Florida US History EOC Module 2, Imperialism and World War I: a complete overview of overseas expansion, the Spanish-American War, US entry into the war, the home front, and the peace

What Module 2 actually demands

Module 2 carries the story from the United States looking outward to the United States turning back inward: American imperialism and World War I, roughly 1890 to 1920. On the EOC this falls under Reporting Category 1, the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century. It explains why the country built an overseas empire, how a war with Spain made it a world power, why it joined World War I, how the war reshaped the home front, and why it then rejected the peace it helped design. The dominant skills are cause and effect (especially the causes of US entry into the war) and reading stimulus sources such as cartoons, headlines, and posters.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own practice questions: American imperialism, the Spanish-American War, the United States enters World War I, the World War I home front, and the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.

American imperialism

Around 1890 the United States turned to imperialism for economic reasons (markets and raw materials), military reasons (a strong navy needing bases, the argument of Alfred Thayer Mahan), and ideological reasons (a sense of mission). It annexed Hawaii (1898) for sugar and Pearl Harbor, issued the Open Door Policy to keep China open to trade for all nations, and dominated Latin America through the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt Corollary, and "Big Stick" diplomacy (with dollar diplomacy under Taft).

The Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War (1898) began over a Cuban revolt, inflamed by yellow journalism and the explosion of the USS Maine. The short war made the United States a world power: Cuba came under US control, and the United States acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. Taking the Philippines split the country into imperialists (markets, bases, mission) and anti-imperialists (ruling people without consent betrayed American ideals), and Filipinos who wanted independence fought the Philippine-American War.

The United States enters World War I

World War I began in Europe in 1914 from the long-term causes summed up as MAIN (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism), sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The United States was neutral until German unrestricted submarine warfare (the Lusitania, 1915) and the Zimmermann Telegram pushed it to declare war in April 1917. The American Expeditionary Force under General Pershing helped the Allies win in 1918.

The home front

To fight a total war, the government managed the economy, sold Liberty Bonds, and used propaganda (the Committee on Public Information) to build support. Fear led to the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which limited civil liberties, and in Schenck v. United States (1919) the Supreme Court ruled that free speech could be limited when it posed a "clear and present danger." The war also drove the Great Migration of African Americans to northern cities and brought more women into the workforce.

The peace and the return to isolationism

President Wilson's Fourteen Points called for self-determination and a League of Nations, but the Treaty of Versailles punished Germany harshly (war guilt, reparations). The Senate, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, feared that Article X would drag the United States into foreign wars, and rejected the treaty. The United States never joined the League and turned to isolationism in the 1920s.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and application questions covering Module 2. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. Identify the three main motives for American imperialism. (3 marks)
2. Explain the purpose of the Open Door Policy. (2 marks)
3. Explain how yellow journalism helped cause the Spanish-American War. (2 marks)
4. Identify two territories the United States acquired from the Spanish-American War. (2 marks)
5. Summarize the argument of the anti-imperialists. (2 marks)
6. State the four long-term causes of World War I (MAIN). (2 marks)
7. Explain two reasons the United States entered World War I in 1917. (2 marks)
8. Define total war and give one example of home-front mobilization. (2 marks)
9. State what the Supreme Court decided in Schenck v. United States. (2 marks)
10. Identify the international organization in Wilson's Fourteen Points and its purpose. (2 marks)
11. Explain why the US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles. (2 marks)