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this was technically the first war Americans fought on foreign soil, it was a dispute over territorial boundaries in what is now Texas
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the mexican american war ended with the treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo, which granted the united states the majority of the southwestern states.
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hawaii was deemed a republic in 1894, and its first president was fruit farmer Sanford Dole
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japan became open to trade with americans in 1853, and sided with the central powers in world war one
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chinese exports included tea, silk, jade, spices and porcelain, making the land very valuable to european traders, who were eventually kicked out for being too pushy
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alaska was purchased from russia and annexed into the united states in 1867.
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The Bayonet constitution was signed by the king of hawaii via military force on behalf of americans, and it abolished monarchy in that territory.
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alfred t mahan published The influence of seapower upon history in 1890, and it's said to be the best book on navigating the ocean of its time
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the spanish american war happened mostly because the spanish blew up the USS Maine, even though it was really just an excuse to start a war.
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cubans wanted independence from spain, and americans fought the spanish american war in an effort to help them obtain this. the americans succeeded, and immediately regretted this.
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hawaii was purchased and annexed into the united states in 1898.
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the spanish american war ended with the treaty of paris, americans won (spoiler alert)
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the united states gained multiple territories after the spanish american war, one of these being Guam. While guam is not technically defined as a state, it is a US territory.
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after the spanish american war, spain gave the phillippines to america for $20 million
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one of the territories america recieved from spain in the wake of the spanish american war was puerto rico.
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the last territory spain gave america in the wake of this war was cuba itself
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people of the philippines didnt want to be ruled by americans; they wanted the independence they'd fought for, So, over three years, during the course of this war, 4,200 americans died and 20,000 filipinos died
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the concept of big stick diplomacy was based around a quote by teddy roosevelt, saying "Speak softly and carry a big stick, you shall go far."
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big stick diplomacy meant that when negotiating foreign policy, attempt to keep peace, but always have a strong military to defend you. this method, for the most part, succeeded in making the US a powerful nation.
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the phillipine american war ended in name only in 1902 but the fighting continued for a few years after
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created by howard taft, when a nation uses economic power rather than manpower to get things done overseas
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dug basically as a way to connect the pacific and atlantic oceans, runs straight though panama
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the panama canal had been attempted (and failed) previously by the french, but in the end, the americans became the first ones to build the canal strong enough to send ships through safely
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world war one started with the assassination of archduke franz ferdinand in austria
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at first, the united states was planning to stay nuetral, and would sell supplies to all countries. some countries like austria were up and ready to declare war
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two groups began to form within europe: the alies, who opposed the outrage austrians felt over the death of their duke, and the central powers, who believed the austrians had every right to declare war.
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the red scare occurred when the americans were afraid alliance with communist based countries like the soviet union would also lead to them becoming communists.
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the germans, on behalf of the central powers, were policing the seas in submarines armed with missiles, and when one of them sunk an american freight ship, the US realized they could no longer stay civil and declared its staus as an allied power.
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in addition to the sinking of the Lusitannia, the americans found out germans had sent a telegram to mexico, saying that if the mexicans helped the central powers, they'd be able to get back what theyd lost in the mexican american war
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china had been reluctant to trade with foreigners for most of its long established history, but all of a sudden many european countries were trying to claim their own pieces of its territories and take its resources.
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the allies end up winning the war, and want to force the germans to pay very very high reparation fees. the main leaders of the allied powers draft up the treaty of versailles, which the US then refused to sign.
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the US ended up not signing the treaty of versailles and refusing to join the league of nations, a decision that they would probably come to regret, but would make them look very powerful to the other nations
