The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

Toward an Empire in Latin America 589

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

CHINA

ALASKA

1867

BRITISH

INDIA

JAPAN

TIBET

TAIWAN

Guam

1898

Wake

1899

1899

Midway

1867 Hawaiian

Islands

BURMA 1898

KOREA

DUTCH INDIES

SIAM

FRENCH

INDOCHINA

PHILIPPINES

1898

Hong Kong

Foochow

Beijing

Shanghai

Tokyo

Canton

HI

MA

LA

YAS

Russian

British

Japanese

French

German

United States

The Netherlands

Date of U.S. acquisition

Area of U.S. Protestant missionary activity

U.S. expansion

U.S. influence

Colonial

possessions

Spheres of

influence

Huan

gH

e

South

China

Sea

INDIAN

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

Ya

ngz

iR.

Sea

of

Japan

Bay of

Bengal

The Course of Empire, 1867–1901China was the focus of American imperial visions: Missionaries, most of them women, flocked into China,
and American manufacturers craved access to the huge China market.

the head of a “Hawaii for the Hawaiians” movement,
she abolished the existing constitution under which
the white minority had pretty much controlled the
islands and attempted to rule as an absolute
monarch. The resident Americans then staged a coup.
In January 1893, with the connivance of the U.S.
minister, John L. Stevens, who ordered 150 marines
from the cruiserBostoninto Honolulu, they deposed
Queen Liliuokalani and set up a provisional govern-
ment. Stevens recognized their regime at once, and
the new government sent a delegation to Washington
to seek a treaty of annexation.
In the closing days of the Harrison administration
such a treaty was negotiated and sent to the Senate,
but when Cleveland took office in March, he withdrew
it. The new president disapproved of the way American
troops had been used to overthrow the monarchy and
attempted to restore Queen Liluokalani. But by now
the new regime, backed by American businessmen, was

firmly entrenched. Cleveland found himself unable to

do anything.

Finally, in July 1898, after the outbreak of the

Spanish-American War, Congress annexed the islands

by joint resolution, a procedure requiring only a sim-

ple majority vote.

Iolani Palace, Hawaiiatwww.myhistorylab.com

Toward an Empire in Latin America

Most of the arguments for extending American influ-

ence in the Pacific applied more strongly to Central

and South America, where the United States had

much larger economic interests and where the strate-

gic importance of the region was clear. Furthermore,

the Monroe Doctrine had long conditioned the

American people to the idea of acting to protect

national interests in the Western Hemisphere.

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