Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact (officially the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy) in Paris, eventually ratified by 62 nations. The treaty solemnly renounces war as an instrument of …
Frank KelloggAristide BriandCalvin CoolidgeU.S. Senateforeign-policyinstitutional-captureinternational-lawimperialism
The Senate Committee on the Philippines embarks on a highly publicized investigation into “Affairs in the Philippine Islands” after letters from ordinary American soldiers in the Philippines surface in hometown newspapers containing graphic accounts of torture and atrocities. At the …
Theodore RooseveltWilliam Howard TaftSenate Committee on the PhilippinesAnti-imperialist SenatorsU.S. Army soldiers+1 moreimperialismtorturewar-crimesaccountability-crisisphilippines+1 more
Filipino resistance fighters in Balangiga, Samar conduct a surprise attack on Company C of the U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment, killing 54 American soldiers in what becomes described as the “worst defeat of United States Army soldiers since the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.” The …
Jacob H. SmithLittleton WallerAdna ChaffeeTheodore RooseveltFilipino civilians+1 moreimperialismwar-crimesmilitary-atrocitiesphilippinescounterinsurgency+1 more
Congress enacts the Platt Amendment as part of the Army Appropriations Act, stipulating seven conditions for withdrawal of U.S. troops remaining in Cuba after the Spanish-American War, plus an eighth condition requiring Cuba to sign a treaty accepting these conditions. The amendment, spearheaded by …
William McKinleyOrville H. PlattElihu RootLeonard WoodCuban Constituent Assembly+1 moregilded-ageimperialismregime-changecubaterritorial-control+1 more
The Siege of Peking begins as the anti-foreign, anti-imperialist Boxer movement (Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists) surrounds foreign legations in Beijing, trapping diplomats and missionaries including 56 American sailors and Marines from USS Oregon and USS Newark. The siege triggers …
Secretary of State John Hay issues a diplomatic circular to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia articulating the “Open Door” policy for China, advocating three principles: (1) no power would interfere with trading rights of other nations within its sphere of …
John HayWilliam Woodville RockhillWilliam McKinleyAmerican Asiatic AssociationEuropean imperial powers+1 moregilded-ageimperialismcorporate-powertrade-policychina+1 more
Fighting erupts between U.S. forces and Filipino independence fighters led by Emilio Aguinaldo, transforming America’s supposed “liberation” of the Philippines from Spain into a brutal three-year war of imperial conquest. The conflict begins just two days before the Senate ratifies …
Emilio AguinaldoWilliam McKinleyU.S. Army forcesPhilippine independence movementFilipino civiliansgilded-ageimperialismwar-crimesmilitary-atrocitiescounterinsurgency+1 more
President McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution (House Joint Resolution 259) annexing the Hawaiian Islands, legitimizing a corporate coup d’état executed five years earlier by American sugar planters who overthrew the constitutional monarchy of Queen Liliuokalani. The annexation occurs …
William McKinleySanford B. DoleQueen LiliuokalaniSugar plantation ownersCommittee of Safety+1 moregilded-ageimperialismcorporate-powerregime-changeterritorial-expansion+1 more
The United States declares war on Spain following the April 20 ultimatum demanding Spanish withdrawal from Cuba, launching what Secretary of State John Hay will call “a splendid little war” that transforms America into a global imperial power. Spain had severed diplomatic ties on April …
William McKinleyTheodore RooseveltU.S. NavySpanish EmpireCuban revolutionariesgilded-ageimperialismspanish-american-warmilitary-interventionterritorial-expansion
An explosion tears through the hull of the USS Maine anchored in Havana Harbor, Cuba, sinking the ship and killing 266 American sailors. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba conclude the explosion occurred on board, but newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst …
William Randolph HearstJoseph PulitzerNew York JournalNew York WorldUSS Maine crew+1 moregilded-agemedia-manipulationimperialismpropagandaspanish-american-war
On January 16, 1893, U.S. Minister to Hawaii John L. Stevens orders 162 U.S. sailors and marines from the USS Boston to land in Honolulu under the pretense of protecting American lives and property. The following day, January 17, a Committee of Safety consisting of thirteen men—seven foreign …
Queen LiliuokalaniJohn L. StevensCommittee of SafetySanford B. DoleLorrin Thurston+4 moreinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionindigenous-rightsmilitary-interventionsovereignty-theft+2 more