The United States used force to gain world power through expansion, also known as Imperialism. Imperialism was a thoroughly debated topic in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Imperialists believed the United States should gain foreign territory. Anti-Imperialists, however, did not think that the United States should expand. Imperialism was alluring for many reasons, such as, becoming more powerful, better trading and ports, protecting other countries, and more. However, it was also detested because it went against founding ideals, it took money, time and effort, and there were possibilities for war. There were both realistic and idealistic sides to Imperialism. Imperialism was alluring for many reasons. It would make the United States more powerful, spread democratic ideals, and give the United States more and better trading ports. “The American …show more content…
There were also strong reasons for abiding to isolationism. For starters, it was one of George Washington’s foreign policies. It would also keep the United States from being dragged into a war by allies. “The Influence of Sea Power upon History” suggests that the United States was protected due to the isolation of the country. The Anti-imperialists also found some struggles with imperialism. In “The Philippines Tangle,” America helped the Philippines when they did not need help and it may have backfired. Also, “To the Person Sitting in the Darkness” discussed wanting to stay out of the war with the Philippines, but there ended up being a war and many died, American and Filipino. It also says, the United States robbed them of their “land and liberty.” Not only did imperialism hurt other countries, the United States was also harmed. Empire building took a lot of time, effort, and money for the United States. The United States also had to compete with other countries as mentioned in “Open Door
American imperialism has undergone varying transitions through its developmental stage in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and it was interpreted to be many things, including controversial to the original colonial beliefs. The United States rapidly took up the sport of becoming involved with foreign nations, and it was clear that through influence on these nations, the United States would grow in both territorial size and power in the global sense. America helped many Polynesian, Latin American, and Asian nations during this period, and most of the conversed issues was trade and foreign relations. The desire of territorial expansion was also in response to the blossoming ideal of Social Darwinism, where expansionism was justified if the United States was aiding struggling nations with their foreign and domestic policies. Although justified, Social Darwinism was an unethical approach to world power, and many perceived this step in American Imperialism as corrupt. The Panama Canal also held a large part in building American Imperialism. Creating this canal would determine which nation dominated the sea, and the United States was more than eager to pounce on the opportunity to increase their global influence. The United States dipped its hand into many global issues during and following the Gilded Age, and these hold the honor of molding American Imperialism, but its change over time was held up to debate by scholars in the Gilded age and by contemporary
American Imperialism has been a part of United States history ever since the American Revolution. Imperialism is the practice by which large, powerful nations seek to expand and maintain control or influence on a weaker nation. Throughout the years, America has had a tendency to take over other people's land. America had its first taste of Imperialistic nature back when Columbus came to America almost five hundred years ago. He fought the inhabitants with no respect for their former way of life, took their land, and proceeded to enslave many of these Native Americans. The impact of the 1820's and 1830's on American Imperialism is undeniable. Although the military power was not fully there during this time period, their ideals and foreign
Aspects like the idea manifest destiny made it justifiable expand westward that same ideology but because the frontier is closed stated by Frederick Turner, the U.S in will use that same reason to expand itself overseas. The imperialism debate did not fully erupt until the end of the Spanish American war when the United States acquired Guam, Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Philippines .One side of the debate before the signing of the Treaty of Paris which made it so the U.S acquired the territories argued by the Anti-Imperialist League (D) opposed
Throughout its history, the United States has claimed to be a democracy that fights for freedom for all. Americans have opposed imperialistic states and have fought against empires. However, based on specific definitions of imperialism, U.S. leaders have been guilty of fighting multiple wars to build their empire, even if their explicit reasons for doing so suggest otherwise. Examples of these imperialistic trends include American actions during the First Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the annexation of the Philippines.
Even though the United States Originally thought about the idea of expanding its economic, military, and culture beliefs on other countries during the 1840’s, known as the Manifest Destiny theory, it did not take foot until the Age of Imperialism during 1890’s. Reasons for this is because of the destructive forces from the Civil War, as well as the industrial revolution (Small Planet, n.d.). The United States was currently trying
The United States did not want to be apart of any foreign affairs. The proclamation of Neutrality and the Monroe Doctrine was a way to make sure the United Stated did not intervene in foreign affairs. President Thomas Jefferson thought that the only way to increase land and resources was to expand westward. They thought westward expansion was like childbirth; the idea was exciting but when it come across to giving birth it messed everything up in the body. Imperialism is the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political, and/or military control over weaker territories. And it all started when Britain started expanding to other countries. When other countries like the US saw britain expanding to Africa, everyone wanted Africa
Imperialism was an extremely controversial issue in the 1800s and early 1900s. Imperialism is defined in our book as: “The practice by which a nation acquires and holds colonies and other possessions, denies them self-government, and usually exploits them economically.” The Republicans and Democrats had a huge role in the idea of expansion during this time period, Republicans defined themselves on the idea of what their party did to gain self worth and the Democrats were more focused on what they opposed rather that what they stood for. Democrats imposed government influence on economy and countless other things. Democrats stood for white supremacy.
