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Brute Force, Threats & Hard Sell: US Overseas Land Grab

© AP Photo / Alex BrandonUS flag flies at half-staff as seen from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, Aug. 29, 2021.
US flag flies at half-staff as seen from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, Aug. 29, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2025
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As US President-elect Donald Trump mulls claims to Greenland, the Panama Canal, and Canada, let’s recall how America’s insatiable hunger for power drove its overseas expansion.
The US expansion beyond North America started with the 1856 Guano Islands Act.

United States Minor Outlying Islands

It laid claim to uninhabited islands containing guano fertilizer. Remaining claims, including Baker Island and Jarvis Island (unincorporated territories) in the Pacific Ocean and Palmyra Atoll (an incorporated unorganized territory) in the Caribbean Sea, are collectively known as the USMOI.
© AP Photo / Arnulfo Franco, FileIn this May 11, 2016 file photo, ships transit through the Panama Canal near Panama City
In this May 11, 2016 file photo, ships transit through the Panama Canal near Panama City - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2025
In this May 11, 2016 file photo, ships transit through the Panama Canal near Panama City

Transacted Territories

Panama Canal

A US contrived coup forced Panama to break away from Colombia and accept a payoff for a strip of land to build the strategic canal, jurisdiction over which was restored to the Republic of Panama in 1999.

Corn Islands (Caribbean Sea)

Cash-strapped Nicaragua was swayed to lease the islands in 1914 so the US could build an alternative to the Panama Canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but the project was dead in the water and the deal scrapped in 1971.

Philippines (Pacific Ocean)

Spain sold its colony the Philippines to the US for $20 million after its defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898. The Jones Act of 1916 promised Manila eventual independence, which it had to wait 30 years to get.

Unincorporated American territory Virgin Islands (Atlantic Ocean)

The US pressured Denmark to sell the islands of Saint Thomas, Saint John, and Saint Croix for $25 million in gold coin by threatening a military attack on the neutral nation during World War I.
A Philippine Huey helicopter prepares to drop off troops while Philippine marines take positions in an assault simulation during the annual US-Philippine joint military exercise on May 15, 2014.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.04.2024
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Land Grabs by Force

Hawaii (Pacific Ocean)

The lucrative sugar cane trade whetted the appetites of a bunch of US businessmen in Hawaii, who staged a coup in 1893, deposing Queen Liliuokalani with US Navy support. Hawaii went from annexation as a US territory to America’s 50th state.

Cuba

The US nabbed Cuba, coveted for its sugar, tobacco, rice, and coffee, after Spain renounced its rights to the colony under the Treaty of Paris. Despite the1901 Platt Amendment granting it formal independence, a corrupt rule catering to US interests continued until Cuba’s 1959 revolution.
© AP Photo / Andrew St. GeorgeFILE - In this March 14, 1957 file photo, Fidel Castro, the young anti-Batista guerrilla leader, center, is seen with his brother Raul Castro, left, and Camilo Cienfuegos, right, while operating in the Mountains of Eastern Cuba.
FILE - In this March 14, 1957 file photo, Fidel Castro, the young anti-Batista guerrilla leader, center, is seen with his brother Raul Castro, left, and Camilo Cienfuegos, right, while operating in the Mountains of Eastern Cuba. The man who nationalized the Cuban economy and controlled of virtually every aspect of life on the island celebrates his 90th birthday on Saturday - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2025
FILE - In this March 14, 1957 file photo, Fidel Castro, the young anti-Batista guerrilla leader, center, is seen with his brother Raul Castro, left, and Camilo Cienfuegos, right, while operating in the Mountains of Eastern Cuba.

Guantanamo

In 1903, Washington leased land surrounding Guantanamo Bay from the US-installed Cuban puppet government in perpetuity for its naval stations, with the Guantanamo base prison spawning a dark legacy of abuse and unlawful detention.

US Territory Guam (Pacific Ocean)

The US annexed the strategically located Spanish colony of Guam during the Spanish-American War in 1898, with the island’s governor surrendering in less than 30 minutes, according to historical docs.
© AP Photo / David BriscoeA sailing ship is seen in the harbor at Pago Pago, American Samoa, in July 2002.
A sailing ship is seen in the harbor at Pago Pago, American Samoa, in July 2002.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 12.01.2025
A sailing ship is seen in the harbor at Pago Pago, American Samoa, in July 2002.

Unincorporated US territory American Samoa (Pacific Ocean)

American Samoa is the result of the Second Samoan Civil War and dealmaking between the US, UK, and Germany in 1899 to settle rivalries by splitting the archipelago between them.

Unincorporated US territory Puerto Rico (Caribbean Sea)

US victory in its war with Spain compelled Madrid to relinquish claims on Puerto Rico, of value to Washington both as a manufacturing hub and as a key naval station. The territory has a strong political movement advocating integration as the 51st US state.
French Navy ships sit in port at Naval Base Guam, Friday, May 12, 2017.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 17.12.2024
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