Century, transformations that changed the country from being one country distant from the center of International Conflict and activities into becoming a central actor. Not the most dominant, most powerful. A country to be reckoned with. One way to think about this is the u. S. Goes from being a continental power after the civil war to being a power now with International Range it did not have before with a whole new set of problems related but also different from the issues of the postcivil war decades we dealt with before. In the first proposition central to the way we think about American History is the u. S. Is always an international society. International in the obvious ways but also in the sense the u. S. Has always depended upon the movement of people, goods finance from far away. There was never a time when americans living in the u. S. Were isolated from the rest of the world. Never a time when they were an island without connections elsewhere. Our ideas of governance, the people who let populated our society, trade economy have all been dependent upon international actors, people who live far from our territory. What we are going to deal with the datas not mark the end of isolation, it marks a deeper engagement with the world for society that was already easily engaged in the world. A deeper engagement. A level of engagement different from what it was before. Anyone want to take a guess at what we are looking at here . Who want to take a guess . They look like military guys. They may be native american. It is almost like what you talk about the last lecture about expanding the railroads and they are not happy. There certainly seems to be a comparison here between a technologically capable force and a less capable one. What else . What else do we see in this artistic rendering . Theyre obviously hurt and injured so it is possible the people of the town were forcibly removed or killed to put in the railroad tracks. Good. Someone has had to move people because of the arrival of new technology. This is obviously an artistic rendering of the roughriders arriving in cuba. The reason i start with this image is because it captures in some ways the perception that americans have of themselves during this time. They are bringing modernity, the railroad, modern economy to a modern places. They are doing it with the military immodern places. This should echo the civil war. The civilized north is bringing it our come its economy, its ideas to a place not yet civilized. This is important because this is happening in americas backyard. It is a continuation of the northern republican Civil War Program of lincoln and an expansion. There was continuity with the development of American Power and ideas from the end of the civil war. Also now a projection beyond some of the limits before. In part, because of the capabilities we discussed in prior lectures. That is a large part of this story. We are going to deal with three basic topics today. We are going to talk about the changes in American Power in the 1890s and the vulnerability that came with that. One of the themes of our lecture today is that power brings with it capability but it also brings obligation, vulnerability, challenges. One of the biggest issues the u. S. Faced from 1898 to the present is we have grown ever more powerful but with our ever greater power, we have taken on ever more obligations and found ourselves with ever greater vulnerability and challenges. Isnt that what you see when you look at the world today . So much power we have today relative to others but so many problems that confront that. Power brings with it vulnerability. One of the Biggest Challenges americans faced in the 1890s is contending with the fact they are a larger set of international actors. We will talk about the ways in which americans come to think about these issues, particularly those in charge of foreignpolicy and those in charge of the political discussion of foreignpolicy and the u. S. How do americans think about the role of war, power . What is the Strategic Thinking that comes to the four of the American Government fore of American Government . We will do a classic thing historians do. We will not start with the wars. We will talk about the context that leads to the wars and how the wars reflected the time. War is not about simply because people die, they matter because they reflect changes in society. The wars we fought in iraq and afghanistan are not just about that, they have been about us. Same thing with these wars. The history of society is a history of war because war reflects society at war themselves. Lets begin by talking about this first point about war and power and american vulnerability in the 1890s. I want us to spend a few minutes talking about this important historical event that is symbolic as much as it is substanntive. Ntive. This is the columbia next version exposition in chicago in 1893. How many people have heard of the colombian exposition . What have you heard . America was showing off the different sections representative of different groups. It was showing off what the world should aspire to be like. This was a chance for the u. S. To show off they were a big player. Anyone want to build . Anyone know where the columbian exposition was . Anyone from chicago . Everything in the late 19 century happens in chicago. The railroads come to chicago the pigs come to be slaughtered in chicago. Some said chicago smelled worse than any city in the world. Chicago is the late 19th century city. New york is the money metropolis. Chicago is the place where the western activity, the western resources were brought together in the middle of the country and made to produce dems that could be sold for a lot of money. Chicago is where a lot of the innovation occurred. The columbian exposition was a moment when americans came on the world stage to show off that they were part of the developed world. These world faairs warlike nothing we have today were like nothing we have today. They were moments for cultural representation. The rulesthey are the the equivalent of the olympics today. Why did the chinese and russians want to have the olympics . It was to show off that they were big countries, that they mattered that they can compete with the u. S. It is funny we end up rooting for our country to get more metals. It is really important we have more metals than the chinese. Why . It is funny how we become competitive. How many have you have felt that kind of competition . We would never want the russians to get more medals than us. The columbian exposition was like an olympic game. An effort to show off the u. S. Was developed in a new kind of way. It was supposed to mark the 400 anniversary of columbuscoming to north america. What year did columbus come to north america . 