1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:00,719 Hi, everyone, and welcome 2 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:01,599 back to Heimler's History. 3 00:00:01,640 --> 00:00:03,119 Now as America comes out 4 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:04,240 of the Gilded Age, 5 00:00:04,281 --> 00:00:07,319 we are filthy rich and itching to flex our 6 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,839 collective strength on the world stage. 7 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:11,520 And when we looked around at the world, 8 00:00:11,561 --> 00:00:13,719 it turns out that European countries had 9 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,239 been flexing their muscles for decades 10 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,519 in something called "Imperialism." 11 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,199 And so, not to be outdone, 12 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:22,239 America looked around and decided 13 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,040 to gather up some lands 14 00:00:24,081 --> 00:00:26,559 for an overseas empire of her own. 15 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:27,879 Now, when I think of America's age 16 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,000 of imperialism, the best 17 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,281 metaphor to my mind is hunger. 18 00:00:31,365 --> 00:00:33,325 "Daddy's hungry." 19 00:00:33,408 --> 00:00:34,159 And in this lecture, 20 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,239 we're going to see what Daddy America was 21 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,639 hungry for, why Daddy America got so 22 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:40,839 hungry in the first place, and what it was 23 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,560 that Daddy found to stuff down his gullet. 24 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:44,639 Let's get to it. 25 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:46,560 (It's time to kick it old school). 26 00:00:47,873 --> 00:00:58,799 [MUSIC] 27 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:04,721 So, what was Daddy hungry for? Well, first, Daddy was hungry for new markets. 28 00:01:04,762 --> 00:01:09,975 You see, America had found a way to grow more food and produce more manufactured crap than the 29 00:01:10,517 --> 00:01:14,520 American public could possibly consume. And so, what do you do in that case? 30 00:01:14,937 --> 00:01:21,206 Well, you look for foreign markets, and so we trained our eyes on Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean. 31 00:01:21,290 --> 00:01:22,480 But Daddy was also 32 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:24,279 hungry for raw materials. 33 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:25,679 You see, despite the abundance 34 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,599 of resources packed under the crust 35 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:29,000 of the American continent, 36 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:30,480 we did not have it all, 37 00:01:30,521 --> 00:01:32,679 and so if we were going to keep feeding 38 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,040 those factories, we needed to find other 39 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:36,159 lands that had raw 40 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,800 materials that we did not. 41 00:01:37,841 --> 00:01:40,159 Okay, that was what Daddy was hungry for. 42 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,639 Now, why was it that Daddy was hungry? 43 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:43,799 Well, two reasons. 44 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,160 First, there was the lingering 45 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,319 idea of Social Darwinism. 46 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,039 You'll recall that guys like John D. 47 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:50,760 Rockefeller applied the principles 48 00:01:50,801 --> 00:01:53,039 of survival of the fittest to his business 49 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:54,879 practices, but now he decided to apply 50 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,159 those principles at the level 51 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:57,679 of nations as well. 52 00:01:57,720 --> 00:01:59,640 America had proved herself to be one 53 00:01:59,681 --> 00:02:01,759 of the strongest and fittest in the world, 54 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,079 and therefore was justified in finding 55 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:05,839 the weak and consuming them. 56 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,039 "Daddy's hungry." 57 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:08,639 But the second reason Daddy was hungry was 58 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,199 because of that old idea 59 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,040 of manifest destiny. 60 00:02:12,424 --> 00:02:14,600 That was the old idea that God had given 61 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,319 us the right to possess the entirety 62 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,890 of the continent from sea to shining sea, 63 00:02:19,973 --> 00:02:21,680 and at this point, we had done it. 64 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:23,879 All the land, which we can now consider 65 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:25,159 the lower 48 states, 66 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:26,800 were in our possession. 67 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:29,039 The great expanse of America stretched 68 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:30,039 from the Atlantic 69 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,639 to the Pacific seaboards. 70 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:32,800 And listen, a hunger like 71 00:02:32,841 --> 00:02:35,239 that doesn't just die off overnight. 72 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,039 For example, I love gummy bears, 73 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,839 and just because I eat a four-pound bag 74 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:40,719 of gummy bears today doesn't mean I'm 75 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:41,759 gonna be satisfied 76 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:42,839 for the rest of my life. 77 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:44,399 Next morning, I'm gonna wake up thinking, 78 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:45,999 "I could do that all over again." 79 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:47,999 So, even though the Civil War distracted 80 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,000 us for a little while, 81 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,039 now that everything was put back together 82 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:52,840 again, Daddy was hungry for more. 83 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:54,680 And since we had nowhere else to go on 84 00:02:54,721 --> 00:02:56,760 this continent, we had to look elsewhere. 85 00:02:56,843 --> 00:02:57,880 Now, not surprisingly, 86 00:02:57,921 --> 00:03:00,639 this impulse got us into some skirmishes, 87 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:01,360 most notably 88 00:03:01,401 --> 00:03:03,934 the Spanish-American War of 1898. 