How the United States became a world power, 1898–1914

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Mahan's ideas and the islands of 1898

   [1] (economic cause, dotted) Mahan: American factories soon make more than home buyers can use; [2] (strategic cause, striped) Mahan: a battleship navy and a network of bases are needed to protect trade; [3] (political cause, checked) Leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt take up Mahan's ideas; [4] (event or result, plain) 1898: the United States gains Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) 1903: the United States leases a naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with no end date. Arrows: 1 → 2, 2 → 4, 3 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "Mahan looks outward". Who made it: Captain Alfred T. Mahan. When: written August 1890, printed December 1890; text here from his book of 1897. Where: the United States. For whom: readers of a magazine, and later of his book. Why: to argue that the nation should look beyond its borders. Excerpt (The United States Looking Outward, in The Interest of America in Sea Power; The Interest of America in Sea Power, 1897, pp. 21-22): "Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin to look outward. The growing production of the country demands it. An increasing volume of public sentiment demands it. The position of the United States, between the two Old Worlds and the two great oceans, makes the same claim, which will soon be strengthened by the creation of the new link joining the Atlantic and Pacific." Source card "The islands of 1898 and the idea of bases, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: After the war with Spain, the United States held Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, places fit to be the coaling stations and naval bases of the kind Mahan wrote about. Five years later it leased a base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba with no end date. Mahan's interest in bases was not new: after the Civil War, Secretary of State Seward tried to win Caribbean bases and a canal route, and the Senate turned down all of his base plans. In the 1890s leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt took up Mahan's ideas, and the islands of 1898 came through a war, a treaty and votes in Congress.

2. 1.

   Ren reads Mahan's passage beside the card. Which claim about Mahan and the islands of 1898 is best supported?

   • His book planned the 1898 gains island by island, and events then followed the plan he set
   • His ideas shaped leaders' thinking, but a war and votes in Congress also mattered
   • His book alone caused the war with Spain and the islands that came after it, so nothing else mattered
   • His ideas had no effect, since he wrote about Britain and not about the United States

3. Panama, 1902 to 1914

   [1] (political cause, checked) June 19, 1902: the Senate votes to build the canal through Panama; [2] (political cause, checked) Colombia's congress finds the money terms of its canal treaty unacceptable; [3] (strategic cause, striped) Roosevelt sends warships to Panama City and Colon in support of Panamanian independence; [4] (event or result, plain) November 3, 1903: Panama declares independence; [5] (event or result, plain) The new Panama's envoy signs a treaty: a ten-mile strip, $10 million and $250,000 a year; [6] (event or result, plain) 1914: the canal is completed. Arrows: 1 → 2, 2 → 3, 3 → 4, 4 → 5, 5 → 6. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "Panama in 1903, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Senate chose the Panama route in June 1902, and Secretary of State Hay signed a treaty with Colombia's foreign minister. Colombia's congress turned the treaty down over the money terms. President Roosevelt then sent United States warships to Panama City, on the Pacific side, and to Colon, on the Atlantic side, backing Panama's break from Colombia. Colombia's troops could not get through the Darien jungle, and Panama became independent on November 3, 1903. The new republic named Philippe Bunau-Varilla, a French engineer, as its envoy, and he signed the treaty that gave the United States a ten-mile-wide strip. The Office of the Historian adds that United States control of the canal later strained relations with Panama.

4. 2.

   Tala reads the Panama chain and card. What does the order of events show about Colombia's rejection and the warships?

   • The warships came first and caused Colombia's congress to reject the treaty
   • Panama declared independence before Colombia's congress had acted
   • The rejection and the warships came on the same day in 1903
   • The rejection came first, and Roosevelt sent the warships afterward

5. Mahan's ideas and the islands of 1898

   [1] (economic cause, dotted) Mahan: American factories soon make more than home buyers can use; [2] (strategic cause, striped) Mahan: a battleship navy and a network of bases are needed to protect trade; [3] (political cause, checked) Leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt take up Mahan's ideas; [4] (event or result, plain) 1898: the United States gains Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) 1903: the United States leases a naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with no end date. Arrows: 1 → 2, 2 → 4, 3 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "What the export table counts, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Statistical Abstract table gives the total value of goods sold abroad and of goods bought from abroad in each fiscal year, which ends on June 30. It adds all countries together. It counts goods, not services such as shipping or banking, and it does not say which countries bought them. Table "Goods the United States sold abroad, three fiscal years", columns Year ended June 30 | Exports (millions of dollars) | Imports (millions of dollars): 1890 | 857.8 | 789.3; 1900 | 1,394.5 | 849.9; 1910 | 1,745.0 | 1,556.9. Data: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1916, table 249. These are totals of merchandise, in the dollars of each year.