1492. We have a problem here, this is 1893. Any guesses . Timezone. That is a smart answer but not quite right. Timezone, maybe. In the back. One can make the argument. Evoking some connection to the classical world, some connection to rome, some connection to other societies and empires of greatness. What else do you notice . Remind me of first name isaiah . Usually when architects try to capitalize on fillers and fillers and big rotunda is an symmetry, they usually try to project some idea of power in relation to other places. Typically when you see things like this, you are in all of you are in awe of the size. That is one thing they are trying to project to the world. Prof. Suri it is designed to be big. It is designed to make you feel small. It is hard to see that in the image, but if you look at the mini people here. You see the size relationship. In the late 19th century, many people are not accustomed to tall buildings. They are coming from places that are not accustomed to buildings of great size. It is supposed to have the same effect as what i would call the cathedral effect. When you go into a cathedral you are supposed to spill feel small. There is almost a religious invocation in this. It might look almost religious as well as classical to you. What about it being the great white city . What about that . What about that . Is that just coincidental . Why is it the great white city . Because everything is white britney, is that why . It is showing that white power has done this and not the other ethnicities that were in the United States at the time. Prof. Suri britney is right. It is cleanliness. It is not just a racial statement, although it probably is. It is a statement of being civilized, advanced, clean. Overcoming the grime of the past. Some have written that it pretty Straight Lines and cleanliness in contrast to a dirty, jagged older world. This is supposed to be modern and forwardlooking. It was also called the great white city because it was one of the first major uses electricity to enlighten and urban landscape. We take that for granted today. There are literally thousands of people who came and were amazed that they could see at dark. People coming from areas that barely used kerosene lamps at night to see a totally lit, and electrically lit area. Was a great white city because it was bringing enlightenment to the prairie, chicago was a prairie 50 years ago, there was nothing there. In 50 years, americans have created modern rome with light. Modern rome with light. They are announcing that to the world. The columbian exposition was not a government project. There was of course federal and state and City Government support. It was largely run an organized and put together by corporations that we talked about on tuesday. These large entities that were amassing capital and resources through the use of railroad, oil, and other industries to create complex structures and were then able to use their resources to invest heavily in new projects like this. This was a corporate activity. It was a corporate creation to show off the possibilities of technology, human ingenuity, and american business. Technology, human ingenuity, and american business. Thomas edison was a key part of the club he and exposition. There were some of the first elevators used. Think how weird that mustve been for them to ride in elevator for the first time. There were electric sewing machines that were not new, but still not common displayed here. All this new technology was sidebyside by highlighting the american frontier. Of those qualities that were supposed to make americans modern, but also rugged and individualist as well. Just outside of the great white city was built codys Buffalo Bills wild west show. You could see people shoot and capture steer and do all the things that people do at rodeos that i still dont understand when you go to the rodeo. I think you have to be born in taxes to understand the rodeo. All these activities to relive the wild west. You would come to the chicago great white city columbian expedition to see the past and the future. American individualism from the front tier, American Ingenuity from the front tier together with the most modern technology and businesses to create the future. A bright future, not just for americans, but for the world. It had to be for the world. This was the worlds fair. People were supposed to comment found and be in all areas come and be in all. There was a recognition from the companies that this was going to the about International Markets as well as domestic production. This is a worlds fair to sell to the world. Elevators must be bought by others. Sewing machines must be bought by others. This is marketing, Technology Marketing america. Some foreigners would say that no one does marketing like the United States. No one does marketing like United States. I find it funny already to see this with president ial candidates that are all going overseas to talk about trade. Not necessarily security issues, but overseas to talk about trade. Is their job to get people to buy and be interested in American Power. What we see here is a huge transformation encapsulated by this moment. The columbia next did not change anything, but it is what we as historians as a some moment captures so many things happening. It represented the changing nature of the american economy. It was becoming an international economy, but a major production economy. A major contributor to consumption at home and consumption of broad. The United States was a main producer of things sold far from american shores. Remember what we talked about on tuesday the changing nature of the american trade. At the end of the civil war, the United States is a net importer. As it is today, by the 1890s, the u. S. Was a net exporter. The United States was selling much more overseas almost 50 more than it imports by the late 19th century. That produces cash in american pockets as people are paying more overseas for our products. Cash that can then be used to invest in new technology at home, and invest overseas. When we get to world war i, that will be where American Investment comes from at that point. It is also a source of government revenue. Like i said, the federal government since money best gets its money the federal government gets its money from where . A gets its money from the taxes on trade. You import a bottle of french wine and you pay a premium tax on it, he still to you still do today. It goes to the government to help Fund Government activities. No income tax, but taxation from trade. The United States is becoming an International Trader and the world itself. This. Of the 1890s is the highest volume period of trade and we will not see that volume until the 1970s. There is more trade in the 1890s than it is in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, and 1960s. It takes until the 1970s were people to be trading as much again. There is more trade and interaction. The worlds more global in the 1890s and it was in the 1950s. Counterintuitive, isnt it . You can see american trade is in the technology and agriculture. It is dominated by agriculture then and in many respects to their hands in hand economic and technological changes are military changes. This world is connected to this world. They are one and the same. They are many of the same people. This world is connected to the military role. World. It is the power to produce this that is also the power to have a worldclass military. It is a building of the railroad that allows the movement of products to chicago. No railroad, no chicago. No railroad, no modern union army. The railroad is essential to lincolns army. It is essential to the columbian exposition. It is essential to the way American Power developed any late 19th century. Remember the point that we made on tuesday, it is the railroad that marks the end of indian resistance to American Power and allowed the United States create a truly continental integrated economy. Along with the railroad, we have steam engines. They provide more efficiency and more speed and more reliable power. Related to the railroad and steam is the navy. We are going to talk about the navy later in todays lecture. The navy provides the United States the ability to project power by sea to trade by see and a way that could not before. Before the 1890s, the United States is largely dependent on british shipping to trade its goods. By the 1890s, the United States told its own carrier ability to transport its own goods, and protect their own interests. The United States will be an independent and capable seized see power of its own. It is the beginning of the story that we live today. Sorry to all the army guys in attendance. American power is key around the sea. We control the seas of the world. Beyond the british in the late 19th century. We go from the power of the 1890s took made. United states alone later on make sure that our people and our commerce and whatever else we want to go wherever want around the world. That is largely by sea and not by air. That is how our products get places. Cars dont go on planes when we ship things. They go by sea. They go on c130s for the military, but that is not how you usually get it to places. The control of the sea, and the ability to project across the sea is a major transformation. A fourth 1890s, seapower really connects. By the 1890s, seapower really connects. All this makes the United States economically, culturally socially, politically, and militarily the power in the world as it was not before. A peer for other big powers. A country to be thought of seriously. They rise from being secondrate powers internationally to being first great powers at exactly this time. They are the United States germany, and japan. Remember those when we get to world wars one and two. It is the british, the french, and the spanish that are really the older powers. They are the older powers along with the dutch and others. It is now the german reunited focus on the economy and the japanese modernizing themselves after the meiji restoration and United States after the civil war. It all begins to mobilize at home and abroad. The 1870s produce the 1890s. Civil wars and foreign interventions, wars of unification. Germany, japan, and United States producing competition. We are the new kid on the block along with german and japanese friends at the time. This world gives the United States a lot of power and create a lot of vulnerabilities as well. It creates new obligations. It creates new challenges. The most significant one is the integration with actors, consumers, economic producers who are far from the United States. The more powerful the United States becomes, and this is true today, the more powerful the United States becomes, the more dependent we are on the actions of people far away. The clearest way to make that point in our world today is to think about Energy Resources even though we are taking a lot of oil out of the ground now in texas and elsewhere. We are part of an oil market. How much oil the saudis produce, even though they might be producing less than us affect how much we pay for gas. There are times where we talk about this in the course where middle Eastern Countries start a producing oil in large quantities when our prices went up. What the saudi king decides affects what you pay when you drive. That was not the case in the early 19th century. That starts to become the case in the late 19th century. The United States become connected to foreign markets. We profit from those markets. We also are dependent upon decisions. In crude terms people far away people we dont understand people we may not even respect unfortunately, they get a vote in our politics, in our society. They get a vote in a sense that they affect how we live, they affect our jobs. This is clear in 1893 when there is one of a series of economic downturns in the United States. United states goes through a period of boom and busts. You have been blessed to live in pretty stable economic times. This was not a stable economic time. The more the United States was connected internationally the more the economy goes up and down depending on factors far from the United States. In 1893 there is a contraction of Global Demand due to a variety of domestic and international factors that lead american producers to have trouble selling abroad. At least to a Major Economic downturn. Americans in the late 1890s are deeply concerned. That is why they are doing this exposition. That they have places abroad that sell their goods, that they open new markets. Some historians have taken this too far and made it sound like americans are only concerned with foreign markets. Its not true. They are still a small part of a larger economy. They matter. This is the beginning of what one historian calls the american search for influence in china, a search that continues to this day. Every producer has the dream of selling to every chinese citizen and becoming rich. Think about if you could sell one tshirt every chinese citizen, one billion tshirts. You would be doing well. Its a huge body of people. Many americans are involved in looking out to asia as china sees the new markets. Americans look at home and in their backyards in latin america for new resources to use to produce things abroad. Americans will look so to cuba for resources like rubber and food resources like sugar. One historian writes that it is sugar that makes the economy go. It is true. Americans as well as europeans are consuming more sugar in the late 19th century, people used to drink tea without sugar. Now they start drinking it like snapple. They start drinking more sugar. Why . Why did they developed more sweet tooth . Any guess . What is your name . Liam. Professor more resources, sugar is a luxury item. They can buy more of it. You dont think about it but it is a luxury item. Why else . I was going to say now that we have the ability to integrate with other societies we can get these items easier now. While they may be luxuries for other people, now that we have the ability to afford them they become mainstream like they are today. Professor they become mainstream the way designer clothes are. I love the way people pay large amounts of money to where things that make them look like they are not spending lots of money on things. Sugar is the same thing. It becomes normalized. Why else . Think about factories in sugar. What is going on . It is being massproduced. What about that . Good. The supply creates a demand. What is your name . Emeliano. Professor its massproduced so there is more available. Doesnt have anything to do with energy and getting people energized while they are working like coffee and caffeine, having people to work longer hours. Professor suri absolutely. It has become a normalized good. Its a normalized good with a purpose beyond simply sweetness. The Energy Factor in it. I like your example, your analogy to coffee and caffeine. I have trained myself to like the taste of coffee because the caffeine is helpful. How many people had coffee . How many spill their coffee . Coffee fuels you coming in at 8 00 a. M. It fuels you coming in at 8 00 a. M. Coffee consumption goes up in the United States as people work longer hours. There is no doubt about that. There are all kinds of studies showing that americans are drinking more coffee. Isaiah . Im seeing the picture painted as america projecting this idea of greatness and example to the world but it seems like this is only one echelon of society they are projecting. If you go south, not only slaves in unrest, but you also have irritated, poor landowners, are other countries who look to america at this point turning a blind eye to this other echelon of society, the source of domestic unrest . Professor suri you have widening inequality. The gilded age is inequality we dont reach again until now. The inequality reflects the fact that some people because of their education, access, are able to benefit from these changes and others are left behind. Others are exploited by these changes. There is a huge amount of cheap labor required to build this. Some of that africanamerican labor. Some of it immigrant labor. The railroads are largely built by chinese immigrants. These two things go handinhand. You dont have to be a marxist to believe that it is the center of the economy that it is an integral part. That is absolutely true and it is an issue for foreign societies because they see both parts of the United States. One of the reasons this is being done is to try to show one element, one side of the United States. We will talk next week about progressivism. It talks about this in the efforts of groups left behind to find a way to gain access to resources. That will be the basis for our discussion of people like jane adams and others, elite figures who will become spokespeople and those were left behind organizing themselves. Labor unions grow out of the recognition. The matter what you say, labor unions have been crucial over the last century to provide better access to resources. There is no doubt about it. At is a fact of the history of unions. Today you can have your own opinions about them, but that is a historical fact. The reason isaiah pointed out. Coming back to sugar and caffeine relates to this. Sugar is imported by more americans and consumed by more americans than by brits and others because people are asked to work longer hours with more energy. Sugar consumption is like caffeine consumption. It is a fuel, a fuel that is consumed. It is part of the story. The United States becomes more dependent upon the import of resources that go into the economy, but dont go into just the economy, go into the bodies of the people in the economy. Your diet today is radically different from the diet of any american who went to the columbian exposition. That is not because of mcdonalds and saturated fats. It is because of the Food Products that are not only produced in the u. S. But brought into the u. S. That we start to consume. Related not simply to what we like to eat but to our work and lifestyles. Most of us dont grow our food anymore. It changes the vitamin content of what we consume. That is not because we chose not to go our own food. It is the way our lives are structured and the economic demands upon our lives. The United States is more dependent on foreign markets and less independent in its economic choices. This is really important. Power brings more dependence. Less power would have meant more independence. More power means more dependence. That is the story of today for our society as well. There is more criticism of this that emerges. The more this becomes the image of a modern United States, the more criticism arises from those who feel left behind, that their interests are not served, those that feel exploited and they have a platform to discuss their exploitation. There are rival world fairs and intensive criticisms of these world fairs. There is a generation of journalism that develops called muck racking journalism to assess and point to the downside, the dark side of american society. There are groups that begin to organize and get a voice in a way they did not before, including American Indians africanamericans, and others, as part of the story. In a sense, what you have at the world fair, you have an argument of a new world, and an old world butting up against it. America is conscience of this. Internationally, this is also a moment of nationalism. Many areas have been part of empires and subsumed by imperial powers. This is particularly true for latin america. Countries like argentina have long been independent, but they are now more assertive claiming they have a right to express themselves and countries like india as well. Many areas are part of this process as well. What gives the United States power to other people in other societies make their claims. The 19th century is what many historians would call a flowering of nationalism where more groups emerged to argue for their own independence, two are to argue that they have a right to be recognized and respected by the people. Americans quickly find as powerful as they are, there are so many groups and so many issues to deal with, their power is never enough. This is the other paradox that we live with every day. The more powerful you are your more interests grow. More powerful you are, you never have enough power. The more powerful you are, the more your interest grow. That is the world we live in today. We have the largest milary in the world by far. We dont have enough. We never will have enough. Its the same story we tell about money. We have all the millions we could imagine and it is never enough. Theres always something more there is always something more you need, there is always something more money that you want. Theres never a point of satisfaction and human beings. Therefore americans find they have more power, but they need more. They dont have enough, they feel overstretched because they have to care about markets. Overstretched because they have to care about places far away, overstretched because they have to be concerned about consumers in asia and consumers at home. Americans in the 1890s feel confident those who are part of this elite feel they are world leaders, they feel deep anxiety as well. Deep anxiety because of the vulnerabilities because of where they are in relationship to the world. They are more powerful and less independent. That brings us to our second point. To talk about american way of war. This is a phrase it used by historian, russell widely. How do americans rethink how they are going to conduct themselves in the world and the role of their leaders in the world. How do they rethink those issues in this. Period . The most important speaker with a man named Alfred Thayer mahone. That will all change today. Remember i said the navy is important. He is from the navy. He was a naval officer during the civil war. A union naval officer during the civil war. Wars produce a lot of problems. One of the biggest problems wars produce, those who have served will know this, those of you have studied these issues will know this. Wars produce a lot of people with lots of stars on their uniforms. It doesnt mean they have done anything, they just have lots of stars. They get lots of titles. After the war is the question, what should they be done with them . Then what happens . This is a big problem with the union navy. After the civil war, the Union Contracts and subsides, then you have these admirals, highranking naval officials who have no one to command. They are generals without soldiers. Admirals without sailors. He is very concerned about this. He is sent on a ship off the coast of chile in the 1870s, he is struck that the United States navy is behind the chilean navy. We are not investing in the navy in the 1870s, the chileans are. They are very offended they have a better navy. How could they have a better navy . He comes to believe out of self interest and the way he views the country, and you view what you live, if youre in the navy you think the navy is important. If youre a teacher you think teachers are important. If you are at a university, you think university is important. We are all selfinterested viewers of the world. He comes to believe that the future of American Power will be dependent upon a Stronger Navy and that are weak navy is holding us back, and other societies, particularly the newcomers of the germans and japanese, they are developing a navy and we better have one. Mahan makes the argument called in a famous set of lectures that are later published, i often assign them to undergrads, the influence of sea power upon history. It is a study of rome, britain and the United States. Mahan argues the democracy of the world, the great republics that brought power together with freedom were the naval powers. Not the landed army powers. Armies for mahan are bad. You talked to anyone in the navy and they will always say that. Armies are expensive. Armies take lots of people and armies stage coups. When you have lots of People Holding guns it is natural they have the ability to take power. This happens time and again in history. Army figures use their guns to overthrow civilian leaders they do not like. It happens recurrently to this day. He argues seapower is different. It does not involve occupation of land. It doesnt involve terrorizing people. Seapower, sailors dont take over and ruin democracies. That is factually wrong those of you who know the bolshevik revolution know that it is a revolt led by sailors. They are no less likely to be tyrannical men soldiers in the army. At least it is a nice image. His argument is that it is safer for democracy. It is not involve large armed people on land interfering with civilians. It is a way. Seapower is more efficient. He says seapower matches up with the needs of trade and movement. With seapower, it is not controlling land and people. It is controlling access. You go where you want to go, when you want to go, and how you want to go, and then you leave. You go where you want to go, when you want to go, and how you want to go, and then you leave. Ladies and gentlemen, that is American Military doctrine to the present day. Not to occupy, not to govern others, though sometimes we end up doing that, but to move our force where we want, when they want, and then leave. That is the argument president obama is making for fighting against the islamic state. We will move then, do what we need to do, and then move out. Mahans argument maneuverability not density is what makes for military power, and the navy provides that. He argues the navy is technologically advanced. The navy protects trade. The navy makes it so you dont have to fight the land battles. His book is how the romans and the brits use their navy to defeat stronger land powers. By isolating those land powers. To put in crude terms, there are two kinds of power in the world. There is prussian power, large militaries that march and take control of society, then there is seapower, the ability to move on the water, allow people to be free, but control who goes where and when. That is his argument, the United States to be a seapower. He gets a large hearing from members of the navy who want an argument for their mission, and from Many American political and military leaders. Business leaders like this idea because they need a navy to protect trade. They dont want to be dependent on British Trade and british protection. Political leaders like it because it is a way to protect our without the cost of power. This is a recurring theme, how can we exert power without the negative attributes that have gone to prior empires . How can we have the ability to act far away without be coming and empire like the british. The effort is to avoid it. He offers the possibility for in an engaged United States that is also still distant, that engages from a distance. With the rest of the world. It is what i would call intervention in pursuit of isolation. The ability to intervene and change the terms on the ground but withdraw, to remain separate. Americans want to remain a shining city on a hill, but they also want their shining city to be able to have arms to reach out and affect other areas and then come back. And protect our trade, and then come back. It is the efforts to be able to intervene, but without the cost of occupation and imperial management. He reflects this in his thinking. His father was a minister. His uncle was a minister. He comes from a tradition of religious and engineering thinking. He has the engineering background in one part of his family. He has the ministerial backgrounds. His views are affected by both of these things. The belief in an american exceptional approach to the world. He becomes hugely influential as the navy develops a war college that trains people who will make key foreignpolicy decisions for the United States. The beginnings are around the navy and the Naval War College in thinking about these issues. If the army says the agenda for the civil war, the navy will set the agenda for the next few decades the first intelligence agency, the precursor to the cia, the office of naval intelligence. It still exists. It is the basis for american intelligence activities through world war ii. It is an area that hires young smart people like you to analyze other parts of the world to prepare the navy if they have to move into that part of the world. Prepare them to think about different places. Naval doctrine develops over different ideas that will be important for us. That the United States must have access. Not large landed occupation areas, but access points. Forward basis. For a global navy to work the navy needs places to go to refuel, to get food, to be in court at times, and not in port in the United States. We need forward bases, not large landed occupations, but bases where forces can go. Forward areas. Staging areas. The United States will have 1012 of these. Today we have more than 300. In every part of the world. From djibouti to guam. We will go from being a country without the word bases to a country that is not about controlling territory but controlling bases. Those drones, they are launched from the region in which they are being used. Many are launched from pakistan. Pakistan doesnt like to talk about it. The first key element of this strategy, forward bases, staging areas. The second part of this, focus on key waterways. Key places that one must be able to get through. The 20th century we would call these chokepoints, areas not just in the wide ocean but are narrow through ways that are connectors, crucial if you want to get from one part of the world to the other. That will be the argument for the panama canal, for the suez canal, for the straits of gibraltar, for so many of