This article offers a case study on the history of the tattoo in the United States and the rise of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. It models how high school history teachers can use the tattoo to teach about the rise of American imperialism. It also illustrates the author's primary argument: American imperialism fueled the tattoo and, in turn, the tattoo fueled American imperialism. The essay is organized into two sections. Since there is no history of the tattoo in the U.S. and the rise of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century, the first section considers the dialectic between the tattoo and American imperialism as the latter unfolded throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. To best illustrate how high school history teachers can use tattoos in their units on the rise of American imperialism, the second section of the essay is a sample lesson plan that uses tattoos from the turn of the twentieth century to highlight an aspect of American imperialism that is discussed in the first section. In particular, students use Japanese geisha tattoos from the early twentieth century as interpretive scopes through which to examine Orientalism and patriarchy. Using these sources, students will see how Orientalism and patriarchy steered American imperialism in the Philippines during the Philippine-American War.