HIST 2620 1nd Edition Lecture 9 Outline of Last Lecture I Populism Progressivism II Progressivism III Progressive Credo IV Weaknesses of the Progressive Movement V Progressive plans for Reform VI American Imperialism VII First Colonial Acquisitions Outline of Current Lecture I First Colonial Acquisitions II Rise of the New Navy III Evolution of the New Navy IV Increases in U S Power V Events leading up to Spanish American War VI Causes of the Spanish American War Current Lecture These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best Used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute I First Colonial Acquisitions Hawaii 1898 one of the kings actually asked the states to take them under as a colony and they declined saying that a republic should not claim a region as a colony By 1881 natives were a minority in the islands due to illness brought Harrison sent an annexation treaty for Hawaii right before he left but when Cleveland became president he ordered a study of the Hawaiian revolution Cleveland wanted the monarchy to be restored but it was rejected by congress Instead they adopted a resolution Dole was beginning his pineapple business and declared himself president of Hawaii and sentenced the Queen to hard labor for 5 years and 5 000 fine She was actually sent to house arrest and the annexation were called for and decided without a popular vote Political leaders were fearful the islands would be annexed by Japan so in 1900 they annexed Hawaii to its territory status II Rise of the New Navy When people of the early 19th century thought of seas power they just thought of the HMS victory which was the flagship of the battle of Trafalgar The ship was already 40 years old A very powerful ship but by the time we got to the American civil war we have different types of ships that will be seen as necessary to be powerful at seas How does America come from 5th rate navy to 1st rate 1865 1899 III Evolution of the New Navy Had one of the largest navy s at the end of the civil war but not blue water ships Mostly ships that could fight battles close to shore brown water ships By 1870 the U S government had eradicated all sea power the Gov wanted to focus on other things and not support the ships Ships were either scrapped or rotting at this point President Grant s secretary of the Navy George M Robeson siphoned some money to reconstruct old ships and build a few new ones Congress believed this was a misappropriation of funds There was a congressional investigation that led congress to understand how badly off their navy was 1873 congress authorizes the construction of 8 new ships that were vessels of war with auxiliary sail power Navy would get 3 iron gunboats 4 wooden corvettes not latest technology easily sunk and one steam sail freight ship This would not put them equal with other countries His misappropriations will lead to new ships is what s important here Last 3 decades of 19th century going to show how impotent the U S Navy was 1873 a vessel that was allegedly an American merchant ship The Virginius was captured b a Spanish cruiser taken to Cuba and crewmembers were executed The few feeble relic ships to send to Cuba were not able to make a scare The few feeble attempts helped address the Americans concern of naval weakness 1889 the only thing that the United States navy could send that had power was the USS Trenton The typhoon that came along helped this battle in Samoa 1891 Valparaiso Chile there was a sailor s brawl in the seaport that resulted in the killing of American sailors off the U S S Baltimore There were no armored cruisers to deal with this problem The true reconstruction came under Garfield in 1881 congressional appropriations were able to be happening when South American countries Bolivia Chile and Peru were in conflict These countries had navies stronger and more modern that the U S Also operations of a French company Des Lesseps were to build a canal that would have European control This was unacceptable to have a European company to have control over an island canal We had interests in the Pacific so needed to protect Also the U S was in a very strong financial position so paying for it would be relatively painless William H Hunt named a board of officers Naval Advisory Board 1881 to advise him on what types and numbers of ships should be recommended to the office Even after sail power dropped the Americans still call for it because while under sail you will save money on coal This recommendation would see that wooden vessels still used to use the lots of wood and provided continued employment to shipbuilders on the east coast Instead of looking at reality of ships at the time Politics are considered to make senators and constituents happy Wooden ships are dangerous to send out because they can t compete A minority on this board which was the chief Benjamin Franklin Isherwood wanted STEEL ships to be built This was agreed upon and in 1883 4 steel ships would be built ABCD Atlanta Boston Chicago Dolphin dispatch vessel Congress authorizes the building of new ships and saves money by doing this The ability was streamlines by new bureaus in the navy by 1886 The internal structure changes so they can easily decide what they need and get that info to congress Need to have ability to build modern ships Construction plans for steel ships are purchased from England because they can t design them yet Even though they are specified they are produced solely in American yards It took specialty to turn shafts in ships and this would have to be supplied by England 2 years later 1888 congress will have to provide for new cruisers but require everything be produced in U S so U S shipbuilders had to learned how to turn shafts Seagoing battleships should also be built all of the sudden naval affairs committee for building these ships 1886 senator SC Matthew C Butler commerce warfare Raiding enemy ships Don t do this anymore and just build a fleet of first class battleships to take the fight to the enemy Charles A Butell of Maine succeeded in 1890 to get authorization for building of seagoing coastline battleships Indiana Massachusetts and the Oregon Name of ships need to be italicized or underlined in papers Congress wanted to make sure these ships were seen as defensive weapons not Offensive Benjamin F Tracy and Alfred Thayer Mahan put out an annual report 1889 said to beat off the enemy and threaten his coast Up until this point