[USA] - 25th President of the USA William McKinley

William McKinley	Birth: 29 January 1843
	Died: 14 September 1901
	Party: Republican
	Presidency: 1897 ~ 1901
	Vice President: Garret A. Hobart, Theodore Roosvelt
	Nickname: Wobbly Willie

 

 

 

●   Tariffs and Income Tax

William McKinley was responsible for the McKinley Tariff proposed in 1890. When Willaim McKinley was elected president, his government was facing a major budget deficit by as the Supreme Court ruled that the raise of income tax was against the constitution.

William Mckinley raised tariff rates by the Dingley Tariff of 1897 to increase tax income which would replace the Wilson-gorman Act.

 

 

The Democrats were constantly lowering the tariff while the Republicans were raising the tariff. William McKinely helps put the Dingle Tariff that would replace the 1894 Wilson-Gorman Act that would put extra tariff on imported goods.

Tariffs have been one of the major issues during the past 20 years. Protest arose as the inflation caused by the tariff but the public were soon distracted by the yellow journalism of the explosion of the U.S. battleship Maine.

 

 

● Explosion of the Maine and Yellow Journalism

On 15th of February 1898, the U.S. battleship ‘Maine’ sunk at the harbor of Havana with a huge explosion. 260 sailors were sacrificed by the sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine. The Maine was on standby for quick reaction as Cuba Revolution for their independence from Spain started to heat up.

 

 

Still, the cause of the large explosion of the Maine remains a mystery, however journals quickly published exaggerated stories of the explosion of Maine and pointed out that the Spanish Government was responsible for the sinking of the Maine.

Journals were competing to attract as much readers as possible that they would exaggerate and write dramatic articles. This was called Yellow Journalism and eventually yellow journalism contributed to the public opinion to go after war with Spain.

 

 

 ● Cuban Revolution  

The economy of Cuba heavily relied on imports of sugar to the United States. However, the tariffs set over the years and the economic recession of the U.S. heavily damaged the Cuban economy due to the high tariffs set especially on sugar and the decrease of demand.

The economical distress led to the revolts against the Spanish colonial government and led to major protests.

 

 

The Spanish colonial forces ruthlessly suppressed such revolts by Cubans and set up many concentration camps. However, the concentration camps were poorly managed and over 200,000 people died from the bad hygiene, starvation in the concentration camps.

Some demanded to assist Cuba and declare war since President Grover Clevland, however Willima Mckinley himself refused as he knew the brutality of war as a fellow veteran. He has fought in the Civil War including the battle of Antietam.

 

 

However, the sinking of the Maine and Yellow Journalism drove the public to urge the nation to declare war against Spain.

Although there weren’t any reasonable evidence that the Spanish were responsible for the sinking of Maine, by the public’s rage driven by Yellow Journalism, Congress and President William McKinley declare war on Spain on 11th April 1898.

 

 

● Spanish-American War  

 Under the command of Commodore George Dewey, the United States navy easily defeated the Spanish fleet at Manila Bay, Philippines. The Battle of Manila Bay was the first military clash between the Spanish Pacific fleet and the U.S. navy.

 

 

17,000 U.S. ground troops land on Cuba which included the 1st Voluntary Cavalry Regiment that was under command of Theodore Roosevelt. The Spanish Government surrenders Cuba on August 12. Cuba is granted independence.

 

 

● The United States of America possess Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Phillipines – Treaty of Paris 1898

Theodore Roosevelt recalled the Spanish-American war as a ‘splendid little war’. By the victory of the Spanish-American war, the United States of America gained the former Spanish colonies including the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico and expands more.

 

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The Treaty of Paris signed on 10th December, 1898 was such a large gift for the United States of America and the U.S. also became a leading imperial world power.

 

 

● Annexation of Hawaii

The United States of America government had problems with the annexation of Hawaii since President Benjamin Harrison due to the conflicts with the native Hawaiians and the plantation owners.

The plantation owners have overthrown the native queen but they didn’t abide by the U.S. government control while the U.S. government wanted to grant the native more control as a deal for the annexation. During William McKinley’s office, Hawaii was finally annexed to the United States of America.

 

 

● Klondike Gold Rush  

Along the Klondike Creek located in the Yukon River, miners discovered massive amounts of gold. However, the harsh winter kept the news of gold discovery until May 1897. After the news of discovery of gold spread out by telegraph, tons of gold mined from the Klondike Creek reached the ports of San Fransisco.

 

 

On July 1897 the largest gold rush of America, the Klondike Gold-Rush began. Miners rushed to Canda and Alaska in hopes of gold. The Klondike Gold-Rush mined so much gold that it contributed to resolving the economic recession of the U.S.

 

 

● Open Door Policy 

Under the leadership of Secretary of State John Hay, the United States of America started the Open Door Policy with the imperial powers. China held the largest market in Asia and the U.S. could access China relatively easier than Europe as they met by the Pacific Ocean.

 

 

John Hay demanded Japan and the European powers to grant the United States the same rights in terms of trades with China. However, in China, radical nationalists called the ‘boxers’ started a nationalist rebellion that tried to eliminate all foreigners from China.

 

 

This ‘Boxer Rebellion’ stormed their way to Peking which was the capital of China back then to overthrow foreign influence from China. The Chinese Empress Wu Zetian also started to support the Boxer Rebellion. However, an alliance of the European, U.S. and Japanese forces disbanded the Boxer Rebellion.