describe the foreign policy known as expansionism or imperialism, and explain what motivated the United States to adopt this policy in the nineteenth century.
- identify Alfred T. Mahan, Matthew C. Perry, Millard Fillmore, Queen Liliuokalani, Sanford B. Dole, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, Theodore Roosevelt, George Dewey, Emilio Aguinaldo, Tsu Hsi, John Hay, Ferdinand de Lesseps, William Howard Taft, and Adolfo Diaz.
- locate and describe the historical significance of Edo Bay, Nagasaki, Hawaiian Islands, Pearl Harbor, Cuba, Havana, Philippine Islands, Manila Bay, San Juan hills, Kettle Hill, Santiago, Puerto Rico, Guam, China, Forbidden City, Beijing, Panama, and Nicaragua.
- describe Commodore Perry's objective in entering Edo Bay, the negotiations that took place between him and the Japanese officials, and the result of these negotiations.
- explain how Americans gradually increased their influence over Hawaii's economy and government in the nineteenth century.
- describe the circumstances surrounding the explosion of the battleship Maine and the American response to that event.
- describe the results of the Spanish-American War, including the ensuing war in the Philippines.
- explain the "spheres of influence" that existed in nineteenth-century China, how they affected United States trade in China, and how John Hay's Open Door policy would have changed the economic situation there.
- explain the causes and results of the Boxer Rebellion.
- explain why a canal across the isthmus of Central America was strategically important to the United States.
- describe Teddy Roosevelt's role in completing the Panama Canal.
- define the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
- navigate the Internet to find relevant historical resources.
Setting the Context
Students will need to understand the following basic concepts as a context for their study of U.S. imperialism. They will probably already have studied most or all of these concepts earlier in the school year. However, you may wish to review the topics below before students begin exploring the online history.
- The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 defined United States foreign policy in the Americas for the rest of the nineteenth century and beyond. It declared that the United States had an interest in the Western Hemisphere and that European powers must not meddle in the affairs of any developing nations there. The United States was a young nation in 1823 and did not really have the power to back up the Monroe Doctrine. However, the policy was used to justify the sending of U.S. troops into Mexico in 1866 (to intimidate the French) and the purchase of Alaska in 1867.
- The idea of manifest destiny gained popularity in the 1830s and 1840s. (The term was coined in 1845 by newspaper columnist John L. O'Sullivan.) As people began settling the western territories, wresting control of the land from the original Native American inhabitants, many Americans came to believe that it was their nation's "manifest destiny" to possess all of the North American continent. Later in the century, this idea easily gave way to larger dreams of expanding America's influence around the world.
- By the late nineteenth century, the growing industrial economy of the United States was producing many more goods than the nation itself could consume. This overabundance of industrial goods led the United States to look for new markets abroad.
- European nations such as England, Spain, France, Russia, Portugal, Germany, and Belgium had already carved up Africa and large parts of Asia into colonies and "spheres of influence" by the late 1800s. To remain competitive, the United States reacted to European imperialism by looking for a way to secure its own economic future through a policy of expansionism.
Online History
Click here to go to the table of contents for The Age of Imperialism.
Enrichment Activities
Sensational Journalism
Screaming newspaper headlines about the situation in Cuba in the 1890s helped fan the flames of war by influencing public opinion in the United States. Students have no doubt seen other headlines aimed at selling newspapers—rather than telling honest stories—at newsstands and in supermarket checkout lines. Students could research some of the headlines and stories published in the World and the Journal in the 1890s and compare these with the headlines found in modern tabloid papers. How are they similar and/or different? Are any stories more or less harmful than others? Students may discuss their findings in small groups or prepare reports to share with the whole class.
Social Darwinism: Reason or Rationalization?
Some Americans who supported the policy of expansionism justified their views with the theory of Social Darwinism. Click on the link below to go to a critical thinking activity on this topic, which you may want to print out and distribute to students.
Nation of Hawai'i
Interested students can research the recent movement for Hawaiian independence. They could start their research on the Internet, at the Hawai'i: Independent & Sovereign Nation-State home page. After conducting their research, students might form teams to debate whether Hawaiian independence in the 1990s is a good idea.
Unit Wrap-Up
At the close of the unit, you may wish to bring the whole class together for a wrap-up discussion. The following questions can serve as a guide for the discussion.
- Do you think it's possible for a strong country to trade with a weaker country without controlling it? What are some benefits for the strong country if it does not use force to control the economies of its weaker trading partners?
- What responsibilities does the press have in terms of how it reports news stories? What are the short-term benefits of exaggerating or fabricating stories to make exciting headlines? What might be some long-term benefits of adhering to the truth?
- Do you think there is any such thing as a "splendid little war"? What other wars might some people remember as "splendid little" ones? (Students might mention the Persian Gulf War of 1990, which was over very quickly and ended in an overwhelming victory for the United States.) Who might think these wars were not so splendid? Who usually suffers most in a war? Who has to bear the long-term effects of a war?
Unit Test
We've created a Unit Test for "The Age of Imperialism." There's also an Answer Key to assist your assessment.
Return to The Age of Imperialism.
