Given the changing nature of the Internet, you may wish to preview these sites. Always check for updated links to U.S. history sites.

Allow one week to teach this chapter.

In asking questions during class discussion, occasionally ask for the "most significant," "the least likely," "the most important," and "the best example" in order to give students practice in thinking in terms of qualifiers for questions and answers. While many questions on the AP* exam will require a factually accurate answer (something either is or is not correct), some questions will require that students evaluate an answer on the basis of a qualifier such as most or least.

By the end of the 1890s, the United States was well on its way to becoming a world power, and by the end of Theodore Roosevelt's second term, its ascendancy had been achieved. U.S. expansion, however, had come at the cost of other peoples and nations. Beginning with the annexation of Hawaii through the occupation of Cuba and Puerto Rico to the Philippine-American War and intervention in Nicaragua and Guatemala, the United States followed a policy of self-interest.

This drive to expand the nation's power was motivated both by political and economic interests, the latter known as dollar diplomacy. However, missionary diplomacy also played a part in the thinking of some of those who championed an enlarged role for the United States in foreign affairs. These people believed that the United States had a mission to spread its form of government—democracy—and religion—Protestantism—around the world because both were far superior to the government, religions, social mores, and so on of native-born peoples. This was social Darwinism on an international level.

This is a good chapter to use to teach point of view. Divide the class into groups of three or four students and assign each group one of the following: the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, or Nicaragua. Have each group write a speech from the point of view of its assigned nation discussing how the group feels about the actions of the United States toward its nation. After the groups give their speeches, ask if different social classes within the nation might feel differently about U.S. intervention or military presence and why.

You might also find these additional readings useful in developing students' background knowledge or for DBQ activities: