Imperialism Homework Quiz

It is a noble land that God has given us:...Think of the tens of thousands of Americans who will invade mine and field and forest in the Philippines when a liberal government, protected and controlled by this republic..."

Albert Beveridge, 1898

Which of the following conflicts led to the speech given by Beveridge?

• Civil War

• Mexican American War

• Seward's Folly

• Spanish American War

Answer explanation

The Spanish American War (1898) began as an intervention by the United States on behalf Cuba. The United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines in the war and gained temporary control over Cuba. This was is considered the beginning of American Imperialism.

It is a noble land that God has given us:...Think of the tens of thousands of Americans who will invade mine and field and forest in the Philippines when a liberal government, protected and controlled by this republic..."

Albert Beveridge, 1898

Which of the following foreign policies was Beveridge referring to?

• Imperialism

• Manifest Destiny

• Isolationism

• Embargo Acts

Answer explanation

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

"...and we have little save the will to be free. Whether this war shall be known in history as a war for liberty or as a war of conquest...depends on your decision. Mr. President, you know we will not willingly surrender our freedom. If you do not withdraw your army, there will be war."

Emilio Aguinaldo, 1898

Which of the following occurred shortly after this letter was sent to the United States president?

• U.S. suppressed a nationalist movement in the Philippines

• U.S. took control of all of Cuba

• Hawaii granted statehood

• U.S. granted the Philippines independence

Answer explanation

The Philippine-American war was an armed conflict between the First Philippine Republic and the U.S. that lasted from February 4, 1899, to July 2, 1902. While Filipino nationalists viewed the conflict as a continuation of the struggle for independence that began in 1896 with the Philippine Revolution, the U.S. government regarded it as an insurrection

Which of the following was NOT a reason for the U.S. to extend its territorial influence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

• Competition with European Empires

• Economic opportunities

• Racial theories

• The attack on the Lusitania

Answer explanation

The attack on the Lusitania occurred in 1915, well after the U.S. began expanding is territorial influence.

Which of the following events is depicted in the cartoon?

• The Panama Canal

• The tour of the Great White Fleet

• The completion of "White Man's Burden"

• The implementation of the Platt Amendment

Answer explanation

The U.S. took over the building of the Panama Canal (from France) in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan

Then will the

world enter upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races, for which the Anglo-Saxon is

being schooled.... Then this race of unequaled energy, with all the majesty of numbers and the might of

wealth behind it—the representative, let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest

civilization—having developed peculiarly aggressive traits calculated to impress its institutions upon

mankind, will spread itself over the earth. If I read not amiss, this powerful race will move down upon Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond."

Josiah Strong, Our Country, 1885

All of the following are closely associated with the ideas presented by Strong EXCEPT

• Eugenics

• Socialists

• Social Darwinism

• Imperialism

Answer explanation

Josiah Strong was a proponent of the ideas of Herbert Spencer, namely Social Darwinism. The eugenics movement emerged from the beliefs of Social Darwinism in that eugenics advocated the breeding of people to purposefully improve the human race

Which of the following was issued by the United States shortly after the publication of this French cartoon?

• Platt Amendment

• Annexation order for Hawaii

• Open Door Note

• Sussex Pledge

Answer explanation

The Open Door Policy is a term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th and the early 20th century that would allow for a system of trade in China open to all countries equally.

The "New Diplomacy" in the cartoon was also referred to as which of the following?

• Great White Fleet

• Big Stick Policy

• Panama Canal

• Remember the Maine

Answer explanation

Big stick policy refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy: "speak softly and carry a big stick." This included a large navy and military in order to be prepared and to intimidate potential rivals.

"Take up the White Man's Burden,

And teach the Philippines

What interest and taxes are

And what a mortgage means.

Give them electrocution chairs,

And prisons, too galore,

And it they seem inclined to kick,

Then spill their heathen gore.

---The Real "White Man's Burden" 1899

Which of the following would the author agree with?

• The insular cases

• The U.S. needs to control Puerto Rico

• The Treaty of Paris

• The U.S. should not extend its territory

Answer explanation

The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established on June 1, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area. The anti-imperialists opposed expansion, believing that imperialism violated the fundamental principle that just republican government must derive from "consent of the governed

If we are to become a great seaboard power in the Pacific, we must stand guard against German and French rivalry....strategically, the United States must have protection from possible German aggression in the Pacific."

-Commodore Dewey, 1898

Which of the following would most agree with Commodore Dewey?

• Alfred Thayer Mahan

• William McKinley

• William Taft

• Woodrow Wilson

Answer explanation

Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States naval officer and historian. His book "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History" emphasized the importance of a strong navy with regard to a nations power.