chapter_10_section_3_notes.ppt | |
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Guam in the news
Guam - History and Importance Today
I usually show the 1st 3 and a half minutes of this
Puerto Rico
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 1,000 mi east-southeast of Miami, Fla. A possession of the United States, it consists of the island of Puerto Rico plus the adjacent islets of Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. Puerto Rico has a mountainous, tropical ecosystem with very little flat land and few mineral resources.
Puerto Rico's governor is elected directly by the people of Puerto Rico for a four-year term. Their Congress consists of a 27-member Senate and a 51-member House of Representatives, all elected for four-year terms. . Puerto Ricans have voted 3 separate times to determine their political status, and each time they have decided to remain a Commonwealth instead of becoming independent or the 51st State of the U.S.
Under the Commonwealth formula, residents of Puerto Rico lack voting representation in Congress and do not participate in presidential elections. As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans are subject to military service and most federal laws. Residents of the Commonwealth pay no federal income tax on locally generated earnings, but Puerto Rican government income-tax rates are high and comes close to equalling what residents in the 50 states would pay (on average) when they combine the federal and state income tax rates together.
Puerto Rico - the 51st State?
Hurricane Damage
Cuba
Cuba's first independence movement came in 1868 when a wealthy planter freed his slaves and called for a revolution against Spain. For the next 10 years, Cuban natives fought in vain against the Spanish colonial government and army.
A second hero was added in the 1890s when poet and journalist José Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party during exile in the United States. Fighting began between the Spanish and Cuban revolutionaries on February 24th, 1895. Shortly after landing with a group of recruits gathered from throughout the region, Martí was killed. The Spanish had the insurrection under control within a year.
In the end, the Cubans had to rely on the United States to defeat the Spanish. Anti-Spanish sentiment, fueled by US newspapers, erupted after the battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana harbor on February 15th, 1898. The United States declared war on Spain on April 25th, and in a few months, the Spanish-American War was over. The Treaty of Paris (December 10th, 1898), established Cuban independence from Spain. From 1899–1902, the US army occupied Cuba. It helped the Cuban people rebuild their homes, provide basics of food and clothing, and developed a vaccine that brought about the eradication of yellow fever, but it was more concerned with the establishment of U.S. political and commercial dominance over the island.
On February 21st,1901, a constitution was adopted, and Cuba was nominally a free nation. But the United States insisted that Cuba include in its constitution the Platt Amendment, which gave the United States the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and maintain a naval base at Guantánamo.
For the next 30 years, Cuba had a bunch of different governments, but all were under the watchful eye of the United States. American companies owned or controlled about half of Cuba's cultivated land, its utilities and mines, and other natural resources. The US Marines intervened in Cuban affairs several times to stabilize the area and protect its interests.
In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt allowed Cuba to remove all of the provisions of the Platt Amendment except for the part about maintaining a naval base on Guantanamo Bay, which still exists today. That didn't stop the U.S. from helping to install a dictator (Fulgencio Batista) on the island in 1940 that was friendly towards American business interests.
Over the next two decades, most Cuban natives were mistreated but American business interests were protected so from the U.S. perspective all was well. In the mid 1950's, a revolution (led by Fidel Castro) takes place which changes all of that. This will be discussed in detail 2nd semester.
Platt Amendment
Cuba / US relations nowadays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQklqdVd4oA
Philippine - American War
The title says it all. Around 4 and a half minutes
Spheres of Influence in China
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The Open Door Policy - The Cartoon below is on your TEST!
The Open Door Policy and the Boxer Rebellion
Less than 4 minute explanation of why the U.S. wanted to "open up" China, how many Chinese felt about it (and other countries that were partially occupying it), the rebellion that occurred, and the aftermath.