2700 Terms

Louis Kossuth

(19 September 1802 - 20 March 1894 -- Preeminence During 1850s) -- He was a leader in Hungary's revolution against the Austrian Empire. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in Great Britain and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe. He became very much a cult figure in the U.S, with far reaching support. Following short after the French Revolution, there was a revolutionary fervor throughout Europe, and Kossuth in particular sought more individual civil liberties for all Hungarians. His rebellion was unfortunately crushed by Austria and her ally Russia. Americans as well as the British loved Louis Kossuth, and the Americans rescued him from Turkish prison. He galvanized the United States to declare that it sought the right of self-determination for all (under Millard Fillmore). Zachary Taylor also recognized Hungary, unfortunately it did not last.

Election of 1860

(Abe Lincoln GOP vs. John Breckenridge (S-Dep) vs. John Bell (Constitutional) vs. Stephen Douglass (Dem): The election illustrated a clear section divide. The Europeans believed that they were being proved correct in that the United States would fracture because of factionalism. The South proves that they no longer need to be expansionist as a nation, rather they could just become independent and fend for themselves. In prior elections, there was GOP, Dem, Whig support in various geographic regions -- now it was almost entirely divided North and South. This was a big prelude to the Civil War. Bell and Douglas had campaigned that they could save the Union from the inevitable result of disunion following a Lincoln election. Loyal army officers in Virginia, Kansas and South Carolina warned Lincoln of military preparations. Secessionists threw their support behind Breckinridge. In the end, Abe Lincoln had won the election, but only with 39.8 percent of the vote, thus not much of a popular mandate.

Filibusterer

A filibuster, in the context of foreign policy, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country or territory to foment or support a revolution. The term is usually used to describe United States citizens who attempted to foment insurrections in Latin America in the mid-19th century, such as William Walker in Nicaragua, but is also applicable in the modern day. Sometimes filibusterers were given acquittal during this era, because there was such a sentiment for manifest destiny -- which is what filibusters could have brought.

John Slidell (1793 - July 9, 1871 (preeminence prior to Mexican American War - Polk)

A native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man and became a staunch defender of Southern rights as a U.S. Representative and Senator. He is perhaps most remembered for his role prior to the U.S. - Mexico War. Having encircled Mexico along the border with the U.S. military power, Polk set out to force a deal. Polk's instructions made clear that SLidell should seek to restore good relations with Mexico, while demanding that it surrender on the Rio Grande boundary (as opposed to Nueces), and relinquish California, for no more than 30 million dollars. This mission failed, as the Mexicans did not respect the demands, and war broke out soon after. Mexico had not consented to receiving such a noteworthy politician, instead they wanted a relatively powerless commissioner. Slidell's mere presence destabilized an already shaky government, and there was never any chance that negotiations would be remotely successful. Polk began drafting a declaration of war, but before anything could happen, Zachary Taylor's troops had "provoked" the Mexicans into firing the first shot--war was on. Later in life, Slidell joined the Confederacy.

General Valeriano Weyler (In power 1880s/1890s)

After Arsenio Martínez Campos had failed to pacify the Cuban rebellion, the Conservative government of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo sent Weyler out to replace him. This selection met the approval of most Spaniards, who thought him the proper man to crush the rebellion. While serving as a Spanish general, he was called "Butcher Weyler" because hundreds of thousands of people died in his concentration camps. He polluted Cuba's own crops and water, just to hurt the rebels -- this ended up crushing Cuba's economy. Was truly a terrible human.

Nicolas Trist (June 2, 1800 - February 11, 1874 → preeminence during Mexican-American War - Polk)

After Winfield Scott had defeated Santa Anna and his forces at Veracruz, and was moving fast for Mexico City, Polk made one last attempt at negotiations. Even this smashing success did not end the conflict though. Fearing Scott as a potential political rival, Polk denied him the role of peacemaker, dispatching a minor figure, State Department clerk Nicholas Trist, to negotiate with Mexico. Shortly after his arrival, Trist and Scott did not get along at all. The US forces were now at an armistice five miles from Mexico City, with Mexico City making quick preparations for the upcoming onslaught. When negotiating with Trist, the Mexicans and Santa Anna demanded their land go to the Nueces, reparations for the war, and that the US relinquish all territory. Polk was displeased with Trist's failed negotiations, and thus he had the troops push on and take Mexico City. Despite the fact that Polk order Trist back to America, Trist kept negotiating with Santa Anna throughout this time, and was responsible for much of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.

Victoriano Huerta

After a military career under President Porfirio Díaz, Huerta became a high-ranking officer under pro-democracy President Francisco Madero during the first phase of the Mexican Revolution. In 1913, Huerta led a counter-revolutionary coup, the Ten Tragic Days, in which Madero was deposed and then assassinated. The Huerta regime was immediately opposed by revolutionary forces, and Huerta was forced to resign and flee the country in 1914, after 17 months as president. While attempting to intrigue with German spies in the United States during World War I, Huerta was arrested in 1915 and died in U.S. custody. Huerta moved quickly to consolidate power with the support of state governors.[12] Chihuahua governor González refused and Huerta had him arrested and murdered in March 1913. The most important challenge from a state governor was by Venustiano Carranza, governor of Coahuila, who drafted the Plan of Guadalupe, calling for the creation of a Constitutionalist Army to oust Huerta and restore constitutional government. Supporters of Carranza's plan included Emiliano Zapata, who nonetheless remained loyal to his own Plan de Ayala, Francisco "Pancho" Villa and Álvaro Obregón. However, former revolutionary general Pascual Orozco whom Huerta fought when serving President Madero now joined with Huerta as a counter-revolutionary. Victoriano Huerta (left) and Pascual Orozco (right). Huerta established a harsh military dictatorship.[13] U.S. President Woodrow Wilson became hostile to the Huerta administration, recalled ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, and demanded Huerta step aside for democratic elections. When Huerta refused, and with the situation further exacerbated by the Tampico Affair, President Wilson landed U.S. troops to occupy Mexico's most important seaport, Veracruz.

Root-Takahira Agreement (1908)

Agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan negotiated between United States Secretary of State Elihu Root and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Takahira Kogorō. Signed on November 30, 1908, the agreement consisted of an official recognition of the territorial status quo as of November 1908, affirmation of the independence and territorial integrity of China (i.e. the "Open Door Policy" as proposed by John Hay), maintenance of free trade and equal commercial opportunities, Japanese recognition of the American annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Philippines and American recognition of Japan's position in northeast China. Implicit in the agreement was American acknowledgment of Japan's right to annex Korea and dominance over southern Manchuria, and Japan's acquiescence to limitations on Japanese immigration to California

Article Ten (1919)

Article X (ten) was part of the founding Covenant of the League of Nations. Article X, which called for collective security, would require member nations to provide assistance to a member state that experiences external aggression. Major issue: required member nations to put international/League interests at a higher priority than national interests, meaning that a member nation could be drawn into conflict with nation it regarded as friendly. In the US, republicans had major objections to Article X, which they regarded as requiring the US to give up sovereignty in favor of international interests. From Article X: All member nations shall "...respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial/political integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League..."

Charles Sumner -- (Was a senator April 24, 1851 - March 11, 1874)

As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War working to destroy the Confederacy, free all the slaves, and keep on good terms with Europe. During Reconstruction, he fought to minimize the power of the ex-Confederates and guarantee equal rights to the freedmen. He was one of the most powerful senators at this time. Although Sumner forcefully advocated the annexation of Alaska in the Senate, he was against the annexation of the Dominican Republic, then known by the name of its capital, Santo Domingo. After leading Senators to defeat President Ulysses S. Grant's Santo Domingo Treaty in 1870, Sumner broke with Grant, and denounced him in such terms that reconciliation was impossible. Grant quickly pulled a Frank Underwood on him.

Oregon Territory (Issue comes to the forefront in 1844-1846 - Polk)

Because of the failures of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 to address the Oregon Territory, this was inevitably going to come up at some point. The Oregon Territory was originally by primarily British fur traders (some French as well), until Americans began to reside there in the 1830s. Under Presidents Jackson and Taylor, the issue was left alone. But once James Polk took office, this was a territory he eagerly pursued, so that his dream of manifest destiny could be realized. Political pressure in the United States urged the occupation of all the Oregon Country. Expansionists in the American South wanted to annex Texas, while their counterparts in the Northeast wanted to annex the Oregon Country whole. It was seen as significant that the expansions be parallel, as the relative proximity to other states and territories made it appear likely that Texas would be pro-slavery and Oregon against slavery. The 49th Parallel was the proposed new border for the U.S. territory. Many historians believe that Polk was actually more concerned about Texas than Mexico. Nevertheless, Polk sent the British government the previously offered partition along the 49th parallel (while many Northerners 54th / 40 -- thought Polk wasn't going too far). Subsequent negotiations faltered as the British plenipotentiaries still argued for a border along the Columbia River. The negotiations were completed in 1846, just prior to the outbreak of the US-Mexican War, and the border was set at the 49th. This whole dispute illustrated the different manner in which the U.S. conducted negotiations with fellow Anglos compared to the Mexicans.

Boxer Rebellion -- (1899-1901)

By the 1890s, China had become a major trading partner for Western nations, and for Japan. China lacked military muscle to resist these countries, and several, including Russia, Britain, and Germany, had carved off bits of China—some known as treaty ports—for use as trading or military bases. Within those jurisdictions, the nation in possession often gave preference to its own citizens in trade or in developing infrastructure such as railroads. Although the United States did not claim any parts of China, a third of the China trade was carried in American ships, and having an outpost near there was a major factor in deciding to retain the former Spanish colony of the Philippines in the Treaty of Paris. The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist uprising which took place in China towards the end of the Qing dynasty between 1899 and 1901. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", and was motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments and opposition to foreign imperialism and associated Christian missionary activity. The Great Powers intervened and defeated the Chinese forces.