89 00:03:04,017 --> 00:03:05,479 Now in order to tell this story, 90 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,119 we need to begin in Cuba. 91 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:07,959 Now Cuba had been part 92 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,360 of the Spanish Empire since the late 93 00:03:09,401 --> 00:03:11,840 1400s, and the Cubans had had just 94 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,486 about enough of foreign imperial rule. 95 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,040 And so, the Cubans roused themselves 96 00:03:17,081 --> 00:03:19,700 into a revolt against their Spanish lords. 97 00:03:19,783 --> 00:03:22,079 Now, if you'll recall, way back in the day, 98 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:23,600 America embraced something 99 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,119 called the Monroe Doctrine. 100 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:26,840 And I compared the Monroe Doctrine 101 00:03:26,881 --> 00:03:29,319 to a dog lifting its leg and peeing all 102 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,719 over the Western Hemisphere, 103 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:31,640 and here's why. 104 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,519 Because the Monroe Doctrine said 105 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,560 that everything in the Western Hemisphere 106 00:03:35,601 --> 00:03:38,039 essentially belongs to America, 107 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,440 and therefore we don't want any 108 00:03:39,481 --> 00:03:41,513 European intervention over here. 109 00:03:41,596 --> 00:03:42,559 So, as it turns out, 110 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:43,919 Cuba happens to be 111 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:45,080 in the Western Hemisphere, 112 00:03:45,121 --> 00:03:47,479 and therefore could not avoid the sprinkle 113 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:49,039 of the American urinary 114 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:50,520 habit of imperialism. 115 00:03:50,561 --> 00:03:53,608 And so, America took up the Cuban cause. 116 00:03:53,692 --> 00:03:55,560 Now why would America want to do this? 117 00:03:55,601 --> 00:03:57,639 Well, at least one reason was something 118 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,360 that came to be known as "yellow 119 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,520 journalism," and essentially what was going 120 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:03,679 on is that people like Joseph Pulitzer 121 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:05,560 were publishing in their newspapers 122 00:04:05,601 --> 00:04:07,679 accounts that were both spurious 123 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,559 and outlandish about Spanish atrocities 124 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,880 against the Cubans in order to arouse 125 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:14,959 public support for the Cuban cause. 126 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,079 Now in many cases, 127 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,719 there was a kernel of truth to these, 128 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,760 but they were blown way out of proportion. 129 00:04:19,801 --> 00:04:22,120 So, at this point, the American public was 130 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:23,440 clamoring for a fight, 131 00:04:23,481 --> 00:04:25,839 and so we sent our newest Navy destroyer 132 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,719 down to Cuba and just parked 133 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:29,519 it right in Havana Harbor. 134 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:30,880 Nothing going on here, 135 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,106 just came down to say, "Hay." 136 00:04:33,190 --> 00:04:34,360 And as you can imagine, 137 00:04:34,401 --> 00:04:37,000 this move caused an awful lot of tension 138 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,160 between America and Spain, 139 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,407 but nothing really happened until one day. 140 00:04:42,491 --> 00:04:46,199 In the evening of February 15th, 1898, 141 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,872 the USS Maine exploded, 142 00:04:48,955 --> 00:04:52,000 killing 260 American sailors. 143 00:04:52,083 --> 00:04:53,839 Now, of course, Joseph Pulitzer and his 144 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:55,120 army of yellow journalists 145 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,520 jumped all over this. 146 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:58,360 They pumped out ream after ream 147 00:04:58,401 --> 00:05:00,720 of newspapers accusing the Spanish 148 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:02,279 of destroying the Maine. 149 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:03,959 Now just so you know, in 1976, 150 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,479 the U.S. Navy did an extensive 151 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,199 investigation into the explosion, 152 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:08,079 and what they found was 153 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:09,680 that the overwhelming amount of evidence 154 00:05:09,721 --> 00:05:11,959 suggested an internal explosion, 155 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:13,519 which is to say it was not 156 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,199 in fact caused by the Spanish. 157 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,039 But investigating the truth didn't 158 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,039 much matter to the American public. 159 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:20,639 We wanted Spanish blood. 160 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:22,559 Now to emphasize just how much Americans 161 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:24,360 wanted to get into a fight despite any 162 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,200 action that might lead to a diplomatic 163 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:28,360 solution, you should know that American 164 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,999 diplomats presented Spain with a list 165 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,000 of demands saying, "Do this, 166 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:34,440 and we will not go to war." 167 00:05:34,481 --> 00:05:37,399 And apparently, Spain really did not want 168 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:38,759 to go to war with America, 169 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:40,639 because they complied with all 170 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:41,360 of the demands, 171 00:05:41,401 --> 00:05:43,679 including the most stringent of them, 172 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,512 to which America said, "Hmm, 173 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:46,839 now, we really didn't 174 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:47,919 think you all would do all that. 175 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:49,620 You all still want to start a war? 176 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:50,679 All right, we're gonna go to war." 177 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:51,719 "Wait, what?" 178 