Dbq for American Imperialism

Americans expanded their country in two different eras throughout history: American imperialism and westward expansion. During both of these eras, the mid-late 1800s and the early 1900s, Americans believed that expansion was necessary and beneficial. To a great extent, late nineteenth-century and early twentieth century United States expansionism was a continuation of past United States expansionism and to a lesser extent was it a departure. The similarities and differences between American Imperialism in the early 1900s and Manifest Destiny in the mid-late 1800s are shown through political, economic, and moral motives of America and its government.

Since the early rise of the United States, Americans have unrolled their epitomes of liberty and even democracy to those who don't have these for lack of a better word “ideals” this is reflected by an important term called “manifest Destiny”. Through expansion The United States has brought both improvement and unfortunately some negative effects. To be more specific the louisiana territory and california have changed the country forever.

Intervention in Latin America, mainly Cuba, also led to the Spanish-American War. When the American naval ship, the USS Maine, exploded in the Havana Harbor, President McKinley immediately decided to go to war after being labeled a coward by yellow journalists. This is a prime example of how incidents in Latin American countries forced presidents to act rapidly and without much thought, causing America to form a bold and aggressive foreign policy.

The motivation for imperialism were the expansion of territory and money. The loss of culture and spread of disease were the impacts of imperialism. Expansion of territory happened everywhere during the early 1900’s. Many countries wanted to become larger, expand on new territory to earn more wealth. As seen in document one, many countries were at the Conference of Berlin; some of those countries where, The UK, Germany, Russia, France and China dividing up the African continent for themselves. The Conference of Berlin was a deep rooted issue that continued on for a year from 1884-1885. The point of view on this issue is considered personal. People from different countries are drawing on a map of South America and “claiming” land they don’t own yet. In class, we

The US’ imperialist strategy showed that it was possible to gain power in ways that were less confrontational, but just as effective, than simply taking

Imperialism is when one country controls another country politically, economically and or culturally it started in the late 1800s and ended in the early 1900s. The European motives for imperialism were economic, exploratory, ethnocentric, political, and religious. The economic motive was when the industrial revolution companies and governments wanted to sell and buy products and get natural resources in return. For exploratory they were interested in new lands for scientific research. For ethnocentric Europeans thought they were better than Africa and Asia which is racist. Politically they wanted to control countries to have the best military and most power. The last motive was religious and they wanted to expand Christianity to other

During the 19th century the United States witnessed major changes. America went through its own industrial revolution and the technological advancements in manufacturing created a surplus in manufactured goods. The country was producing more than it could consume. The Industrial Revolution evolved the country from a consumer of manufactured goods to a producer, causing a raising need for raw materials.

With the late 19th century came a great change in the ideas of expansionism in the United States, but also a continuation of its ideals. The idea of imperialism, where the United States would extend its power around the globe, stood in contrast with the original Manifest Destiny ideal of the 1840s and 1850s when America was expanding west from ‘sea to shining sea.’ However, the inherent social and cultural sentiments were still present in the late 19th century expansionism, though the economic and political purposes had changed.

Between 1870 and 1920, the European nations took the use of imperialism due to economic, political, and social forces to control the less-developed locations of the world. Economical forces used the need for raw materials for a reason to take locations. Social forces such as racism, thinking that themselves, the Europeans were better than whomever they were taking over. Political forces used militarism more often than not to take the less-developed locations of the world. The use of economical, political, and social forces were all important during the rise of imperialism during the 1870s through 1920s due to the humanitarianism (used in both political and social forces), racism, and the market through world trade with the need for militarism.

In an attempt to increase trade and prove itself as an economic and military superpower, the US began to expand overseas and increase its military size; the US believed in International Darwinism and saw these actions as an expansion of Manifest Destiny which led to imperialism. People like William H. Seward pushed to annex Midway Island and purchased Alaska to expand the size of the US. However, imperialism became a controversial debate among the American people throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Expansionists and Jingoists like Theodore Roosevelt wanted to protect and gain control of other nations including Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam, whereas anti-imperialists such as William Jennings Bryan, Mark Twain, and

Manifest Destiny, one of the most influential ideologies in American history, was used as the basis to justify almost-continuous conflict from the early- to the late-19th century (Greenberg 3). This conflict included the relentless displacement of Native Americans from their ancestral lands, a war of aggression against Mexico in 1846, and attacks on countries such as Canada, Cuba, and even Central America, by filibusters and military action to gain overseas colonies (Greenberg 10, 25, and 26). While Manifest Destiny first arose as a dominant ideology during the early nineteenth-century, the concept of American exceptionalism, the heart of this ideology, was older than the nation itself. This concept was taken by white Americans as proof that they, and their nation, were unique and marked by God for a special destiny (Greenberg, 5). It would be several decades before the advantages of American settlement would be presented to the world. One advantage being the Louisiana Purchase, which was the expansion westward.

The economy, social/cultural standings, and politics were three major factors that affect imperialism in the 19th century. Imperialism is a government system where rulers attempt to conquer other countries for an increase of power.

While public tensions before August 1898 were surely high, nothing turned the public against Spain like the tragic blowing up of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor. The lives of 260 American officers and men were lost. The yellow press and American investigators quickly blamed spanish officials in Cuba for the mysterious wreck. Although it is extremely unlikely that the spanish had anything to do with the Maine’s sinking, the War-Mad American public accepted this conclusion out of rage, overwhelmingly persuading President Mckinley to begin the war. McKinley personally did not want to fight a war against Spain, for he had seen enough bloodshed as a General in the Civil War. But the public, encouraged by the Cuban patriotic cause, yellow journalism, and the sinking of the Maine, clamored for a war. Finally, President McKinley yielded and gave the people what they wanted. He believed that the people should rule, even if they don’t know what’s best for themselves. Public pressure was the main reason we went to war with Spain, and the biggest cultivator of public unrest was the blowing up of “The Maine”.

During the time between the late 19th century and early 20th century, America was going through significant changes. Following a revolution in Cuba against the Spanish, and the Americans intervening to start the Spanish-American War, the Americans received several territorial concessions from their defeated opponent. Thus, America started on the path to imperialism. McKinley and Roosevelt gained several territories in a short amount of time, and would look to continue America’s success since they had a strong navy and intelligent leaders. To a large extent, United States expansion continued in a social and cultural aspect through Manifest Destiny, yet it differed in how the new land was acquired and for what purpose.

The American imperialism of the late 1800s and early 1900s showcased the same social and cultural advocation of the past expansionism. The original doctrine of Manifest Destiny was created in the 1840s to escort westward expansion and upheld a belief that America was predetermined by God to expand across the country to spread favors of freedom. As Senator Albert J. Beveridge explains in his 1900 discourse to 56th Congress, this conviction was just as influential to the later colonial America. He showcases Americans’ self acknowledgement as God’s chosen individuals, a race not only as blessed, but bound by a heavily obligation to illuminate whatever is left of the world through their own development. This was the point of view of “The White Man’s Burden,” which was