William Walker -- (Preeminence: 1853-1860)

Classic example of a filibuster: First in 1853, Walker sought to conquer the Mexican territories of Baja California and Sonora. He succeeded in capturing La Paz, the capital of sparsely populated Baja California, which he declared the capital of a new Republic of Lower California, with himself as president. He soon expanded to the Republic of Sonora, before being pushed out by the resilient Mexicans. After returning to California proper, Walker was put on trial for conducting an illegal war, in violation of the Neutrality Act of 1794. However, in the era of Manifest Destiny, his filibustering project was popular in the southern and western United States and the jury took eight minutes to acquit him. One year later, he took advantage of a civil war in Nicaragua, and became the leader of the liberal party. Cornelius Vanderbilt of all people had large commercial interests in Nicaragua. Eventually, Walker and his liberal party won out, and Franklin Pierce actually recognized their government in 1856. Eventually, Cornelius Vanderbilt turned on Walker though. Walker had also scared his neighbors and potential American and European investors with talk of further military conquests in Central America. He was becoming too powerful. The United States and other European powers joined Costa Rica in putting down the increasingly aggressive Walker. Eventually, many other Central American powers united in removing Walker. On May 1, 1857, Walker surrendered to Commander Charles Henry Davis of the United States Navy under the pressure of the Central American armies, and was repatriated. Upon disembarking in New York City, he was greeted as a hero, but he alienated public opinion when he blamed his defeat on the U.S. Navy. Still, it shows that the American Public was hungry for hemispheric domination. His final expedition was to British Honduras/Belize, but the British turned him over to the Honduran people, and he was executed in 1860. He also was an advocate for slavery, which is why Pierce (and many other Americans) tolerated/recognized his actions.

Creole Incident (1841)

Conflict over the slave trade added a more volatile dimension to the GB-USA relations in the 1830s/40s. Britain had launched an all-out attack against the institution of slavery in the 1830s (not necessarily for humanitarian reasons). The US was still actively importing many slaves, even though they had technically ended the trade in 1808. The British began actively searching many U.S. ships just to find slaves. In november of 1841, slaves aboard the Creole en route to New Orleans, boarded the ship, killed a slave trader, and sailed to the British Bahamas. The British then released all 135 of slaves into their territory, thus making the U.S. (particularly those in the South) furious. GB and U.S. had no extradition treaty, so the slaves remained free. This raised tensions between the two nations and led to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836)

Definitive win for Texas against the Mexican forces, and put an end to the hostilities (for the moment). It is important to recognize how this would indirectly lead to the conflict between the U.S. and Mexico roughly a decade later. Under Spanish and Mexican rule, the province of Texas had never extended past the Nueces River; however, because of this battle, Texas now possessed all the way to the Rio Grande (current boundary). This was very clearly not Texas land, but this small border dispute will be a massive catalyst for the hostilities between the U.S. and Mexico, after Mexico was eventually annexed. Speaking of annexation, Andrew Jackson was very hesitant to annex Texas, despite the fact that the Texas Constitution basically matched the U.S. Constitution verbatim, and many Texans wanted to be part of the US. He did this primarily to avoid a conflict between the slave-owning South states (it was presumed Texas would be a slave state), and the free Northern States. Martin Van Buren also delayed, and it was not till John Tyler that Texas was actually annexed, just preceding the U.S.-Mexico War, and also illustrating that the issue slavery clearly was an upcoming conflict as well.

Dollar Diplomacy

Dollar Diplomacy of the United States—particularly during President William Howard Taft's term—to further its aims in Latin America and East Asia through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. Historian Thomas A. Bailey argues that Dollar Diplomacy was nothing new, as the use of diplomacy to promote commercial interest dates from the early years of the Republic. However, under Taft, the State Department was more active than ever in encouraging and supporting American bankers and industrialists in securing new opportunities abroad. Bailey finds that Dollar Diplomacy was designed to make both people in foreign lands and the American investors prosper.[1] The term was originally coined by President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt didn't want to intervene between him and his secretary.[2] The outgoing President Theodore Roosevelt laid the foundation for this approach in 1904 with his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (under which United States Marines were frequently sent to Central America) maintaining that if any nation in the Western Hemisphere appeared politically and financially unstable so as to be vulnerable to European control, the United States had the right and obligation to intervene. Taft continued and expanded the policy, starting in Central America, where he justified it as a means of protecting the Panama Canal. In March 1909, he attempted unsuccessfully to establish control over Honduras by buying up its debt to British bankers. Dollar Diplomacy wasn't always peaceful. In Nicaragua, U.S. "intervention involved participating in the overthrow of one government and the military support"[citation needed] of another. When a revolt broke out in Nicaragua in 1912, the Taft administration quickly sided with the insurgents (who had been instigated by U.S. mining interests) and sent U.S. troops into the country to seize the customs houses.[citation needed] As soon as the U.S. consolidated control over the country, Secretary of State Philander C. Knox encouraged U.S. bankers to move into the country and offer substantial loans to the new regime, thus increasing U.S. financial leverage over the country.[citation needed] Within two years, however, the new pro-U.S. regime faced a revolt of its own; and, once again, the administration landed U.S. troops in Nicaragua, this time to protect the tottering, corrupt U.S. regime. U.S. troops remained there for over a decade.[citation needed]

Shandong Province

During the nineteenth century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence, and Shandong, a coastal province, was especially affected. Qingdao was leased to Germany in 1897 and Weihai to Britain in 1898. The rest of Shandong was generally considered to be part of the German sphere of influence. As a result of foreign pressure from the Russian Empire, which had annexed Outer Manchuria by 1860, the Qing dynasty encouraged settlement of Shandong people to what remained of northeast China. Shandong was one of the first places in which the Boxer Rebellion started and became one of the centers of the uprising. In 1899, the Qing general Yuan Shikai was appointed as governor of the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for 3 years. As a consequence of the First World War, Germany lost Qingdao and its sphere of influence in Shandong. The Treaty of Versailles transferred the German concessions in Shandong to Japan instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over the area. Popular dissatisfaction with this outcome of the Treaty of Versailles (Shandong Problem) led to the May Fourth Movement. Finally, Shandong reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after mediation by the United States during the Washington Naval Conference. Weihai followed in 1930.

Georges Clemenceau

Georges Benjamin Clemenceau[1] (French pronunciation: ​(28 September 1841 - 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who led the nation in the First World War. A leader of the Radical Party, he played a central role in politics during the Third Republic. Clemenceau served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. In favour of a total victory over the German Empire, he militated for the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine to France. He was one of the principal architects of the Treaty of Versailles at the France Peace Conference of 1919. Nicknamed "Père la Victoire" (Father Victory) or "Le Tigre" (The Tiger), he took a harsh position against defeated Germany, though not quite as much as President Poincaré, and won agreement on Germany's payment of large sums for reparations.

Colonel House

Edward Mandell House (July 26, 1858 - March 28, 1938) was a powerful American diplomat, politician, and presidential advisor, commonly known by the courtesy title Colonel House, although he had no military experience. He was a highly influential back-stage politician in Texas before becoming a key supporter of the presidential bid of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. He did not hold office but was Wilson's chief advisor on European politics and diplomacy during World War I (1914-18) and at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. In 1919 Wilson broke with House and several other top advisors, believing they had deceived him at Paris. House played a major role in shaping wartime diplomacy. Wilson had House assemble "The Inquiry"—a team of academic experts to devise efficient postwar solutions to all the world's problems. In September 1918, Wilson gave House the responsibility for preparing a constitution for a League of Nations. In October 1918, when Germany petitioned for peace based on the Fourteen Points, Wilson charged House with working out details of an armistice with the Allies. House helped Wilson outline his Fourteen Points, and worked with the president on the drafting of the Treaty of Versailles and the Covenant of the League of Nations. House served on the League of Nations Commission on Mandates with Lord Milner and Lord Robert Cecil of Great Britain, Henri Simon[11] of France, Viscount Chinda of Japan, Guglielmo Marconi of Italy, and George Louis Beer as adviser. On May 30, 1919 House participated in a meeting in Paris, which laid the groundwork for establishment of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Throughout 1919, House urged Wilson to work with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge to achieve ratification of the Versailles Treaty, but Wilson refused to deal with Lodge or any other senior Republican.

Elihu Root -- (99-04)

Elihu Root February 15, 1845 - February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the Secretary of War (1899-1904) under two presidents, including President Theodore Roosevelt. Under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, Root served as the United States Secretary of War 1899-1904. He reformed the organization of the War Department. He enlarged West Point and established the U.S. Army War College, as well as the General Staff. He changed the procedures for promotions and organized schools for the special branches of the service. He also devised the principle of rotating officers from staff to line. Root was concerned about the new territories acquired after the Spanish-American War. He worked out the procedures for turning Cuba over to the Cubans, ensured a charter of government for the Philippines, and eliminated tariffs on goods imported to the United States from Puerto Rico. When the Anti-Imperialist League attacked American policies in the Philippines, Root defended the policies and counterattacked the critics, saying they prolonged the insurgency.[9] Root left the cabinet in 1904 and returned to private practice as a lawyer.