6. 3.

   Zee reads the table. By about how many millions of dollars did exports rise from 1890 to 1900?

   • 545
   • 2,252
   • 887
   • 537

7. Hawaii, 1897 and 1898

   [1] (political cause, checked) June 16, 1897: a treaty of annexation is signed, and it needs two-thirds of the Senate; [2] (political cause, checked) September and October 1897: Native Hawaiians sign a petition against annexation; [3] (event or result, plain) February 1898: only 46 senators are willing to vote for annexation; [4] (strategic cause, striped) April 1898: war with Spain makes Hawaii seem useful as a fueling station; [5] (political cause, checked) A joint resolution needs only a majority of each house; [6] (event or result, plain) July 7, 1898: McKinley signs the joint resolution annexing Hawaii. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 3 → 5, 4 → 6, 5 → 6. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "The 1897 petition, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1897 two Hawaiian groups, one of men and one of women, held meetings on the five main islands and gathered signatures against annexation. The petition of the Hui Aloha ʻĀina, or Hawaiian Patriotic League, carried 21,269 names of Native Hawaiians. Four delegates brought it to Washington in December 1897, where they met Queen Liliʻuokalani, and a senator read it aloud in the Senate. The National Archives puts that above half the 39,000 Native Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians that the Hawaiian Commission counted the same year. Table "The 1897 petition against annexation", columns Count | Number: Signatures of Native Hawaiians on the petition | 21,269; Native Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians counted in 1897 | 39,000. Data: National Archives. The National Archives gives the second figure as 39,000 and says the count came from the Hawaiian Commission.

8. 4.

   Ari reads the table. About what percent of the 39,000 Native Hawaiians and part-Hawaiians signed the 1897 petition?

   • 45
   • 183
   • 21
   • 55

9. The Treaty of Paris and its aftermath

   [1] (event or result, plain) December 10, 1898: Spain gives up Cuba, cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and the United States pays Spain $20 million; [2] (political cause, checked) Some Americans oppose taking colonies: some call it wrong, some do not want Filipinos in national government, some oppose McKinley; [3] (event or result, plain) February 6, 1899: the Senate ratifies the treaty with one vote to spare; [4] (event or result, plain) February 4, 1899: fighting breaks out in the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) July 4, 1902: Roosevelt declares the Philippine war over. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 1 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "The Philippine-American War, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Filipino nationalists under Emilio Aguinaldo wanted independence rather than a change of colonial rulers. Fighting began on February 4, 1899, and President Roosevelt declared the war over on July 4, 1902, though smaller uprisings followed. The Office of the Historian reports that over 4,200 American soldiers and over 20,000 Filipino fighters lost their lives, and that as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians lost their lives to violence, famine and disease. The same office notes that Americans called it an insurrection, while Filipinos said they were fighting off a foreign invader. It was a hard war on both sides. Table "Lives lost in the Philippine-American War, 1899 to 1902", columns Group | Lives lost: American soldiers | over 4,200; Filipino fighters | over 20,000; Filipino civilians | as many as 200,000. Data: Office of the Historian. The civilian figure counts violence, famine and disease together, and is given as an upper limit.

10. 5.

    Bo reads the table on the Philippine-American War. Which sentence fits its figures?

    • More American than Filipino fighters lost their lives, though the civilian count was large
    • Over 24,000 fighters lost their lives, and as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians
    • Exactly 200,000 Filipino civilians lost their lives to violence, famine and disease
    • About 4,200 people lost their lives in the whole war, counting both sides together

