Turner, Mahan, And The Plan For Empire

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) American Foreign Policy 1890-1914 Turner, Mahan, And The Plan For Empire Early in the 1890s, reformers, entrepreneurs, and missionaries laid the groundwork for proponents of an enlarged foreign policy and an American empire. After decades of official isolationism coupled with weak presidents who lacked the mandate from the people or the support of Congress to make significant overseas commitments, a new generation of American leaders—many of whom were too young to fully understand the damage caused by the Civil War—took the helm. These new leaders were eager to demonstrate the power of the United States internationally and were eager to be put to the test in a war. One of these individuals who pushed for the growth of American power abroad was Theodore Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. The Navy was the only armament system appropriate for safeguarding foreign expansion at the turn of the century. The country's push toward global expansion was aided by Turner (Figure 22.4) and naval commander Alfred Thayer Mahan. Author Brooks Adams further highlighted the effects of the country losing its border in his 1895 book The Law of Civilization and Decay. Turner made his Frontier Thesis announcement during the Chicago World's Colombian Exposition, as was noted in the introduction of the chapter, stating that the American frontier had a major role in shaping American democracy. "American energy will continually demand a wider field for its exercise," he said, adding that "for nearly three centuries the dominant fact in American life has been expansion." Despite the fact that there was no longer any room for these forces to proceed domestically, they would still find an outlet on the international stage. In his conclusion, Turner stated that "the forces [of expansion] will continue to demand a vigorous foreign policy, an interoceanic canal, a revival of our power upon our seas, and the extension of American influence to outlying islands and adjoining countries." These kinds of policies would enable Americans to access new markets. Aware of how a frontier could alleviate the pressures of growing immigration and population growth in the eastern and midwestern regions of the United States, he also promoted the creation of new areas for population growth, whether they were to serve as sites for additional American settlement or as places to house more immigrants. Turner's argument was very influential at the time, but historians have since severely critiqued it. The thesis specifically highlights the widespread bigotry and contempt for the indigenous people, traditions, and communities in the American borderlands and beyond. Mahan offered the more useful guidance, while Turner supplied the concept for an empire. He proposed three tactics that would help the US establish and sustain an empire in his 1890 book The Influence of Seapower upon History. Let me start by pointing you how depressing the U.S. Navy, he demanded that the government construct a more robust and potent variant. Secondly, he proposed the creation of a naval base network to support this growing fleet. Due to the restricted range of steamships and their need on coal, Seward's prior acquisition of the Midway Islands fulfilled this function by supplying a crucial naval coaling station. This was necessary in order to expand the navy's geographic reach. This naval supply network was expanded by subsequent acquisitions in the Pacific and Caribbean (Figure 22.5). Lastly, Mahan advocated for the future building of a canal that would cut the time and energy needed to transfer the new fleet from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans in half. The canal would span the isthmus of Central America. The government acted swiftly, taking Mahan's suggestion, and enacting the Naval Act of 1890, which established production targets for a brandnew, cutting-edge fleet. The government was successful in expanding the United States by 1898. 114 of the 160 operational ships in the Navy's fleet were recently constructed steel warships. Furthermore, the navy had six battleships today, as opposed to none during the preceding ten years. Military analysts ranked the nation as the third strongest naval force in the world, behind only Great Britain and Spain. Along with this, the US started to exert more influence over other Pacific Islands, chief among them Samoa and Hawaii. Regarding the latter, the profitable sugar industry that formed the foundation of the Hawaiian Islands' economy piqued the interest of American businesses the most. By 1890, almost all of Hawaii's sugar output was shipped tarifffree to the United States thanks to a series of reciprocal trade agreements. Concerned businessmen collaborated with American minister to Hawaii, John Stevens, to orchestrate a swift, armed uprising to oppose Queen Liliuokalani's attempts to establish the islands as an American protectorate between 1891 and 1893, when she capitalized on a deep-seated anti-American sentiment among native Hawaiians regarding the political and economic dominance of exploitative American sugar companies (Figure 22.6). In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States conquered Hawaii after five more years of political bickering. Similar strategic interests arose for the United States in the South Pacific Samoan Islands, chief among them being access to the naval refueling station at Pago Pago, which allowed US commerce and navy boats to refuel and replenish their supplies of food and gasoline. The United States, Great Britain, and Germany formed a three-party protectorate over the islands in 1899 to safeguard American access to the vital ports situated there while simultaneously attempting to balance out other foreign interests.