these key areas around the world that to this day the United States put so much attention to making sure they are open. Those of the areas that trade goes through. The possible bottlenecks on the highway of the world. Mahans ideas are picked up by so many people. Theodore roosevelt becomes an avid promoter of mahan. His nephew, Franklin Roosevelt will be very taken with mahan. It goes beyond this, this gets built into the american way of thinking about the world, not because everyone reads mahan but it accords what americans want to believe. We can use power in a different way, we can use in a clean way in a white way, and a way that gives us the advantages of projecting power without the cost of having to occupy others. These ideas get put to the test in 1898. Here is the important part to think about in American History. When ideas and technologies developed they are usually put to use. When they get enough they are put to use because they will serve someones interest. That happens in the case of cuba. We will refer to many times in this course. The irony, this small island south of florida. My least favorite state. The small islands, north of jamaica, north of haiti, so close, so small, has had inordinate influence on the United States because of what has happened on that island has not followed the wishes of america and american society. This island is an important part of our story. From the 1860s, this island is going through convulsions. It is an incredibly diverse and complex place. It is part of the spanish empire, part of the spanish empire but it has a mixed population. You have many african descendents, afro cubans, dark skinned afro cubans who were former slaves or were slaves brought to the island. It is an area where slaves were brought, not just in north america but to brazil. They still have slavery until 1888. It was a transit point. There are a lot of descendents of slaves, many who are themselves slaves until recently. You have those of spanish descent who have been brought over as part of the spanish empire. You have other caribbean and Central American people. You have a mixed population. Many different races, many different backgrounds. Many different histories. As the spanish empire confronts the limitations on its power, as the United States invests more in cuba, more conflict arises. What is the other big crop that comes out of cuba . That none of you are allowed to use it. Rum . Thats jamaica. Rum is not the big crop. You are on the right track. Cigars. Do you like cuban cigars . I love cuban cigars. Professor suri you would never import one. Of course not. Professor suri cigars. Tobacco. Cuba is tobacco. And sugar country. Both tobacco and sugar are laborintensive crops. They are heavily laborintensive crops, but different kinds of labor. You have economic divisions within cuba between the Sugar Growers which have more afrocuban labor, and the tobacco growers who have less labor, both of which have heavy American Investment and are under spanish political authority. By the 1870s and 80s, you have more american money coming in as americans are buying these plantations, building casinos and play areas until the end of the batista. Cuba is a playground. It is a las vegas for the United States. My grandparents went to cuba to hang out. It is amazing people would do this. This is an area that is bringing together a lot of Different Things with american money coming in and Spanish Authority in place. Mixed populations. There is organized activism for cuban independence, among many groups, particularly lightskinned cubans who see themselves as having the right to be independent from spain and integrate with the United States. And dark skinned cubans who want to see themselves finally freed from what they believe is next are no system that is holding them back as cheap labor in this area. Everything that is happening internationally as raising the importance of cuba as there is more and more sugar and tobacco being demanded around the world, particularly sugar at this time. Time and again, cuban activist who were able to speak english and were educated will come to new york and will ask americans to help save them from spanish rule. They are not asking for the United States to take over cuba. Lets be clear about that. They are nationalists. They are asking the United States to help cuba free themselves from spain. You have constant violence. You also have more and more british and german and influence coming into the area. The germans are interested in getting more of their new navy that they are building in this area to open up more markets for themselves. They are interested in cuba and in mexico. Mexico will have oil in the late 19th century. Cuba has the sugar and tobacco that the germans want, and the british are moving into this area because the british are already in places like jamaica the bahamas. They want to maintain their control over this area. You have other foreign actors coming in to challenge the spanish as well as American Economic interest. Heres an important point people forget in the textbook stories. Americans continually reject overwhelmingly the idea of intervening in cuba. They want to buy. They want interest. They want to make money, and they want to play in cuba, but they do not want to send their military. Grover cleveland, the most memorable of american president s im sure continuously in the 1890s says no. But things change. Things change in 1896, 1897 with the election of william mckinley. Mckinley is convinced the United States should stay out but hes also convinced especially by those around him that the United States needs to at least make sure to keep other bad guys out of the area, that the unrest what we today would call a failed state is creating an opportunity for others to intervene and cause trouble. In everywhere he, the United States sends a battle shift in february, the United States sends a battleship, the uss maine, into the harbor. Show our force flag, muscle, and convince others to stay away. Once you do that, you make yourself a city. Sitting duck. Its clear looking at the