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:52,320 Why? 179 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,879 Well, President McKinley knew how unwise 180 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,279 it would be to not start a war because, 181 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,120 hey, elections were coming up, 182 00:05:59,161 --> 00:06:01,319 and if he didn't give the people what they 183 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,399 wanted, then they wouldn't reelect him. 184 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:04,679 And that is how you get 185 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,119 the Spanish-American War. 186 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:07,760 Now, I'll just cut to the end of what 187 00:06:07,801 --> 00:06:10,039 McKinley called this splendid little war 188 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,679 because it only lasted for 114 days, 189 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:14,079 and I'll let you know that America 190 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:15,760 triumphed on behalf of the Cubans 191 00:06:15,801 --> 00:06:18,039 and repulsed Spain from the last scrap 192 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,171 of their once vast New World empire. 193 00:06:20,255 --> 00:06:22,119 And one of the strange strategies we 194 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:23,799 employed to win this battle 195 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:25,840 in the Caribbean was by invading another 196 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,240 Spanish possession way over in the 197 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,224 Pacific, namely the Philippine Islands. 198 00:06:31,308 --> 00:06:32,279 And the freedom-loving 199 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:33,319 Filipinos were like- 200 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:34,839 "Yay, the Americans are 201 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,319 here to make us free!" 202 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:37,640 And as the war closed, 203 00:06:37,681 --> 00:06:39,919 we sat across the treaty table from Spain 204 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:41,679 and took the Philippine Islands off 205 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:43,600 their hands for a cool 20 million. 206 00:06:43,641 --> 00:06:45,760 And once President McKinley saw how 207 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,599 backwards and brown and un-Christian these 208 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,199 Filipinos were, actually, 209 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:50,839 don't tell anybody, 210 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:52,359 but their leader was highly educated 211 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:53,199 and the Filipinos were 212 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:54,840 already mostly Christians. 213 00:06:54,881 --> 00:06:57,159 McKinley decided to do the right thing 214 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,080 and keep the Filipinos under American rule 215 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:01,160 until they became, 216 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:02,359 you know, more American. 217 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,199 And since the Philippine Islands were just 218 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:05,720 so dang far away, 219 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,160 we began to think that we needed a rest 220 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,239 stop, you know, some place between our 221 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:11,840 western coast and Asia 222 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:13,800 where we could just chill and eat some 223 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:15,919 coconut meat, maybe some place like, 224 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:17,480 I don't know, Hawaii. 225 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,679 So, in 1898, America went ahead and brought 226 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:21,319 a bunch of diseases to the native 227 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,039 Hawaiians and killed a bunch of them off 228 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:24,359 and was like, "So, if you all aren't using 229 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,119 these islands anymore, we'll take them." 230 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:27,880 And that's how you get the 50th 231 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:29,440 state of the United States. 232 00:07:29,481 --> 00:07:31,559 Now with all this imperialistic activity, 233 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,439 there arose, not surprisingly, 234 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,039 a great clamor from a bunch 235 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:36,999 of people saying this is wrong. 236 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:38,679 The folks who were saying this were called 237 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,599 the Anti-Imperialist League, 238 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,520 and they argued that America should not be 239 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,800 taking over nations and ruling other 240 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,680 peoples because, in case you forgot, 241 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,079 there's a deep conviction in the soul 242 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,280 of America that people must be 243 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:53,159 governed by their own consent. 244 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:54,560 A philosopher during that time named 245 00:07:54,601 --> 00:07:56,639 William James put it magnificently. 246 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:58,360 He said he couldn't believe that America 247 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,320 could puke up its ancient soul in five 248 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:03,650 minutes without a wink of squeamishness. 249 00:08:03,733 --> 00:08:05,279 But on the other side of the argument 250 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:06,880 were the expansionists. 251 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,039 They raised arguments about patriotism 252 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,440 and about how America had a civilizing 253 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:12,959 mission in the world, 254 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,719 not to mention that the possibilities 255 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:16,160 for the expansion of trade 256 00:08:16,201 --> 00:08:18,199 were positively fabulous. 257 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,200 And in the end, it was the expansionists 258 00:08:20,241 --> 00:08:22,719 who won out, and on February 6th, 1899, 259 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,799 Congress approved the treaty with Spain 260 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,319 and America became an empire. 261 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,120 And that's all we have time for now. 262 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:30,360 I'll see you next time.