Emilio Aguinaldo (In office 1899 - 1901)

Emilio Aguinaldo was a Filipino revolutionary, politician, and a military leader who is officially recognized as the First President of the Philippines (1899-1901) and led Philippine forces first against Spain in the latter part of the Philippine Revolution (1896-1897), and then in the Spanish-American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine-American War(1899-1901). He was captured by American forces in 1901, which brought an end to his presidency. Aguinaldo was actually a middle-class well-educated man (unlike Jose Marti). US Officials were originally respectful of him and his ambitions. Americans believed that Aguinaldo's government (essentially a dictatorship) was unsustainable, especially against Europeans. McKinley barely considered independence or a protectorate status, and instead went straight to annexation -- knowing that Filipinos could not sustain itself -- and seeing it as an opportunity. This led to war between the US and the Filipinos, with the Filipinos becoming a protectorate of the US in the end -- shows the US' / McKinley's imperial desire.

Treaty of Tianjin (1858 - Buchanan)

Ended the US' minimal involvement in the Opium Wars. France, UK, Russia, and the Qing-China were all involved. Here were the major points: The major points of the treaty were: 1. Britain, France, Russia, and the U.S. would have the right to establish diplomatic legations (small embassies) in Peking (a closed city at the time) 2. Ten more Chinese ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Niu Zhuang, Tamsui, Hankou, and Nanjing 3. The right of all foreign vessels including commercial ships to navigate freely on the Yangtze River 4. The right of foreigners to travel in the internal regions of China, which had been formerly banned 5. China was to pay an indemnity of four million taels of silver to Britain and two million to France. 6. The fighting between the European powers and China over the Opium trade actually continued, and was not formally ended till 1860.

Eugene Debs

Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 - October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States.[1] Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States. He is perhaps most known for the election of 1912, when he received nearly 6 percent of the vote. Woodrow Wilson was able to win the presidency, but with only around 40 percent of the vote -- thus not much of a popular mandate. Roosevelt (Progressive) and Taft (GOP) finished with 27 and 23 percent respectively. The American people were confused.

Platt Amendment (TR - 1903)

Following Cuba's independence, this was implemented. However, this Amendment was essentially a restriction on Cuba's independence, by limiting its trade partners and self-sovereignty. Cuba needed to keep their debts low, and remain loyal to the US, with it being Cuba's greatest trade partner. The Platt Amendment outlined the role of the United States in Cuba and the Caribbean. It mainly limited the right to make treaties with other nations. It restricted Cuba in the conduct of foreign policy and commercial relations. It established that Cuba's boundaries would not include the Isle of Pines (Isla de la Juventud) until its title could be established in a future treaty. The amendment also demanded that Cuba sell or lease lands to the United States necessary for coaling or the development of naval stations. This showed that the US was potentially becoming too imperialistic and rather hypocritical, in that they were taking away the right to self-govern.

Roosevelt Corollary -- (1904)

For example, British, German, and Italian gunboats blockaded Venezuela's ports in 1902 when the Venezuelan government defaulted on its debts to foreign bondholders. Many Americans worried that European intervention in Latin America would undermine their country's traditional dominance in the region.In his annual messages to Congress in 1904 and 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt expanded the Monroe Doctrine. The corollary stated that not only were the nations of the Western Hemisphere not open to colonization by European powers, but that the United States had the responsibility to preserve order and protect life and property in those countries.

Pancho Villa

Francisco (Pancho) Villa (born José Doroteo Arango Arámbula; 5 June 1878 - 20 July 1923) was a Mexican Revolutionary general and one of the most prominent figures of the Mexican Revolution. As commander of the División del Norte (Division of the North) in the Constitutionalist Army, he was the veritable caudillo of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Given Chihuahua's size, mineral wealth, and proximity to the United States of America, it provided him with extensive resources. Villa was also provisional Governor of Chihuahua in 1913 and 1914. Villa can be credited with decisive military victories leading to the ousting of Victoriano Huerta from the presidency in July 1914. Villa then fought his erstwhile leader in the coalition against Huerta, "First Chief" of the Constitutionalists Venustiano Carranza. Villa was in alliance with southern revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who remained fighting in his own region of Morelos; however, the two revolutionary generals briefly came together to take Mexico City after Carranza's forces retreated from it. Later, Villa's heretofore undefeated División del Norte engaged the military forces of Carranza under Carrancista general Álvaro Obregón and was defeated in the 1915 Battle of Celaya. Villa's army then collapsed as a significant military force. Villa subsequently led a raid against the U.S.-Mexican border town of Columbus, New Mexico in 1916. The U.S. government sent U.S. Army General John J. Pershing to capture Villa in an unsuccessful nine-month incursion into Mexican sovereign territory that ended when the United States entered World War I and Pershing was called back.

Francisco Madero

Francisco Madero was a reformist politician who successfully removed dictator Porfirio Diaz from office in Mexico. He became president in 1911, but was assassinated two years later. Since 1876, Mexico's government was under the complete control of iron-fisted dictator Porfirio Díaz. Although he had modernized the country and grew the economy, Díaz squashed all political opposition and dispossessed peasants from their land. The stark contrast between rapid economic growth for the elite and sudden impoverishment for the masses eventually led to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Rebel armies organized by Emiliano Zapata, Pascual Orozco, Casulo Herrera and Pancho Villa rose up all over Mexico. Madero returned to lead an unsuccessful attack on a military garrison, but the effort gained the respect of the rebels, who recognized Madero as the leader of the revolution. The rebel armies continued their push to oust Díaz. In May 1911, Díaz relinquished power and a provisional government was formed. On November 6, 1911, Madero was elected president of Mexico. However, the next 15 months proved difficult, with serious political opposition from remnants of the old-guard regime and the military. Madero was arrested on February 18, 1913, and he was executed four days later. Huerta then turned on his fellow conspirators and made himself president. Today, Madero is seen as a hero and the father of the Mexican Revolution. Naive and idealistic, Madero was honest and decent, and did much to set in motion reforms that would close the gap between rich and poor in Mexico.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850)

GB had longstanding strategic and economic interests in Central America, like the U.S. Anglo-American tensions began to rise once again, especially with regards to a canal connecting the Pacific to the Atlantic through the isthmus. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty allowed for joint construction and control of a canal, temporarily eased tensions, but had vague language that would later spark more conflict. The UK had claims in three regions: British Honduras (present-day Belize), the Mosquito Coast (the region along the Atlantic coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras) and the Bay Islands (now part of Honduras). The United States, while not making any territorial claims, held in reserve, ready for ratification, treaties with Nicaragua and Honduras which gave the United States a certain diplomatic advantage with which to balance the de facto British dominion. Clearly, both nations thought they should be the dominant force in the region, and thus should have sole control of the canal. Because both countries did not favor the outcome of the treaty (joint-control), a canal was never actually constructed (although there was no conflict either). The United States felt that it had secured enough of a dominant position in the Western Hemisphere (specifically the Caribbean) by the 1880s, and thus nullified their own treaty with the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. The state department opened negotiations with GB, who honestly had bigger concerns in Europe and in South Africa. They wanted to maintain good relations with the U.S., so they consented to the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. Thus, the Panama Canal was born, and Anglo-American relations were maintained peacefully.

John Hay (SOS 1898-1905; under Mckinley and TR)

He was against slavery. He was great friends of Abe Lincoln. Hay was responsible for negotiating the Open Door Policy, which kept China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, with international powers, although it did not prove to be terribly effective. By negotiating the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty with the United Kingdom, the (ultimately unratified) Hay-Herrán Treaty with Colombia (1903), and finally the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty (1903) with the newly-independent Republic of Panama, Hay also cleared the way for the building of the Panama Canal.

Santa Anna -- (24 February 1794 - 21 June 1876 - Polk)

He was basically a mix of Mitt Romney (flip-flopping) and Donald Trump (megalomaniacal). His rhetoric and military failures resulted in Mexico losing just over half its territory, beginning with the Texas Revolution of 1836, and culminating with the Mexican Cession of 1848 following its defeat by the United States in the Mexican-American War. He had repeated opportunities to quell the tensions, specifically in negotiations with Stephen F Austin, John Slidell, and Nicholas Trist. However, partisan/class divisions and internal problems in Mexico, as well as the super strong and aggressive American forces--might have made the loss of territory inevitable. Overall, however, most of his decisions were made based on how to retain power, which led him to oftentimes run away from problems, wait for his successor to fail, and then retake the government. He was tremendously charismatic and very much a man of the people -- in reality, he was a demagogue.

William Seward -- (SOS 1861-9; Both AL and Andrew Johnson SOS)

He was considered one of the Greatest United States Secretary of State's. He was actually a contender for the GOP against Abe, but lost. He was a long time advocate for the end of slavery. His decisions during the Civil War were instrumental in the Union Win, and his instrumental purpose was blocking the European powers from joining the side of the Confederacy. For example, after the South requested help from European privateers, Seward sought to prove that this violated international maritime laws. Also, he sent a letter to Charles Francis Adams (US diplomat for GB) warning what happened to Britain if they intervened on behalf of the South, but Abe Lincoln realized that this was too far, and toned down the rhetoric. Seward pushed for Britain and France to not recognize the Confederacy as a Nation, although they were not going to completely stop trading with them. He defused the situation of the RMS Trent. The passage of the Emancipation Proclamation also helped Britain not interfere in the war. After the Alabama and Florida were produced at Liverpool by the Brits for the South, Seward ensured that no more were created. Seward became an ardent expansionist following the Civil War, because he no longer had to worry about slavery. He bought the Danish West Indies (USVI), and wanted the entire hemisphere. He also opened talks with the DR, and was able to take Alaska during the presidency of Andrew Johnson #Manifest Destiny. Russia was willing to give up Alaska, because they figured it was better in US hands than British hands.

Charles Francis Adams -- (1807-1886; preeminence during Civil War)

He was the diplomat to Great Britain during the US Civil War--played an important role in keeping Britain neutral during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65) and in promoting the arbitration of the important "Alabama" claims. He received William Seward's letter and transmitted it to the British delegation. Civil war broke out in April 1861, and, when Adams arrived in London the following month, he found that Great Britain had already recognized Confederate belligerency. So much sympathy was shown in England for the South that Adams' path for the next seven years was strewn with difficulties, but his logic, reserve, and directness appealed to the British, and gradually he won their support. His main mission was to prevent the British from abandoning neutrality, and, with the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863), the immediate danger of diplomatic recognition of the South was over. Adams then laboured to prevent the building or the outfitting at British shipyards of privateers for Confederate use. He had not been able to prevent the sailing (May 1862) of the highly effective commerce destroyer "Alabama," but his vigorous protestations of the obligations of neutrals succeeded in preventing further launchings. Furthermore, he persistently argued the British government's responsibility for the estimated $6,000,000 worth of damage done by the "Alabama" to Federal merchant vessels. During this long and taxing period in Anglo-American relations, Adams' judicious and balanced conduct greatly enhanced the reputation of his country abroad.

Henry Cabot Lodge (Senate 1893-1924; House 1887-93)

Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850-November 9, 1924) was an American historian and statesman. Lodge was also a close friend and confidant of President Theodore Roosevelt. Lodge was a conservative Republican who would split with Roosevelt following the President's attacks on the judiciary. Following the election of Wilson in 1912, the Lodge-Roosevelt relationship would resume. In 1892, Lodge encouraged hostilities with Spain and fought to secure the Philippines as an American colony in 1899. He would also help lead the reforms of the consular service under TR. Lodge is best known for his foreign policy positions, especially for leading the republican opposition to Woodrow Wilson and his 14 points, the league of nations, and the Treaty of Versailles. Lodge's opposition to Wilson was fueled by a deep personal disdain for the president and a deep partisan rift. Lodge's primary critique of the League of Nations was the surrender of absolute sovereignty that Article X required. Lodge pushed to require the League to recognize the Monroe Doctrine, exclude domestic issues from the reach of the league, allow nations to withdraw, and restrict US obligations to defend the territory of other nations. Additionally, Lodge demanded that congress maintain control over the armed forces, weakening Article X. Lodge would submit a revised treaty but, due to his staunch opposition, both would fail and the US would not sign the Versailles Treaty or join the League of Nations, thus defeating Wilson's final legacy.

Open Door Notes -- (1899 - 1990 Mckinley)

In 1899, Secretary of State John Hay issued a statement addressing the U.S. policy toward China. The U.S. sent notes to Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia to explain the Open Door Policy. The policy supported the principle that foreign countries have equal access to commercial and industrial trade rights in China and requested that no nations create a sphere of influence in China. Countries were to respect the territorial and administrative duties of China, and not interfere in their ports and personal decisions. The replies from each country were evasive. They skirted the issue by taking the position that they could not commit themselves unless other nations compiled first. Hay concluded that the evasiveness meant that each was willing to comply with the policy. Economic tensions were high. Countries continued to compete for railroad and mining rights and foreign trade within China. Subsequent events lead to the failure of the Open Door principle.

Panamanian Revolution -- (1903)

In 1903, the United States and Colombia signed the Hay-Herrán Treaty to finalize the construction of the Panama Canal but the process was not achieved because the Congress of Colombia rejected the measure (which the Colombian government had proposed) on August 12, 1903. The United States then moved to support the separatist movement in Panama to gain control over the remnants of the French attempt at building a canal.[3]

Richard Olney (Grover Cleveland's SOS 1895-7)

In July 1895 new Secretary of State Richard Olney (succeeding Gresham, who died in office at the end of May) sent a document to London which became known as "Olney's twenty-inch gun" (the draft was 12,000 words long). The note reviewed the history of the Anglo-Venezuelan dispute and of the Monroe Doctrine, and it firmly insisted on the application of the Doctrine to the case, declaring that "today the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition." At this point the President and the Secretary of State as well as the US public "had been brought to believe that Britain was in the wrong, that the vital interests of the United States were involved, and the United States must intervene." The note had little impact on the British Government, partly because Joseph Chamberlain, at the Colonial Office, thought it possible that the colony had a major gold-bearing region around the Schomburgk line, and partly because the Government rejected the idea that the Monroe Doctrine had any relevance for the boundary dispute. Obviously, this greatly angered Great Britain.

Maine Incident (1898)

In addition to the De Lome Letter, this served as US justification for intervention in Cuba and war with Spain. In reality, the Spanish might not have actually sunk this U.S. vessel (likely an internal explosion), but that did not matter--it appeared that they did. The ship was sailing to Cuba from Florida to "protect US interests" but not as an act of war against the Spanish. Unfortunately, this was the straw that broke the camel's back and Mckinley invaded thereafter. McKinley actually still sought diplomacy following this incident, but once US public opinion was too far in favor of war -- war it was. McKinley described his reasoning for war with Spain as purely humanitarian.

Tyler Doctrine -- (1842)

In an 1842 special message to Congress, the President John Tyler applied the Monroe Doctrine to Hawaii (thus dubbed the "Tyler Doctrine"), and told Britain not to interfere there, and began a process that led to the eventual annexation of Hawaii by the United States. On July 6, 1846, U.S. Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, on behalf of President Tyler, afforded formal recognition of Hawaiian independence under the reign of Kamehameha III. As a result of the recognition of Hawaiian independence, the Hawaiian Kingdom entered into treaties with the major nations of the world and established over ninety legations and consulates in multiple seaports and cities. The kingdom would continue for another 21 years until its overthrow in 1893 with the fall of the House of Kalakaua. The US could now become the dominant player in Hawaii (through missionaries, trade, etc), and supercede their commercial rival GB. Hawaii also was important as a path to Asia.

Lansing-Ishii Agreement

Lansing-Ishii Agreement, (Nov. 2, 1917), attempt to reconcile conflicting U.S. and Japanese policies in China during World War I by a public exchange of notes between the U.S. secretary of state, Robert Lansing, and Viscount Ishii Kikujirō of Japan, a special envoy to Washington. Japan promised respect for China's independence and territorial integrity and for the U.S.-sponsored Open Door Policy (equal trading rights for all foreign nations in China); the U.S. recognized Japan's right to protect its special interests in areas of China bordering on its own territory. Ishii later asserted that the U.S. had thus recognized the "paramount" interest of Japan in Manchuria, a claim that embarrassed the U.S. Ambiguously worded and designed to patch over differences between two wartime allies, the agreement was terminated by a further exchange of notes on March 30, 1923.

Election of 1844

James. K. Polk (Dem-TN) vs. Henry Clay (Whig-KY). The fundamental debate in the election was the annexation of Texas, and along with it the expansion of the institution of slavery. The general election of 1844 took place in the midst of increasingly bitter congressional disputes over anti-slavery agitation, raising questions as to whether free-soil and slave-soil interests could coexist within a democratic republic. The campaign themes arose in direct response to incumbent President John Tyler's pursuit of Texas annexation as a slave state so as to undermine the unity of the Whig and Democratic parties in his bid to retain the White House. The Whig Party nominee Henry Clay adopted an anti-annexation platform on the principle of preserving North-South sectional unity and to avoid war by respecting Mexico's claims to Texas. Clay was not against slavery from a moral grounds, he just saw this as being as potentially devastating to the unity of the nation. Clay's attempts to finesse his anti-annexation position on Texas alienated many voters in the South and West where annexation support was strongest, while some Northern Whigs in swing states shifted support to the anti-slavery Liberty Party. Democrat Martin Van Buren, his party's presumptive presidential contender, was ousted at the Democratic National Convention, failing to meet the demands of southern Democrat expansionists for a leader favoring the immediate acquisition of Texas. Instead, the Democrats nominated the hot-headed, expansionist-driven, bigoted James K. Polk, and the rest was history. He was America's first "dark horse" nominee. He wanted both the Oregon Territory (which pleased Northerners), and Texas (which pleased Southerners). Although the election was not close in terms of the electoral college, the popular vote was rather close. This election completely redefined the political parties at the time.

Venustiano Carranza

José Venustiano Carranza Garza (29 December 1859 - 21 May 1920) was one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution, whose victorious northern revolutionary Constitutionalist Army, defeated the counter-revolutionary regime of Victoriano Huerta (February 1913-July 1914) and then defeated fellow revolutionaries after Huerta's ouster. He secured power in Mexico, serving the head of state 1915-1917. With the promulgation of a new revolutionary Mexican Constitution of 1917, he was elected president, serving 1917 to 1920. Known as the "Primer Jefe" or "First Chief" of the Constitutionalists, Carranza was a shrewd politician rather than a military man. Carranza was from a rich, northern landowning family; despite his position as head of the northern revolutionary movement, he was concerned that Mexico's land tenure not be fundamentally restructured by the Revolution. He was far more conservative than either Southern peasant leader Emiliano Zapata or Northern revolutionary general Pancho Villa. Once firmly in power in Mexico, Carranza sought to eliminate his political rivals. Carranza won recognition from the United States, but took strongly nationalist positions. During his administration, the current constitution of Mexico was drafted and adopted. Carranza did not implement its most radical elements, such as empowerment of labor, use of the state to expropriate foreign enterprises, land reform in Mexico, or suppression of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico. The Generals like Pancho Villa were truly in power

Valparaiso Incident (1891)

Just a decade earlier, Chile had the strongest navy in the Pacific. They were easily able to call any bluff by the US Navy. Thanks to Mahan though, the US navy became high-powered and large in numbers--it was dominant. The Valparaiso Incident explains this. The Baltimore crisis was a diplomatic incident that took place between Chile and the United States, after the 1891 Chilean Civil War, as result of the growing American influence in Pacific Coast region of Latin America in the 1890s. It remains a nodal event because it marked a dramatic shift in United States-Chile relations. It was triggered by the stabbing of two United States Navy sailors from the USS Baltimore in front of the "True Blue Saloon" in Valparaíso on October 16, 1891. United States government, with a much superior naval power, demanded an apology. Chile ended the episode when it apologized and paid a $75,000 indemnity.

"King Cotton" -- (1860-1865)

King Cotton was a slogan summarizing the strategy used during the American Civil War by the Confederacy to show that secession was feasible and there was no need to fear a war by the United States. The idea was that control over cotton exports would make an independent Confederacy economically prosperous, ruin the textile industry of New England, and—most importantly—would force Great Britain and perhaps France to support the Confederacy militarily because their industrial economies depended on Southern cotton. The slogan was widely believed throughout the South and helped in mobilizing support for secession: by February 1861, the seven states whose economies were based on cotton plantations had all seceded and formed the Confederacy (C.S.A.). Southerners even began setting their own cotton on fire, to put pressure on the Europeans to join their side. Brits had a sizeable anti-slavery sentiment and had big economic ties to the north as well, and other trade partners for cotton, so that didn't work. The French thought it would be good to breakup the United States, but had more pressing concerns in Europe.

Stephen Austin (November 3, 1793 - December 27, 1836 - AJ / MVB)

Known as the Father of Texas, he led the second, and ultimately successful, colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States to the region in 1825. In addition, he negotiated with the Mexican government to support more immigration from the United States, which set in place that Texas would develop a majority American population, and thus compel it to seek independence from Mexico. He actually sought to make good relations with the Mexican government, unlike many of his fellow American counterparts (namely Sam Houston). Once Mexican began to implement immigration control and pass tariffs, many of Austin's colonists became very angry and sought independence--however, Austin wanted to still maintain peaceful relations. In the Convention of 1833, Austin had sought to rectify peacefully the dispute, and found many of his fellow colonists to be too radical (resumption of immigration, tariff exemption, separation from Coahuila, and a new state government for Texas). Austin traveled to Mexico City to negotiate himself, and secured immigration privileges again, but did not secure a state government. The Mexican government falsely imprisoned him, thinking he was seeking Texan independence, which was false. Following this, peaceful revolution was near impossible, and Texas declared independence and won it within three years. Austin became the Secretary of State of the new Texas under Sam Houston.

Texas War of Independence (1835-6)

Mexican had welcomed U.S. colonists to Texas for many years. The problem was, however, that the American population began to drastically outnumber the Mexican and Native American populations in Texas. Citizens thus became increasingly less loyal to Mexico. The push for Texas independence was led by Sam Houston as well as Stephen F. Austin. Santa Anna, as well as a string of other Mexican executives (there was constant turnover), were determined to retain Texas as part of Mexico -- as much for national pride as it was for practical/agricultural reasons. Unfortunately, Mexico had too many internal problems (tons of political factionalism, and literal class warfare), and couldn't even its country together, let alone hold on to a newly independent state. Texas' independence paved the way for war between the U.S. and Mexico, once Texas was eventually annexed by the U.S. Mexico's government had become much more centralized since its founding (away from states rights), and this was not okay. It was a major part of America's Manifest Destiny in their sphere of influence.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (signed February 2, 1848 - Polk)

Mexico got screwed. With the defeat of its army and the fall of its capital, Mexico entered into negotiations to end the war. The treaty called for the US to pay $15 million to Mexico and to pay off the claims of American citizens against Mexico up to $3.25 million. It gave the United States the Rio Grande as a boundary for Texas, and gave the US ownership of California and a large area comprising roughly half of New Mexico, most of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. Mexicans in those annexed areas had the choice of relocating to within Mexico's new boundaries or receiving American citizenship with full civil rights. Over 90% chose to become US citizens. The opponents of this treaty were led by the Whigs, who had opposed the war and rejected Manifest Destiny in general, and rejected this expansion in particular. There was some Democrats who actually wanted to conquer all of Mexico, but others were worried about potentially admitting so many "non-whites". These racial debates would continue to bubble up into the Civil War. The acquisition of California would soon to be very controversial, with regards to whether it should be free or not.

Treaty of Kanagawa (1854 - F Pierce)

Millard Fillmore and Daniel Webster (SOS) had sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan to open trade relations in 1852, in order to compete British dominance in China. Essentially, he was using the Big Stick. On March 31, 1854, the Treaty of Kanagawa was ratified as the first treaty between the United States of America, and the Empire of Japan. Signed under threat of force, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion / isolation, by opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American vessels. It also ensured the safety of American castaways and established the position of an American consul in Japan. The treaty also precipitated the signing of similar treaties establishing diplomatic relations with other western powers. This shows America's more pronounced power in the Pacific in order to compete with European powers. This treaty set the course for the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1858

Overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani -- (1893-98)

On July 6, 1846, U.S. Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, on behalf of President Tyler, afforded formal recognition of Hawaiian independence under the reign of Kamehameha III. For a long time, the US had been Hawaii's primary commercial partner. The US was ready to make this a more permanent affair. During the 1850s, the U.S. import tariff on sugar from Hawaii was much higher than the import tariffs Hawaiians were charging the U.S., and Kamehameha III sought reciprocity. The monarch wished to lower the tariffs being paid out to the US while still maintaining the Kingdom's sovereignty and make Hawaiian sugar competitive with other foreign markets. This animosity continued for many years until the 1880s, when Americans residing in Hawaii started a revolution. The overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii began with the coup d'état of January 17, 1893 on the island of Oahu, leading to the end of the indigenous, hereditary monarchs. It was largely at the hands of United States citizens, who were backed by an invasion of U.S. Marines under John L. Stevens. Hawaii was initially reconstituted as an independent republic, but the ultimate goal of the revolutionaries was the annexation of the islands to the United States, which was finally accomplished in 1898. This allowed US to fulfill manifest destiny and implement the naval strategy of Alfred Thayer Mahan -- mercantilism with many bases. McKinley displayed his willingness to take a more aggressive approach in this situation.

Lusitania

On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I (1914-18) erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England. Of the more than 1,900 passengers and crew members on board, more than 1,100 perished, including more than 120 Americans. Nearly two years would pass before the United States formally entered World War I, but the sinking of the Lusitania played a significant role in turning public opinion against Germany, both in the United States and abroad.

Philander Knox

Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853 - October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician who served as United States Attorney General (1901-1904), a Senator from Pennsylvania (1904-1909, 1917-1921) and Secretary of State (1909-1913). He served in the Cabinet under three presidents. Dollar Diplomacy wasn't always peaceful. In Nicaragua, U.S. "intervention involved participating in the overthrow of one government and the military support"[citation needed] of another. When a revolt broke out in Nicaragua in 1912, the Taft administration quickly sided with the insurgents (who had been instigated by U.S. mining interests) and sent U.S. troops into the country to seize the customs houses.[citation needed] As soon as the U.S. consolidated control over the country, Secretary of State Philander C. Knox encouraged U.S. bankers to move into the country and offer substantial loans to the new regime, thus increasing U.S. financial leverage over the country.[citation needed] Within two years, however, the new pro-U.S. regime faced a revolt of its own; and, once again, the administration landed U.S. troops in Nicaragua, this time to protect the tottering, corrupt U.S. regime. U.S. troops remained there for over a decade.[citation needed]

David Lloyd George

Rather liberal with domestic policy. He was prime minister of UK at same time as Wilson. As Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908-1915), Lloyd George was a key figure in the introduction of many reforms which laid the foundations of the modern welfare state. His most important role came as the highly energetic Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government (1916-22), during and immediately after the First World War. He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that reordered Europe after the defeat of Germany in the Great War. He arguably made a greater impact on British public life than any other 20th-century leader, thanks to his pre-war introduction of Britain's social welfare system, his leadership in winning the war, his post-war role in reshaping Europe, and his partitioning Ireland (between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland which remained part of the UK).[2]

Reparations (1919)

Reparations were the payments demanded of Germany (and other Triple Alliance powers) by the Allied powers, primarily France. Having endured massive damage their land, populations, and economy, the French believed that the Germans, as the 'aggressors' (read: losers) should have to foot the bill. While the French entered the negotiations with even more extreme demands, they were about to secure the 'war guilt' clause for Germany, placing the responsibility for all damages caused by the war on Germany. Though Wilson wanted a more limited figure, the final sum was set at $33 billion. Wilson was willing to compromise he to pursue his dream of the League of Nations.

Robert Lansing

Robert Lansing (October 17, 1864 - October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and Conservative Democratic[1] politician who served as Legal Advisor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson from 1915 to 1920. Before U.S. involvement in the war, Lansing vigorously advocated in favor of the principles of freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations. He later advocated U.S. participation in World War I, negotiated the Lansing-Ishii Agreement with Japan in 1917 and was a member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace at Paris in 1919.

Alfred Thayer Mahan (Naval Service 1859-96)

Sea power + Mercantilism = Successful Country. To a modern reader, the emphasis on controlling seaborne commerce is commonplace, but in the nineteenth century, the notion was radical, especially in a nation entirely obsessed with expansion on to the continent's western land. On the other hand, Mahan's emphasis of sea power as the crucial fact behind Britain's ascension neglected the well-documented roles of diplomacy and armies; Mahan's theories could not explain the success of terrestrial empires, such as Bismarckian Germany. However, as the Royal Navy's blockade of the German Empire was a critical direct and indirect factor in the eventual German collapse, Mahan's theories were vindicated by the First World War. In the context of his time, Mahan backed a revival of Manifest Destiny through overseas imperialism. He held that sea power would require the United States to acquire defensive bases in the Caribbean and Pacific as well as take possession of Hawaii. This came at the time when the United States launched a major shipbuilding program to move the United States to the third place amongst worldwide naval powers by 1900. America's naval growth mirrored its massive push for urbanization and industrialization. We needed to be better than the 13th biggest navy in order to be a serious international player and not just Sweden.

Espionage and Sedition Acts

Significance: Enacted soon after the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Espionage Act prohibited individuals from expressing or publishing opinions that would interfere with the U.S. military's efforts to defeat Germany and its allies. A year later, the U.S. Congress amended the law with the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it illegal to write or speak anything critical of American involvement in the war. While the Espionage Act dealt with many uncontroversial issues such as punishing acts of spying and sabotage and protecting shipping, the act, as amended by the Sedition Act, was extremely controversial for many immigrants who were opposed to war, the military draft, and violations of their free speech rights. Specifically, the Espionage Act made it a crime willfully to interfere with U.S. war efforts by conveying false information about the war, obstructing U.S. recruitment or enlistment efforts, or inciting insubordination, disloyalty, ormutiny. The Sedition Act made the language of the Espionage Act more specific by making it illegal to use disloyal, profane, or abusive language to criticize the U.S. Constitution, the government, the military, the flag, or the uniform. The government had the authority to punish a wide range of speech and activities such as obstructing the sale of U.S. bonds, displaying a German flag, or giving a speech that supported the enemy's cause. Persons convicted of violating these laws could be fined amounts of up to ten thousand dollars and also be sentenced to prison for as long as twenty years. Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts, the U.S. postmaster general had the authority to ban the mailing of all letters, circulars, newspapers,pamphlets, packages, and other materials that opposed the war. As a result, about seventy-five newspapers either lost their mailing privileges or were pressured to print nothing more about the war. These publications included German American or German- language newspapers, pacifist publications, and publications owned by the American Socialist Party and the Industrial Workers of the World.

Anti-Imperialists -- (1890s - 1900s)

The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established on June 15, 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." Rather than opposing American territorial expansion on economic or humanitarian grounds, the League argued that such activity would necessitate the abandonment of American ideals of self-government and non-intervention—ideals expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence, George Washington's Farewell Address and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The Anti-Imperialist League was ultimately defeated in the battle of public opinion by a new wave of politicians who successfully advocated the virtues of American territorial expansion in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War and in the first years of the 20th century. A remarkably heterogenous group, the anti-imperialists were divided among themselves and lacked effective leadership. Williams Jenning Bryan did not support the Anti-Imperial League

(Battle of the) Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836)

The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar (modern-day San Antonio), killing all of the Texian defenders. Santa Anna's cruelty during the battle inspired many Texians—both Texas settlers and adventurers from the United States—to join the Texian Army. Buoyed by a desire for revenge, the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolution. This was a major turning point overall in the war, and the Texan / U.S. forces were now committed to defeating this "savage people".

Five Civilized Tribes (preminence after Indian Removal Act → Civil War)

The Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminoles. These are the first five tribes that Anglo-European settlers generally considered to be "civilized" according to their own world view, because these five tribes adopted attributes of the colonists' culture, for example, Christianity, centralized governments, literacy, market participation, written constitutions, intermarriage with white Americans, and plantation slavery practices. Unfortunately, it did not matter that these tribes were trying to assimilate, all tribes were treated the same, and thus all were forced out. The Five Civilized Tribes tended to maintain stable political relations with the Europeans. Interestingly, during the Civil War, the Confederacy decided (basically out of necessity) to ally with these five tribes, in return for their assistance in fighting the Union. However, this protection did not lost very long at all (only from 1861-2), and the Native Americans once again were subjected.

Committee on Public Information

The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Over just 28 months, from April 14, 1917, to June 30, 1919, it used every medium available to create enthusiasm for the war effort and enlist public support against foreign attempts to undercut America's war aims. It primarily used propaganda techniques to accomplish these goals.

DeLome Letter -- (1898)

The De Lôme letter, a note written by Señor Don Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, the Spanish Ambassador to the United States, to Don José Canalejas, the Foreign Minister of Spain, reveals de Lôme's opinion about the Spanish involvement in Cuba and US President McKinley's diplomacy. Cuban revolutionaries intercepted the letter from the mail and released it to the Hearst press, which published it on February 9, 1898, in the New York Journal, in an article titled "Worst Insult to the United States in its History." The letter stated basically that McKinley was a weak man. This letter criticized American President William McKinley by calling him weak and concerned only with gaining the favor of the crowd. Publication of the letter helped generate public support for a war with Spain over the issue of independence for the Spanish colony of Cuba. This was a major catalyst of the US War with Spain that spread all the way to the Philippines. He suggested that McKinley was only using diplomacy to cater to the crowd and gain support for himself (a rabble-rouser), and he really had no backbone. Although he stated this was only his opinion and not that of Spain, the damage was already done, especially with the sinking of the Maine. McKinley reversed his policy and it was time to intervene in Cuba.

Emancipation Proclamation -- (1863)

The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. In a single stroke, it changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved persons in the designated areas of the South from "slave" to "free". It had the practical effect that as soon as a slave escaped the control of the Confederate government, by running away or through advances of federal troops, the slave became legally free. Eventually it reached and liberated all of the designated slaves. It was issued as a war measure during the American Civil War, directed to all of the areas in rebellion and all segments of the executive branch (including the Army and Navy) of the United States. Black freed slaves could now fight for the Union.

Fourteen Points (1919)

The Fourteen Points were Wilson's postwar peace program and the backbone of his image of liberal internationalism. While unique in their international scope, the Fourteen Points reflect some elements of traditional American diplomatic practices, specifically the concept of an 'open world.' (Traditional American diplomacy sought to prevent restrictive trade alliances so the US could leverage its geographical isolation and capitalize on open markets) Included a program for self-determination, despite the phrasing, self-determination essentially only referred to white and european nations, with a few notable exceptions. Call for a 'general association of nations,' this idea would emerge as the League of Nations. After arriving at the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson had little choice but to abandon his idealism in favor of compromise with the French and British. This would result in the Fourteen Point being repeatedly compromised, an act which drew heavy criticism from Wilson's progressive allies.

League of Nations (1920-1946)

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded during the negotiations following WWI. Its aim was to promote and maintain world peace through collective security and disarmament and settling disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Originally conceived by Wilson in 1913, securing the League was Wilson's primary goal when entering the Paris Peace Conference. In his mind, both unresolved issues from the war and future issues could be resolved by the League. The League was divided into two bodies- the Council of Great Powers and and assembly of smaller powers. Article X, the most controversial in the US, called for 'collective security,' which required members to intervene in the interests of the global community, rather than national interest. This could have, theoretically, brought member states into conflict with friendly nations or supporting nations which they shared less favorable relationships with. The United States, facing major domestic resistance over the aspects of the League that would require surrendering sovereignty, would never sign the Treaty of Versailles and never enter the League. Without of the military and financial might of the US or Wilson as members of the League, the organization began with little credibility. The League would would prove to be a failure due to the fact that member states, the Great Powers in particular, were not willing to commit forces for fear of major conflict and were not willing to uphold sanctions for fear of economic damage.

Lodge Corrollary

The Lodge Corollary was a corollary to the Monroe Doctrine proposed by Henry Cabot Lodge and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1912 forbidding any foreign power or foreign interest of any kind from acquiring sufficient territory in the Western Hemisphere so as to put that government in "practical power of control". As Lodge argued, the corollary reaffirmed the basic right of nations to provide for their safety, extending the principles behind the Monroe Doctrine beyond colonialism to include corporate territorial acquisitions as well. The proposal was a reaction to negotiations between a Japanese syndicate and Mexico for the purchase of a considerable portion of Baja California including a harbor considered to be of strategic value, Magdalena Bay. After the ratification of the Lodge Corollary, Japan disavowed any connection to the syndicate and the deal was never completed.

National War Labor Board

The National War Labor Board (NWLB) was a United States federal agency created in two different incarnations, the first by President Woodrow Wilson from 1918-19 during World War I and the second by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1942-45 during World War II. In both cases the board's purpose was to arbitrate disputes between workers and employers in order to ensure labor reliability and productivity during the war. The decisions of the NWLB generally supported and strengthened the position of labor. Although it opposed the disruption of war production by strikes, it supported an eight-hour day for workers, equal pay for women, and the right to organize unions and bargain collectively. Although the NWLB did have any coercive enforcement power, Wilson generally ensured compliance with its decisions.

Ostend Manifesto -- (1854 - Franklin Pierce)

The Ostend Manifesto proposed a shift in foreign policy, justifying the use of force to seize Cuba in the name of national security. It resulted from debates over slavery in the United States, Manifest Destiny, and the Monroe Doctrine, as slaveholders sought new territory for slavery's expansion. During the administration of President Franklin Pierce, a pro-Southern Democrat, Southern expansionists called for acquiring Cuba as a slave state, but the breakout of violence following the Kansas-Nebraska Act left the administration unsure of how to proceed. They met secretly at Ostend, Belgium, and drafted a dispatch at Aix-la-Chapelle. The document was sent to Washington in October 1854, outlining why a purchase of Cuba would be beneficial to each of the nations and declaring that the U.S. would be "justified in wresting" the island from Spanish hands if Spain refused to sell. Southerners desperately wanted to take control of Cuba, because recent events in Haiti showed that slave rebellions were very much a possibility. These Southerners did not want Spain emancipating Cuban slaves, and then having a state of freed slaves so close to their borders -- thus threatening the institution of slavery. The diplomats issued a warning to Spain that it must sell Cuba to the United States or risk having it taken by force. The price of $120 million was proposed. This obviously angered Spain and Northerners. It also divided the Democratic party. Public sentiment was too against annexation of Cuba that it never actually happened under Pierce, or his predecessor James Buchanan. It wasn't till after the Civil War that the issue came up once again. It was clear that manifest destiny could only be achieved by moving west not south. This also illustrated the upcoming divide between North and South.

Teller Amendment - (1898 - Mckinley)

The Teller Amendment was an amendment to a joint resolution of the United States Congress, enacted on April 20, 1898, in reply to President William McKinley's War Message. It placed a condition on the United States military's presence in Cuba. According to the clause, the U.S. could not annex Cuba but only leave "control of the island to its people." In short, the U.S. would help Cuba gain independence and then withdraw all its troops from the country. Senator Henry M. Teller, a Republican from Colorado (who had switched parties after leading a revolt against the dominant gold-favoring party wing at the 1896 Republican National Convention) proposed the amendment to ensure that the United States would not establish permanent control over Cuba following the cessation of hostilities with Spain. The Republican McKinley administration would not recognize belligerency or independence as it was unsure of the form an insurgency government might take. Without recognizing some government in Cuba, Congressmen feared McKinley was simply priming the island for annexation. The Teller clause quelled any anxiety of annexation by stating that the United States. The Teller Amendment illustrated how there was opposition in America to becoming too imperialistic.

Treaty of Brest Litovsk

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's participation in World War I. The treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk (Polish: Brześć Litewski; since 1945 Brest, Belarus), after two months of negotiations. The treaty was forced on the Bolshevik government by the threat of further advances by German and Austrian forces. According to the treaty, Soviet Russia defaulted on all of Imperial Russia's commitments to the Triple Entente alliance. In the treaty, Bolshevik Russia ceded the Baltic States to Germany, and its province of Kars Oblast in the south Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire. It also recognized the independence of Ukraine. Russia also agreed to pay six billion German gold mark in reparations. Historian Spencer Tucker says, "The German General Staff had formulated extraordinarily harsh terms that shocked even the German negotiator."[2] Congress Poland was not mentioned in the treaty, as Germans refused to recognize the existence of any Polish representatives, which in turn led to Polish protests.[3] When Germans later complained that the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 was too harsh on them, the Allies (and historians favorable to the Allies) responded that it was more benign than Brest-Litovsk.[4] Under the treaty, the Baltic states were meant to become German vassal states under German princelings.[5]The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between the new Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's participation in World War I. The treaty was signed at Brest-Litovsk (Polish: Brześć Litewski; since 1945 Brest, Belarus), after two months of negotiations. The treaty was forced on the Bolshevik government by the threat of further advances by German and Austrian forces. According to the treaty, Soviet Russia defaulted on all of Imperial Russia's commitments to the Triple Entente alliance. In the treaty, Bolshevik Russia ceded the Baltic States to Germany, and its province of Kars Oblast in the south Caucasus to the Ottoman Empire. It also recognized the independence of Ukraine. Russia also agreed to pay six billion German gold mark in reparations. Historian Spencer Tucker says, "The German General Staff had formulated extraordinarily harsh terms that shocked even the German negotiator."[2] Congress Poland was not mentioned in the treaty, as Germans refused to recognize the existence of any Polish representatives, which in turn led to Polish protests.[3] When Germans later complained that the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 was too harsh on them, the Allies (and historians favorable to the Allies) responded that it was more benign than Brest-Litovsk.[4] Under the treaty, the Baltic states were meant to become German vassal states under German princelings.

Treaty of Paris 1898 (McKinley)

The Treaty of Paris of 1898, was an agreement made in 1898 that involved Spain relinquishing nearly all of the remaining Spanish Empire, especially Cuba, and ceding Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. The cession of the Philippines involved a payment of $20 million from the United States to Spain. The treaty was signed on December 10, 1898, and ended the Spanish-American War. The Treaty of Paris came into effect on April 11, 1899, when the documents of ratification were exchanged. The Treaty of Paris marked the end of the Spanish Empire (apart from some small holdings in North Africa). It marked the beginning of the age of the United States as a world power. Many supporters of the war opposed the treaty, and it became one of the major issues in the election of 1896 when it was opposed by Democrat William Jennings Bryan because he opposed imperialism. Republican President William McKinley upheld the treaty and was easily reelected. This was a big show of Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine. People began to fear the US as an imperialism.

Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919)

The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers. Constructed at the Paris Peace Conference by France, England, and the US. Major points: Mandate system for colonies- UK and FR in Mid East, Japan in China Self-determination for Eastern European nations. Shifting of Poland's borders, creation of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, carved from Hungary and Austria Reparations "War guilt clause" for Germany- Germany takes responsibility for all damages of the war FR and UK demand high reparations Total set at $33 Billion GER- lost territory and population. Banned from merging with Austria.

Trent Affair (November 1861)

The Trent Affair was a diplomatic crisis that took place between the United States and Great Britain from November to December 1861, during the U.S. Civil War (1861-65). The crisis erupted after the captain of the USS San Jacinto ordered the arrest of two Confederate envoys sailing to Europe aboard a British mail ship, the Trent, in order to seek support for the South in the Civil War. The British, who had not taken sides in the war, were outraged and claimed the seizure of a neutral ship by the U.S. Navy was a violation of international law. In the end, President Abraham Lincoln's administration released the envoys and averted an armed conflict with Britain. One of the diplomats was John Slidell also.

The Inquiry

The U.S. government began preparing for the postwar settlement soon after its entry into the war in April 1917. In the fall of that year, President Woodrow Wilson directed the organization of a group of experts to collect and analyze data on the geographical, ethnological, historical, economic, and political problems of those areas likely to be the subject of the peace negotiations. This staff became known as "The Inquiry." President Wilson used the reports and studies produced by The Inquiry to support the final peace negotiations. Many of these men were sent to the Paris Peace Conference. Unfortunately, the French and Brits had other ideas. The Inquiry was a study group established in September 1917 by Woodrow Wilson to prepare materials for the peace negotiations following World War I. The group, composed of around 150 academics, was directed by presidential adviser Edward House and supervised directly by philosopher Sidney Mezes. The Heads of Research were Walter Lippmann, who was later replaced by Isaiah Bowman. The group first worked out of the New York Public Library, but later worked from the offices of the American Geographical Society of New York, once Bowman joined the group.[1]

Venezuelan Crisis (1895)

The Venezuelan crisis of 1895 occurred over Venezuela's longstanding dispute with the United Kingdom about the territory of Essequibo and Guayana Esequiba, which Britain claimed as part of British Guiana and Venezuela saw as Venezuelan territory. The United States demand arbitration. Britain originally refused the internationally accepted arbitration border. However, the crisis ultimately saw Britain accept the United States' intervention in the dispute to force arbitration of the entire disputed territory, and tacitly accept the United States' right to intervene under the Monroe Doctrine. A tribunal convened in Paris in 1898 to decide the matter, and in 1899 awarded the bulk of the disputed territory to British Guiana. Grover Cleveland was the President.

Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)

The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 solved several burning issues and confirmed the limits of Manifest Destiny. Secretary of State Daniel Webster, who himself was very fond and respectable of GB, believed that commerce with England was essential to the U.S. survival, and these issues must be solved. The Brits honestly did not want conflict with the U.S. either, and had more pressing issues in Europe. First, they solved a border dispute between Maine and New-Brunswick. It also set boundaries between Lake Superior and thee Lake of the Woods (Minnesota / Michigan region). However, the treaty did not address the Oregon dispute, which would come to affront in the next decade. They defused the tension from the Caroline incident and agreed on an extradition terms, but they did not include slave revolts (as in the Creole case). The U.S. also agreed to stop the slave trade (however they would ignore this per usual). The slaves were not actually returned from the Creole incident, but the tension was eased. Although the treaty did not solve every issue (namely Oregon and slavery), it very well could have prevented war between the two nations. It is also noteworthy that there was much shady behavior during this deal: such as Webster bribing Ashburton, and the two distributing new false maps to disguise land concessions.

Zimmerman Telegram

The Zimmermann Telegram (or Zimmermann Note) was an internal diplomatic communication issued from the German Foreign Office in January, 1917 that proposed a military alliance between Germany and Mexico in the event of the United States' entering World War I against Germany. The proposal was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence. Revelation of the contents outraged American public opinion and helped generate support for the United States declaration of war on Germany in April of the same year.

Caroline Incident (1837)

This strained the relations between the United States and Britain (Canada was under British reign at this time). Rebellion in Canada in 1837-8 had raised the threat of a third Anglo-American war, but they evoked from most Americans a generally restrained response. Along the US-Canada border, some Americans offered the rebels sanctuary and support. However, in December 1837, Canadian soldiers stole the US. ship the Carolina, burned it, and left it in the Niagara River. One U.S. shipmate was killed. Various U.S. militias sought to respond to this advance, and some violence sprinkled up in the next few years → all of which was condemned by MVB. Winfield Scott was instrumental in preventing any further escalation: he zealously executed his orders, expressing outrage at the destruction of the Caroline and promising to defend U.S. territory from British attack, but warning his countrymen against provocative actions. At this point, with regards to manifest destinty, Americans continued to believe that Canadians would opt for republicanism/independence from GB, but they respected the principle of self-determination. This shows a new era in the U.S. treatment towards Britain, which can be greatly juxtaposed with their treatment of other countries, namely Mexico. The incident also made the Webster-Ashburton Treaty very necessary.