evidence that the ship exploded because of an internal combustion problem in the engine, but immediately, the thought is terrorism and that it was done by the spanish, set up to harm the United States. People are convinced of that. It is not the yellow journalism that drives this. The United States has been challenged by the terrorist acts of a decaying empire. The United States declares war on spain. It goes to congress. We declared war then. We used to declare war when we went to war. The interesting question is why did we go to war . It is not because americans had some long abiding interest in taking control of cuba. Americans were concerned others were taking control of cuba and that disorder was going to threaten American Economic interest. Influenced by mahan and others american leaders believed we have to use force to protect order. We could use the navy to get the bad guys out, and power people leave, and protect economic interests. It is motivated not by this desire to own cuba. We never make cuba a state of the United States. In 1902 the u. S. Grants cuba formal independence. It becomes difficult to find a stable leadership that will serve American Interests as well. The first rule forces crated by the United States for counterinsurgency will be created in cuba and the next place on when to talk about. He arrived expect into use naval force to keep bad guys out, find themselves involved in a long military fighting against various different groups that will want to fight the standish the spanish and the United States. People will call in the United States to intervene. Many will then fight the americans who arrive. Seeing the americans as invaders. This is the story of american intervention. Selfmotivated for interests of selfinterested purposes but confronting this complexity of a demand for intervention and opposition at the same time. We will see this story in the philippines as well. They are attempting targets for the United States when the United States goes to war with spain. The proximity to china, to this big market in china. The ability to get into that market is what motivates Many Americans to think about the philippines. Here are the islands. The United States intervenes in the philippines because of its potential use for the United States as a staging ground for asia and it is the center of the spanish fleet in asia. Once they go to war with spain the u. S. Naval fleet under admiral george dewey attacks the spanish. He have left the philippines and let the United States in charge. The american plan was to take manila. Everyone seem and noah . Use manila as a base, and let the filipinos rule themselves. It doesnt work that way. The very nationalist forces the United States brought back will immediately claim the United States should not have control of manila. The night is states will find itself with an unprepared war for more than three years against various filipino groups who we thought were our friends. They didnt want us there. 41 months of warfare, 100 26,000 americans will serve in the philippines. 4200 americans will be killed. 20,000 filipinos will be killed. Another 20,000 will die from famine. This is a quagmire of a war. It will go on for four years. A war the United States did not prepare for. A war motivated by American Interest in keeping other powers out of this important place. Motivated by the desire to in the spanish empire, a war the United States did not plan for. The power has given them new challenges, challenges we may still be a prepared for. We have a rise of a new america that has extended four years of war, a thousand miles away in the philippines. In america that finds itself in the philippines. Most americans didnt know why we were there but knew we were there. America that had economic, cold tro, military interest far, far away from the imagination of Abraham Lincoln 30 years earlier. An america that had opportunities to be an asian power, but now new vulnerabilities and new blood on its hands. They were seeking to use force to protect their new interests in hopes they would need to use more force. These were all preventive wars. They were all preventive wars. Wars fought to prevent what was thought to be an even worse possibility if we did not use force. The challenge is one we confront today. It is a norm is american capability. Uncertainty of how to use that capability. It is an enormous benefits and triumphs. Its a. Where americans in the late 1890s have the semidesign ideas you all have. You are better educated than your peers, you have more technology, you are winners because you are here. You are blessed to be able to be here. You did some things, but is also the luck of birth that you are here. You are all winners. You are all anxious about what that is going to mean, where that is going to take you. That is how americans feel in the 1890s. They are becoming winners. They are uncertain about what it means. The challenge of the next century will be not about building power, but of using that power. That will be topics we discuss next week. See you next week. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] narrator you are watching American History tv, 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan3. Follow us on twitter for information on our schedule of coming programs and to keep up with the latest history news. Coming up next, an overview of the civil war in 1865 by the editor of the civil war the final youre told, a collection of letters, diary entries, and articles from the time peter good afternoon. I am the director of the institute. It is my pleasure to invite the professor off southern studies at lsu. He is professor of southern history as well as civil war and published a number of scholarly works, including a monograph on a book published by the university of virginia. He has done a number of things as well as the editor with myself for civil war america which is published by unc. Aaron came to cwi in 2013. This is your third year at lsu. A change in his accent. Do you have a cajun accent now . He is shaking his head no. He will speak on the war in 1865. Welc