Imperialism

John H. Parker describes the annexation of Cuba by the United States as inevitable due to its strategic location and suggests that the current state of affairs might present an opportunity for such an intervention. Parker considers it best to accomplish the goal diplomatically but acknowledges that the military might be used as a last resort. If direct intervention is not the desired goal at this time, Parker proposes that the United States government quietly provide military advisers to Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma so that he can put down an uprising in Santiago and restore public order.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-02

Ambassador Reid reports to President Roosevelt about affairs in Europe. Reid’s impression is that neither Great Britain nor Germany want tensions to escalate to a war, and he is still trying to get more details about their negotiations. Reid informs Roosevelt that the King seems to be in ill health. He is also worried that Roosevelt’s friend, Silas McBee, is stirring up trouble by seeming to interfere in debates about the Education Bill. Reid referred the Grocers’ Federation to Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and Secretary of Commerce and Labor Victor Howard Metcalf so that they might receive more information about complying with America’s meat inspection laws, and he enclosed a copy of a speech he gave at Cambridge on the American Revolution. Reid concludes by saying that he hopes the British government will help the United States settle disputes with Canada.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-16

The law faculty and students in Montevideo, Uruguay, held a meeting to decide whether or not to provide a reception for Elihu Root. The discussion is heated and the final consensus is to not hold a reception due to the United States’ current actions in foreign countries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-08

Postmaster General Cortelyou teases William Loeb about a faux pas Loeb made in announcing the appointment of a new postmaster at Dallas when the person named has been dead for two years. Cortelyou also shares some friendly gossip about a visit from Postmaster Benjamin F. Barnes.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-09

Consul Mason encloses a translation of an article that appeared in the Koloniale Zeitschrift, the newspaper of the colonial expansion party in Germany. Hans Wagner, the author of the article, states very clearly the low opinion of Americans held by a certain class of Germans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-13

Ambassador Rockhill will be delighted to host Alice Roosevelt in Peking, China, and will do everything possible to make her and Mabel Boardman’s visit a comfortable one. Rockhill denies reports that he was unfriendly to American missionaries, and he also responds to Roosevelt’s fears that an overwhelming Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War might upset the balance of power in the East. Rockhill notes that Japan has a strong influence on China, but he considers it unlikely that the Chinese will become “mere followers” of Japan as they have become strong believers in “China for the Chinese.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-07-07

Secretary of War Taft writes to President Roosevelt about the events that will later be called the Moroccan Crisis (1904-1906), which worsened German relations with France and England. At the request of Roosevelt, Taft met separately with the German and British Ambassadors to try to deescalate tensions so that a misunderstanding would not lead to increased hostility. Taft writes also of the Loomis-Bowen affair and of a Japanese minister who spoke of negotiating a peace for the Russo-Japanese War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-26

John Hays Hammond, a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, has been lecturing on the threat Japan poses to America’s political and commercial interests. The Pacific states and Australia fear Japanese immigration and are determined to fight it. American and England should defend their Pacific possessions from Japan. The Japanese claim to have adopted “Anglo-Saxon ideals,” but Hammond calls this into question when he quotes a high-ranking Japanese politician saying it is “Japan’s holy duty to free all Asiatics” and that they should “teach them to conquer Europeans in war, commerce, and culture.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-27

General Wood, military governor of Moro Province in the Philippines, updates Secretary of War Taft on a number of matters that Taft had asked about regarding the Philippines. Wood discusses the cost and necessity of constructing a railroad from Overton to Marahui, provides an update on civil and law enforcement matters, especially among the Moro people, and names officers that he would like to be retained.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-04-08

Ambassador to Panama John Barrett gave a party for prominent Panamanians where Panama’s President Manuel Amador Guerrero toasted President Roosevelt’s health in such a warm way as to dispel reports that he resented the “imperialistic” American policy in Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-15

John Byrne thanks Francis C. Travers for the note that contained Judge John Thomas McDonough’s letter, and is pleased with President Roosevelt’s expression of confidence. Byrne’s next article will be on imperialism and the Philippines. Bryne needs a long rest, and asks Travers not to make any plans for him at Oyster Bay for two weeks. A note from Travers issues instructions not to make any appointments for Byrne until he comes back from the sea.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-24

Four titles, two books for children and two for adults, come under scrutiny in this edition of the “Book Reviews” section. Linda E. Milano praises Cheryl Harness’s biography Young Teddy Roosevelt, especially its illustrations, and she finds that A Christmas Tree in the White House, though fiction, still teaches important lessons about conservation. Randall Holdridge highlights the five journeys undertaken by Louis Abernathy and Temple Abernathy, the sons of John R. Abernathy, a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and United States Marshal for Oklahoma. Holdridge asserts that Bud & Me: The True Adventures of the Abernathy Boys demonstrates the inspirational value of Roosevelt’s character. 

Grace Frisone says that The Birth of American Imperialism does not break much new ground, but that it does acknowledge the importance of Roosevelt to turn of the twentieth-century American foreign policy. Frisone also says that this work, written in Italian, brings a European perspective to the study of American history. A photograph from the 1998 annual meeting of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appears in the section.

Leonard Schlup examines the vice presidential candidates in the 1900 presidential campaign: Theodore Roosevelt for the Republicans and Adlai E. Stevenson for the Democrats. Schlup explains that Roosevelt was a younger, more dynamic figure than his running mate President William McKinley while Stevenson was an older, more reserved personality than his running mate William Jennings Bryan. Schlup looks at the background of each candidate, and he notes their approaches to the office for which they were vying. He highlights their very different positions on the topic of imperialism, with Stevenson adopting an anti-imperial position.

A Republican campaign poster, a photograph of Stevenson, and two political cartoons from the 1900 campaign illustrate the article. A listing of the leadership of the Theodore Roosevelt Association appears on the second page of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Barbara W. Tuchman examines Theodore Roosevelt’s thoughts on, and conduct of, foreign policy during the Spanish-American War and during his presidency. She shows both the belligerent and diplomatic sides of his nature by looking at his handling of the Perdicaris-Raisuli affair in 1904 and his relationship with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Tuchman also compares Roosevelt’s views with those of the long-time president of Harvard, Charles W. Eliot.

The invitation to the symposium at Harvard featuring Tuchman is reproduced on the second page of her article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

President Roosevelt—It—wears a number of signs: “imperialism,” “protection for monopoly,” “personal orders substituted for acts of Congress,” “militarism,” “extravagance,” “my Cortelyou—the fat fryer,” “standpatism,” and “promotion of personal favorites.” His “party” and “despotism” legs crush “international law” and “the Constitution of the United States.” He holds “the big stick” in one hand and a revolver in the other.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-03

President Roosevelt stands in the middle of a variety of books about war and implements of war, including “the big stick,” “Essays on War. Roosevelt,” “The Art of War,” and “With Roosevelt at San Juan.” He is dressed in colonial attire and has a paper that reads, “call for a peace congress at the Hague.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08

In the cartoon on the left, Uncle Sam holds “Panama” in his hands and walks into a room where “England,” “Germany,” “Russia,” and “France” are all dressed as pirates seated around a table with a globe and are holding up their glasses to toast. Caption: Toasting the Recruit. But Uncle Sam is doubtful about the company he is getting into. —Taylor in the Denver News. In the cartoon on the right, Uncle Sam watches the “Philippines,” “Puerto Rico,” and “Hawaii” leave the “Uncle Sam Complete Outfitter” store dressed up in Stars and Stripes clothing. “Panama” is dressed in rags and looks on. Caption: A Possible Customer. Panama—”Those are mighty fine lookin’ clothes he sells.” —Satterfield in the Omaha News.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11

President Roosevelt wears his “imperialism” crown and holds his “big stick” as he bounces down the bumps labelled “liars,” “Secret Service,” and “Tillman” of the “Sixtieth Congress.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

One of James Calvert Smith’s virtual farewell drawings (the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt had about six weeks remaining) was almost a textbook example of an ad hominem attack cartoon.

President Roosevelt stands behind partition screen full of elephants and holds out his “imperialism” crown to President-elect William H. Taft who is wearing clothing labeled “Roosevelt’s policies.” Roosevelt asks, “Here, Bill. Do you want this too?”

comments and context

Comments and Context

As the dust settled after the recent presidential election, some partisan political cartoonists like James Calvert Smith resumed their attacks on Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft.

President Roosevelt holds a “big stick business” and an “imperialism” crown and sits near the “increasing tide of Democratic strength.” William H. Taft, J. S. Sherman, and Roosevelt all say, “Go back!” William Jennings Bryan watches from afar: “Watch them get wet!”

comments and context

Comments and Context

King Canute, of Danish lineage and around 1027 A.D., is famous in legend for assembling his courtiers at a sea shore and commanding waves to cease breaking. Cartoonist James Calvert Smith was one of uncountable storytellers through the centuries who have subscribed to event’s ahistoricity; it seems that King Canute staged such a scene, but only to humbly illustrate that even a king had no control over forces of God and nature.