11. Hawaii, 1897 and 1898

    [1] (political cause, checked) June 16, 1897: a treaty of annexation is signed, and it needs two-thirds of the Senate; [2] (political cause, checked) September and October 1897: Native Hawaiians sign a petition against annexation; [3] (event or result, plain) February 1898: only 46 senators are willing to vote for annexation; [4] (strategic cause, striped) April 1898: war with Spain makes Hawaii seem useful as a fueling station; [5] (political cause, checked) A joint resolution needs only a majority of each house; [6] (event or result, plain) July 7, 1898: McKinley signs the joint resolution annexing Hawaii. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 3 → 5, 4 → 6, 5 → 6. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "Congress apologizes to Native Hawaiians". Who made it: the Congress of the United States, in Public Law 103-150. When: November 23, 1993. Where: Washington. For whom: the public, Native Hawaiians and the President. Why: to acknowledge the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and apologize for it. Excerpt (Joint resolution, section 1; Public Law 103-150, 1993, 107 Stat. 1513): "The Congress— (1) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893, acknowledges the historical significance of this event which resulted in the suppression of the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people; … (3) apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination;" Source card "Two readings of the events of 1893, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Office of the Historian describes the events of 1893 as a coup by Hawaii-based planters and businessmen against Queen Liliʻuokalani. In 1993 Congress said that the United States Minister, John Stevens, joined a small group of non-Hawaiian residents in a plot, that armed naval forces of the United States took positions near the government buildings on January 16, 1893, and that without the support of American officials the plot would have failed.

12. 6.

    Jun sets the Office of the Historian's reading beside Congress's apology of 1993. Which statement do the two together support about 1893?

    • Hawaii-based planters and businessmen took part, and the United States had no role
    • United States officials took part, with no help from planters or businessmen
    • Native Hawaiians led the change of government in 1893, with some help abroad
    • Planters and businessmen took part, and so did agents of the United States

13. Puerto Rico and Guam after 1898

    [1] (strategic cause, striped) Naval bases and coaling stations are wanted in the Caribbean and the Pacific; [2] (event or result, plain) December 10, 1898: Spain cedes Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States; [3] (event or result, plain) April 12, 1900: Congress sets up a civil government for Puerto Rico; [4] (event or result, plain) March 2, 1917: Congress declares the people of Puerto Rico citizens of the United States; [5] (event or result, plain) Guam is placed under the Navy, and in 1950 Congress gives its people citizenship. Arrows: 1 → 2, 2 → 3, 3 → 4, 2 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Timeline strip from 1895 to 1920, with a mark every 5 years. A: Spain cedes Puerto Rico and Guam in the Treaty of Paris, 1898. B: Congress sets up Puerto Rico's civil government, 1900. C: Congress declares Puerto Ricans citizens of the United States, 1917. Source card "The first law for Puerto Rico's government". Who made it: Congress, in the Foraker Act. When: April 12, 1900. Where: Washington. For whom: the people of Puerto Rico, officials and the courts. Why: to set up a civil government for the island. Excerpt (Act of April 12, 1900, section 7; United States Statutes at Large vol. 31, 1900, 31 Stat. 79): "That all inhabitants continuing to reside therein who were Spanish subjects on the eleventh day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and then resided in Porto Rico, and their children born subsequent thereto, shall be deemed and held to be citizens of Porto Rico, and as such entitled to the protection of the United States, … and they, together with such citizens of the United States as may reside in Porto Rico, shall constitute a body politic under the name of The People of Porto Rico, with governmental powers as hereinafter conferred …" Source card "The Jones Act on citizenship". Who made it: Congress, in the Jones Act. When: March 2, 1917. Where: Washington. For whom: the people of Puerto Rico, officials and the courts. Why: to give a new government to the island and state who were citizens. Excerpt (Act of March 2, 1917, section 5; United States Statutes at Large vol. 39, 1917, 39 Stat. 953): "That all citizens of Porto Rico, as defined by section seven of the Act of April twelfth, nineteen hundred, … and all natives of Porto Rico who were temporarily absent from that island on April eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and have since returned and are permanently residing in that island, and are not citizens of any foreign country, are hereby declared, and shall be deemed and held to be, citizens of the United States:" Source card "Puerto Rico and Guam, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Article II of the Treaty of Paris ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the United States. Congress passed the Foraker Act on April 12, 1900, for Puerto Rico, and the Jones Act on March 2, 1917, which declared its people citizens of the United States. Guam was placed under the jurisdiction of the Navy in 1898, and the Guam Organic Act of 1950 moved federal jurisdiction to the Department of the Interior and gave the people of Guam citizenship. The CHamoru are the people of Guam, which they call Guåhan.

14. 7.

    Kira reads the two laws about Puerto Rico. How did the status of the island's people change from the first law to the second?

