Manifest Destination
This president's 1796 Farewell Address argued the U.S. should avoid permanent political alliances while still pursuing trade.
Who is George Washington?
This Hawaiian queen was deposed in January 1893 by American businessmen backed by U.S. Marines, after she tried to restore the monarchy's power.
Who is Queen Liliuokalani?
Rudyard Kipling's 1899 poem urged the U.S. to annex the Philippines, framing colonization as a difficult duty rather than conquest.
What is "The White Man's Burden"?
This Filipino leader had fought alongside the U.S. against Spain the year before the Philippine-American War, expecting independence in return.
Who is Emilio Aguinaldo?
Future Secretary of State John Hay called this 1898 war "a splendid little war" — fast and decisive, at least for the men who didn't get sick.
What is the Spanish-American War?
This is the only sport that's ever been played on the surface of the Moon.
What is golf?
(Astronaut Alan Shepard hit two golf balls during Apollo 14 in 1971)
This historian's 1893 thesis argued the American frontier had worked as a "safety valve" for social and economic pressure — and its closing raised real questions about what would replace it.
Who is Frederick Jackson Turner?
This Spanish policy forced rural Cuban civilians into camps — and was later used to help justify U.S. intervention in Cuba.
What is the Reconcentration Policy?
This 1899 poem by Rev. H.T. Johnson argued that the same logic used to justify empire abroad was already being used to justify Jim Crow at home.
What is "The Black Man's Burden"?
This policy asked foreign powers to keep trade in China open and equal — though the replies it got back were mostly vague.
What is the Open Door Policy?
"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley" — this officer gave that order right before destroying Spain's entire Pacific fleet here without losing a single American sailor.
What is Manila Bay?
This is the only organ in the human body that can regenerate itself back to full size, even after up to 75% of it is removed.
What is the liver?
This naval theorist argued in 1890 that a nation needed overseas coaling stations, not just a battle fleet, to be a true sea power.
Who is Alfred Thayer Mahan?
These two motives are the most dominate when discussing the annexation of Hawaii
What are Economic and Military?
This 1898 treaty had Spain cede Puerto Rico and Guam, sell the Philippines for $20 million, and leave Cuba independent — on paper, at least.
What is the Treaty of Paris?
This 1904 addition to the Monroe Doctrine claimed the U.S. itself could intervene in Latin American nations to head off European intervention.
What is the Roosevelt Corollary?
This canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific, officially opened on August 15, 1914.
What is the Panama Canal?
Despite the MCU's dominance over the last decade, this 2009 film remains the single highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, having earned nearly $3 billion at the box office.
What is Avatar?
According to federal crime-database research, this U.S. holiday consistently ranks as the most violent day of the year.
What is the Fourth of July (Independence Day)?
July 4th
Labor Day weekend
Memorial Day weekend
New Year's Eve/Day
Thanksgiving & Christmas
Halloween
This phrase — "survival of the fittest" — is often credited to Charles Darwin, but was actually coined five years earlier by this English philosopher.
Who is Herbert Spencer?
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This leaked letter, insulting President McKinley, went public just six days before the USS Maine exploded, fueling public anger toward Spain.
What is the De Lôme Letter?
This organization's members included figures as different as Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, and labor leader Samuel Gompers, united by little except opposing annexation.
What is the American Anti-Imperialist League?
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These two amendments claimed the US would not annex Cuba and later required U.S. military intervention rights instead.
What are the Teller Amendment and the Platt Amendment?
Writer O. Henry coined this now-common term for a small, U.S.-dominated Central American country, basing it directly on Honduras, where he'd lived.
What is a "Banana Republic"?
This food never spoils — archaeologists have found jars of it in ancient Egyptian tombs that are still perfectly edible after more than 3,000 years.
What is honey?
For most of the 19th century, the Monroe Doctrine had no U.S. military teeth behind it — it was actually enforced by this foreign power's navy.
What is Great Britain (the Royal Navy)?
In the Spanish-American War, roughly this many U.S. soldiers died of disease for every one who died in actual combat.
What is seven (a 7-to-1 ratio)?
These 1901-and-later Supreme Court rulings decided Congress could govern territories like Puerto Rico and the Philippines without extending full constitutional protection to them.
What are the Insular Cases?
Despite rejecting force and money as tools of foreign policy, Wilson did this more often than TR or Taft.
What is intervening in Latin America?
In his famous 1901 "speak softly and carry a big stick" speech, TR claimed the phrase was an old proverb from this region — though there's no evidence it existed before he said it.
What is West Africa?
This NFL team is the only one in league history to finish a full season, including the Super Bowl, with a perfect undefeated record — 17-0 in 1972.
What are the Miami Dolphins?