A Brief History of the United States Part 52

2. The chief events of the war were the battle of Manila Bay, the sinking of the _Merrimac_, the battles near Santiago, the destruction of Cervera's fleet, the invasion of Porto Rico, and the capture of Manila.

3. Peace brought us the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Guam, and forced Spain to withdraw from Cuba.

4. Cuba for awhile remained under our flag; but in 1902 we withdrew, and Cuba became a republic. Later events forced us to intervene in 1906.

5. In 1900 events forced us into a short war in China.

6. In 1898 Hawaii was annexed, and in 1900 was organized as a territory; in 1903 our dispute with Great Britain over the Alaskan boundary was settled; and in 1904 a treaty with Panama gave us the right to dig the Panama Ca.n.a.l.

7. Prominent among domestic affairs since 1898, are the a.s.sa.s.sination of President McKinley (1901); the Irrigation Act of 1902; the pure food and meat inspection laws of 1906; and the admission of the state of Oklahoma.

FOOTNOTES

[1] At the same time it was resolved, "That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and a.s.serts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people."

[2] When the _Maine_ was destroyed, the battleship _Oregon_, then on the Pacific coast, was ordered to the Atlantic seaboard. Making her way southward through the Pacific, she pa.s.sed the Strait of Magellan, steamed up the east coast of South America, and after the swiftest long voyage ever made by a battleship, took her place in the blockading fleet.

[3] The storm of shot and sh.e.l.l from the forts carried away some of the _Merrimac's_ steering gear, so that Hobson was unable to sink the vessel at the spot intended. The channel was still navigable. Read the article by Lieutenant Hobson in the _Century Magazine_ for December, 1898 to March, 1899.

[4] Among those who distinguished themselves in this campaign were General Joseph Wheeler, an ex-Confederate cavalry leader; and Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, with his regiment of volunteers called "Rough Riders."

[5] The city of Manila was captured through a combined attack by Dewey's fleet and Merritt's army, August 13, before news of the protocol had been received.

[6] Our flag was raised over Wake Island early in 1899. Part of the Samoa group, including Tutuila (too-too-e'la) and small adjacent islands, was acquired in 1900 by a joint treaty with Great Britain and Germany; these islands are 77 square miles in area and have 6000 population. Many tiny islands in the Pacific, most of them rocks or coral reefs, belong to us; but they are of little importance, except the Midway Islands, which are occupied by a party of telegraphers in charge of a relay in the cable joining our continent with the Philippines.

[7] Porto Rico is a little smaller than Connecticut, but has a population of about one million, of whom a third are colored. The civil government consists of a governor, an executive council of 11 members, and a House of Delegates of 35 members elected by the people. The island is represented at Washington by a resident commissioner.

[8] The Philippine group numbers about two thousand islands. The land area is about equal to that of New England and New York; that is, 115,000 square miles. Luzon, the largest, is about the size of Kentucky. A census taken in 1903 gave a population of 7,600,000, of whom 600,000 were savages. For several years the Philippines were governed by the President, first through the army, and then through an appointed commission. This commission, with Judge William H. Taft as president, began its duties in June of 1900; but by act of Congress (July 1, 1902) a new plan of government has been provided for. This includes a governor and a legislature of two branches, one the Philippine commission of eight members, and the other an a.s.sembly chosen by the Filipinos.

[9] In 1898 the emperor of Russia invited many of the nations of the world to meet and discuss the reduction of their armies and navies. Delegates from twenty-six nations accordingly met at the Hague (in Holland) in May, 1899, and there discussed (1) disarmament, (2) revision of the laws of land and naval war, (3) mediation and arbitration. Three covenants or agreements were made and left open for signature by the nations till 1900.

One forbade the use in war of deadly gases, of projectiles dropped from balloons, and of bullets made to expand in the human body. The second revised the laws of war, and the third provided for a permanent court of arbitration at the Hague, before which cases may be brought with the consent of the nations concerned.