Goliad (Campaign) (Feb 18 - March 27, 1836)

This was Mexico's offensive to retake Texas. Led by Jose de Urrea, the Mexicans made solid advances into Texan territory during the Battle of San Patricio as well as the Battle of Agua Dulce. They then proceeded towards Goliad, which was where Texas had originally declared the independence. At this point, the Mexicans possessed stronger forces than the Texans, and they took back the Goliad with ease, before proceeding to execute many Texas prisoners-of-war, under the orders of Santa Anna -- the so-called Goliad Massacre. However, this was only the beginning of the conflicts between Texas (and later the U.S.) and then prideful Mexicans. Much more blood was shed before Texas had finally secured its independence.

Treaty of Wangxia (Ratified January 1845 -- President Tyler)

This was between the U.S. and the Qing Dynasty of China, negotiated in 1844, and ratified in 1845. The United States was represented by Caleb Cushing, a Massachusetts lawyer dispatched by President John Tyler under pressure from American merchants concerned about the British dominance in Chinese trade. The treaty was modeled after the Treaties of Nanking and the Bogue between the UK and China, but differed in being more detailed. As background, GB believed that it was natural to have free trade with China, but China did not favor this (very isolationist at the time). China had viewed both the Americans and Europeans as Barbarians, and were willing to pit them against one another. Here is a summary of the most important things it did: 1) U.S. citizens could only be tried by U.S. consular officers. 2) Fixed tariffs on trade in the treaty ports. 3) Most favorable nation status (thus tied with GB), 4) The US agreed to help end the opium trade (it was wreaking havoc in China), but this never really happened.

Taft-Katsura Agreement (1905)

This was essentially just a conversation between Secretary of War Taft and the Japanese Prime Minister Katsura following Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War. Plain and simple, Japan can take advantage of Korea, and the US can take advantage of the Philippines. This conversation was manifested in the Root-Takahira Agreement.

Jose Marti (preminence during the 1890s)

Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence against Spain in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence." He also wrote about the threat of Spanish and US expansionism into Cuba. From adolescence, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, political independence for Cuba, and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt. For his revolution, he embraced the "scorched earth movement", so as the Americans would never want to annex the barren land. This had an absolutely brutal effect on Cuba's population, especially the revolutionaries. He was eventually killed by Spanish forces, but Cuba would win independence three years later. This would also help to provoke the US into other involvement with Spain, such as in the Philippines. The revolution was originally popular in the US, but eventually they found it to be too radical.

General Pershing

U.S. Army general John J. Pershing (1860-1948) commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I. The president and first captain of the West Point class of 1886, he served in the Spanish- and Philippine-American Wars and was tasked to lead a punitive raid against the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American troops being sent to Europe. Although Pershing aimed to maintain the independence of the AEF, his willingness to integrate into Allied operations helped bring about the armistice with Germany. After the war, Pershing served as army chief of staff from 1921 to 1924. The Pancho Villa Expedition—now known officially in the United States as the Mexican Expedition[3] but originally referred to as the "Punitive Expedition, U.S. Army"[1]—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa from March 14, 1916, to February 7, 1917, during the Mexican Revolution 1910-1920. The expedition was launched in retaliation for Villa's attack on the town of Columbus, New Mexico, and was the most remembered event of the Border War. The declared objective of the expedition by the Wilson administration was the capture of Villa.[4] Despite successfully locating and defeating the main body of Villa's command, responsible for the raid on Columbus, U.S. forces were unable to prevent Villa's escape and so the main objective of the U.S. incursion was not achieved. The active search for Villa ended after a month in the field when troops sent by Venustiano Carranza, the head of the Constitutionalist faction of the revolution and now the head of the Mexican government, resisted the U.S. incursion. The Constitutionalist forces used arms at the town of Parral to resist passage of a U.S. Army column. The U.S. mission was changed to prevent further attacks on it by Mexican troops and to plan for war in the eventuality it broke out.[5] When war was averted diplomatically, the expedition remained in Mexico until February 1917 to encourage Carranza's government to pursue Villa and prevent further raids across the border.

Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla - (Turn of the Century)

U.S. President Grover Cleveland, an anti-imperialist, avoided the canal issue. With the election of the more supportive President Theodore Roosevelt, canal planning resumed in the United States. Bunau-Varilla campaigned for Panama over the more popular Nicaragua. He was a French Engineer. With the assistance of American lobbyist and lawyer William Nelson Cromwell, Bunau-Varilla greatly influenced the United States' decision concerning the construction site for the famed Panama Canal. He also worked closely with United States president Theodore Roosevelt in the latter's orchestration of the Panamanian Revolution. Colombia signed the Hay-Herrán Treaty in 1903, ceding land in Panama to the United States for the canal, but the Senate of Colombia rejected ratification. Bunau-Varilla's company was in danger of losing the $40 million of the Spooner Act, and he drew up plans with Panamanian juntas in New York for war. By the eve of the war, Bunau-Varilla had already drafted the new nation's constitution, flag, and military establishment, and promised to float the entire government on his own checkbook. Bunau-Varilla's flag design was later rejected by the Panamanian revolutionary council on the grounds that it was designed by a foreigner. Although he prepared for a small-scale civil war, violence was limited. As promised, President Roosevelt interposed a U.S. naval fleet between the Colombian forces south of the isthmus and Panamanian separatists.

Vera Cruz

Veracruz incident, (April 21-Nov. 14, 1914), the occupation of Veracruz, the chief port on the east coast of Mexico, by military forces of the United States during the civil wars of the Mexican Revolution. On April 9, 1914, several sailors from the crew of the USS Dolphin, anchored in the port of Tampico, were arrested after landing in a restricted dock area and detained for an hour and a half. The U.S. president Woodrow Wilson demanded a 21-gun salute to the U.S. flag as an apology. When Mexican president Victoriano Huerta refused, Wilson sent a fleet to the Gulf of Mexico. A report that arms had been dispatched to Huerta aboard the German merchant vessel Ypiranga bound for Veracruz prompted Wilson to order the port seized. The resisting Mexican force failed to stop the invading U.S. Marines and suffered about 200 casualties. Both Huerta and his rival Venustiano Carranza denounced the seizure. The action cut Huerta off from the source of needed munitions (although the arms aboard the Ypiranga did reach Huerta), but the United States permitted his opponents to be supplied. By July 1914, the Constitutionalists under Carranza were able to take over the government, and Huerta was forced into exile. On November 14 the U.S. Marines were withdrawn. The US Was in support of Venustiano Carranza

Hitchhiker Imperialism

What the US Utilized following GB-China's Nanjing Agreement -- Began trading with the newly opened China (esp. Opium), and then agreed to the Treaties of Wangxia and Tianjin.

William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 - July 26, 1925) was an American orator and politician from Nebraska, and a dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as the Party's candidate for President of the United States (1896, 1900 and 1908). He served two terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska and was United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1915). He resigned because of his pacifist position on World War I. Bryan was a devout Presbyterian, a strong advocate of popular democracy, and an enemy of the banks and their gold standard. He demanded "Free Silver" because it undermined the evil "Money Power" and put more cash in the hands of honest people. He was a peace advocate, a supporter of Prohibition, and an opponent of Darwinism on religious and humanitarian grounds. With his deep, commanding voice and wide travels, he was perhaps the best-known orator and lecturer of the era. Because of his faith in the wisdom of the common people, he was called "The Great Commoner." In his three presidential bids, he promoted Free Silver in 1896, anti-imperialism in 1900, and trust-busting in 1908, calling on Democrats to fight the trusts (big corporations) and big banks, and embrace anti-elitist ideals of republicanism.

Trail of Tears (1) and Indian Removal Act (2) (1831 ~ 1850)

direct result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, under President Jackson. This also displayed how Jackson's executive power had superceded that of the states. The Native Americans had lost British assistance after 1815, and the U.S. policy towards its native population had gradually become worse and worse. Some believed that we the United States should try and assimilate the Native Americans through education, missionary work, and conversion from their hunting lifestyle to the more "American" reliance on agriculture. However, Andrew Jackson, following his win in 1830, was able to gather enough support to a pass bill that literally forced all Native Peoples (particularly those in effect) to move west at once (towards what would become Oklahoma). The travel took a massive toll on the removed, through disease and other factors. Moreover, the Native Americans wanted to stay in their homeland. This illustrated white America's general acceptance of racial superiority, as well as the economic benefits that came from occupying this new land. The government acquired 100 million acres of Indian land for pennies on the dollar. This was for the "security" of everyone, and the expansion of the Western Frontier, under the guise of generosity and the false pretense of protecting a people, whom Jackson really could care less about. The Native Americans essentially lost all sovereignty, and this decision was reinforced by the Supreme Court. Many died of Cholera along the way, as well as starvation. Martin Van Buren also responsible for the trail of tears, specifically with his treatment of the Cherokee in 1838-9 -- it was very bad.

Second Hay-Pauncefote Treaty -- (1901 - Mckinley - TR liked it as well)

n the United States, for some years public irritation had been growing over the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty's restriction on that country's independent action. The British recognized their diminishing influence in the region and determined to cultivate the United States as a counterweight to Germany's influence in Central and South America. Fresh negotiations were opened, and Great Britain gave its diplomat very liberal instructions, to concede whatever did not nullify the essential principle of neutrality of access. The Hay-Pauncefote Treaty is a treaty signed by the United States and the United Kingdom on 18 November 1901, as a preliminary to the creation of the Panama Canal. The Treaty nullified the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 and gave the United States the right to create and control a canal across the Central American isthmus to connect the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. In the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, both nations had renounced building such a canal under the sole control of one nation.