American Imperialism

1. American Imperialism Aim: Why did we go to war with Spain?

2. Before You Read… • What was America like before the Spanish-American War? • What is imperialism? • Describe American political ideals. What exactly is democracy?

3. Small Group Question Review • 15 minutes: Get into groups of 6 and review and discuss homework questions. • The oldest: Mediator • The youngest: Scribe • Large Group Questions: Answer these questions after you finish going over the comprehension questions. • Based on the reading, why did we go to war with Spain? What reasons did Zinn give? What was his evidence? • Is the Spanish American war incompatible with democracy?

4. Zinn’s Argument • America used moral and racial motives to go to war, but these are simply justifications for economic reasons. • Remember: History is all about interpretation! This is one historian’s argument about the Spanish American War! • How important were moral and racial justifications in the Spanish-American War?

5. Racial Ideologies • Social Darwinism • Eugenics (Galton and Spencer) • Phrenology

6. Racial Motives: White Man’s Burden • White Man’s Burden Poetry Analysis: • With a partner, read/analyze the poem and be sure to answer all the discussion questions together.

8. Moral Motives • William Randolph Hearst: New York Journal • Joseph Pulitzer; New York World • Document Analysis: Atrocities of Spanish in Cuba

9. One perspective • W.A. Swanberg, a biographer of Hearst who said of the Spanish-American War: “It was an unnecessary war. It was the newspapers’ war. Above all, it was Hearst’s war.”

10. You decide • Based on the documents, why did we go to war with Spain? • HW Reflection: Was the Spanish American War a Just War?