[10] Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York in 1858, graduated from Harvard University in 1880, and from 1882 to 1884 was a member of the legislature of New York. In 1886 he was the candidate of the Republican party for mayor of New York city and was defeated. In 1889 he was appointed a member of the United States Civil Service Commission, but resigned in 1895 to become president of the New York city police board. In 1897 he was appointed a.s.sistant Secretary of the Navy, but when the war with Spain opened, resigned and organized the First United States Cavalry Volunteers, popularly known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Of this regiment he was lieutenant colonel and then colonel, and after it was mustered out of service, was elected governor of New York in the autumn of 1898. He is the author of many books on history, biography, and hunting, besides essays and magazine articles.

[11] Before this time many small areas had been irrigated by means of works constructed by individuals, by companies, and by local governments.

[12] In 1825 Central America invited us to build a ca.n.a.l by way of Lake Nicaragua, and from that time forth the question was often before Congress. In Jackson's time a commissioner was sent to examine the Nicaragua route and that across the isthmus of Panama. After Texas was annexed we made a treaty with New Granada (now Colombia), and secured "the right of way or transit across the isthmus of Panama upon any modes of communication that now exist, or that may be hereafter constructed." After the Mexican war, the discovery of gold in California, and the expansion of our territory on the Pacific coast, the importance of a ca.n.a.l was greatly increased. But Great Britain stepped in and practically seized control of the Nicaragua route. A crisis followed, and in 1850 we made with Great Britain the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, by which each party was pledged never to obtain "exclusive control over the said ship ca.n.a.l." When (in 1900) we practically decided to build by the Nicaragua route, and felt we must have exclusive control, it became necessary to abrogate this part of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty was therefore made, by which Great Britain gave up all claim to a share in the control of such a ca.n.a.l, and the United States guaranteed that any isthmian ca.n.a.l built by us should be open to all nations on equal terms.

[13] In accordance with our rights under the treaty, Congress (April, 1904) authorized the President, as soon as he had acquired the property of the ca.n.a.l company and paid Panama $10,000,000, to take possession of the "Ca.n.a.l Zone," a strip ten miles wide (five miles on each side of the ca.n.a.l) stretching across the isthmus and extending three marine miles from low water out into the ocean at each end. On April 22, 1904, the property of the ca.n.a.l company was transferred at Paris, and on May 9 the company was paid $40,000,000; Panama had already been paid her $10,000,000, and on May 19 General Davis, president of the Ca.n.a.l Commission, issued a proclamation announcing the beginning of his administration as governor of the Ca.n.a.l Zone.

[14] Another event of 1903 was the addition of a ninth member to the Cabinet,--the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The Secretary of Agriculture (1889) was the eighth member.

[15] By 336 electoral votes against 140 for Parker and Davis. The popular vote was: Republican, 7,623,486; Democratic, 5,077,971; Socialist, 402,283; Prohibition, 258,536; Populist, 117,183; Socialist Labor, 31,249: all others combined, less than 10,000.

[16] The central portion of Indian Territory was opened for settlement on April 22, 1889, when a great rush was made for the new lands. Other areas were soon added, and in 1890 Oklahoma territory was organized. It included the western half of the Indian Territory shown on p. 394.

[17] Another event of 1906 was a great earthquake in western California (April 18). Many buildings in many places were shaken down, and most of San Francisco was destroyed by fires which could not be put out because the water mains were broken by the earthquake. Hundreds of persons lost their lives, and the property loss in San Francisco alone was estimated at $400,000,000.

[18] William Howard Taft was born in Ohio, September 15, 1857, graduated from Yale, studied law, became judge of the Superior Court of Ohio, and United States Circuit Judge (6th Circuit). After the war with Spain, Judge Taft was made president of the Philippine Commission, and in 1901 first civil governor of the Philippine Islands. In 1904 he was appointed Secretary of War, an office which he resigned after his nomination for the Presidency.