    • They lost the protection of the United States in 1917
    • From citizens of the United States in 1900 to citizens of Porto Rico in 1917
    • They were citizens of the United States under both laws
    • From citizens of Porto Rico in 1900 to citizens of the United States in 1917

15. The Treaty of Paris and its aftermath

    [1] (event or result, plain) December 10, 1898: Spain gives up Cuba, cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and the United States pays Spain $20 million; [2] (political cause, checked) Some Americans oppose taking colonies: some call it wrong, some do not want Filipinos in national government, some oppose McKinley; [3] (event or result, plain) February 6, 1899: the Senate ratifies the treaty with one vote to spare; [4] (event or result, plain) February 4, 1899: fighting breaks out in the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) July 4, 1902: Roosevelt declares the Philippine war over. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 1 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "The Treaty of Paris, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The treaty signed in Paris on December 10, 1898, ended the war with Spain. Spain gave up all claim to Cuba, which was to be independent. Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam, and ceded the Philippines in return for $20 million from the United States. The Senate approved the treaty on February 6, 1899, and the margin was a single vote.

16. 8.

    Luz's note says: "In the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines to the United States." What fix does the card support?

    • Leave it: the card says each place was ceded and the vote was a wide one
    • Change "ceded" to "sold" for the four places that the note names
    • Change "Guam" to "Hawaii", which Spain also ceded in the same treaty of 1898
    • Change "ceded Cuba" to "gave up Cuba, which was to be independent"

17. The Treaty of Paris and its aftermath

    [1] (event or result, plain) December 10, 1898: Spain gives up Cuba, cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and the United States pays Spain $20 million; [2] (political cause, checked) Some Americans oppose taking colonies: some call it wrong, some do not want Filipinos in national government, some oppose McKinley; [3] (event or result, plain) February 6, 1899: the Senate ratifies the treaty with one vote to spare; [4] (event or result, plain) February 4, 1899: fighting breaks out in the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) July 4, 1902: Roosevelt declares the Philippine war over. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 1 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "What the Open Door notes were, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Secretary of State Hay's notes of 1899 and 1900 stated the policy of the United States toward China. They asked the powers to give merchants of every country equal chances to trade, and later to respect China's territorial and administrative integrity. The powers signed no treaty, and the notes could not be enforced. Russia's reply came with so many conditions that it nearly cancelled the idea. Even so, Hay's successors kept to the Open Door as American policy for decades.

18. 9.

    Milo's note says: "The Open Door notes were a treaty in which the great powers promised to keep China open to traders of any country." What fix does the card support?

    • Change "a treaty" to "notes that could not be enforced"
    • Change "the great powers" to "Chinese leaders", who signed the notes
    • Leave it: Russia agreed to the notes without adding conditions
    • Change "to traders of any country" to "to traders from the United States alone"

19. The Treaty of Paris and its aftermath

    [1] (event or result, plain) December 10, 1898: Spain gives up Cuba, cedes Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, and the United States pays Spain $20 million; [2] (political cause, checked) Some Americans oppose taking colonies: some call it wrong, some do not want Filipinos in national government, some oppose McKinley; [3] (event or result, plain) February 6, 1899: the Senate ratifies the treaty with one vote to spare; [4] (event or result, plain) February 4, 1899: fighting breaks out in the Philippines; [5] (event or result, plain) July 4, 1902: Roosevelt declares the Philippine war over. Arrows: 1 → 3, 2 → 3, 1 → 4, 4 → 5. Shading key: an economic cause (dotted) is about trade, markets, goods or money; a strategic cause (striped) is about military position: bases, fleets, routes, rivals' power or defense; a political cause (checked) is about governments, laws, votes, public opinion or who rules; an event or result is plain. Source card "The Philippine-American War, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Filipino nationalists under Emilio Aguinaldo wanted independence rather than a change of colonial rulers. Fighting began on February 4, 1899, and President Roosevelt declared the war over on July 4, 1902, though smaller uprisings followed. The Office of the Historian reports that over 4,200 American soldiers and over 20,000 Filipino fighters lost their lives, and that as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians lost their lives to violence, famine and disease. The same office notes that Americans called it an insurrection, while Filipinos said they were fighting off a foreign invader. It was a hard war on both sides.

20. 10.

    Noah's note says: "The fighting in the Philippines from 1899 to 1902 was only an insurrection, since all sides agreed the islands already belonged to the United States." What fix does the card support?

    • Change "1902" to "1898", when the war with Spain ended and fighting stopped
    • Change "insurrection" to "peace treaty", since the war was settled at Paris in 1898
    • Add that Americans said insurrection, while Filipinos said they fought an invader
    • Leave it: the Senate had ratified the treaty before the first fighting began