Imperialism makes the United States of America the ideal nation to be a part of and live in. Imperialism would help the United States dominate the countries in Europe, Asia, and South America which would prevent any one to ever attack against or threaten America because they would all be under our control. The US saw that Europe was imperialism and thought that they were becoming successful. America also needed access to get materials from the global trade. Also as the United States were struggling during the depression and needed to get more raw materials like rubber and oil they were forced to look across seas to find it. And one way to gain those materials would be to take over those countries to gain access to the materials. With access
American Imperialism has been a part of United States history ever since the American Revolution. Imperialism is the practice by which large, powerful nations seek to expand and maintain control or influence on a weaker nation. Throughout the years, America has had a tendency to take over other people's land. America had its first taste of Imperialistic nature back when Columbus came to America almost five hundred years ago. He fought the inhabitants with no respect for their former way of life, took their land, and proceeded to enslave many of these Native Americans. The impact of the 1820's and 1830's on American Imperialism is undeniable. Although the military power was not fully there during this time period, their ideals and foreign
Also, Social Darwinism had been a huge influence to many Americans, which led them to believe that the United States had a responsiblity to bring industrialization and democracy to less developed nations. Many American leaders, such as Theodore Roosevelt, thought that the ticket and key tool for imperialism would be a powerful naval presence, his, “big stick” that would rival any great European power. Through necessity of resources and war with Spain, the United States would free Cuba, annex Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. Annexation had a pronounced affect on the citizens of those countries, more so in the Philippines. As we know the United States engaged in imperialism to promote their influence of democracy to new parts of the world. The United States believed they had a responsible to police the Western Hemisphere, but the United States’ decision to engage in imperialism was much more than
Essentially, the US wanted to get more land so it would in the long run give them more power and money. We needed these policies to make us successful and the result is that we did become more expanded; we got more money, and more power due to these two previous things. I feel Imperialism was a success for the US for the reasons I just stated and feel it was an intelligent decision and action for our country. Even now, we are still somewhat Imperialistic considering we’ve spread our culture all over the world and help the poor. The only disadvantage is that now we pay too much attention to
According to the content section of this chapter Imperialism, means, “the subjugation, domination, and exploitation of almost the entire globe to the economic and political needs of one region (Europe), a development unprecedented in human history." To a neutral viewer this may appear like a beneficial idea. During the 1800s and early 1900s, Imperialism was seen as a benefit to some and others did not see it as this. Many European nations such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, as well as some other nations were gaining land. Many people had opposing views regarding imperialism. Those who were in favor of imperialism often argued that it was beneficial based on nationalism, economic gains, the fervor missions of the Christians,
During the 1890’s, the United States began building and advancing their economy, as well as focusing more independently on becoming an even more powerful nation. Not only did the Americans begin to create a stronger national military and navy, they also began to look overseas towards the Pacific Ocean for resources and territories; this is when America began to look less like a national power and more like an imperial power. There were many reasons as to why the United States began to expand between 1880-1929, two of which include the military opportunities countries abroad had to offer, such as Pearl Harbor, as well as the domestic and political objectives the U.S. felt obligated to fulfill. Although, there were many important reasons for the United States to began to expand, the most significant reason for the expansionist foreign policy was the economic resources and opportunities other foreign countries had to offer the U.S.
The United States experienced a period of growth and maturation during the twentieth century. Now, this is not to say that this was the only period of growth, but it was a significant time during which the United States began to establish its military force at an international level. By establishing itself during the twentieth century as one of the world’s largest superpowers, America grew to be respected by most of the world’s nations. America also grew to become much more active in foreign affairs, even in ones that had no relation to the nation. The United States began to look for chances to expand their country, as well as opportunities to benefit financially from these territories. Imperialism is the word that best describes the foreign
The ideals of Imperialism within the United States caused many benefits to our economy and overall prosperity. The ideals of American imperialism came first from the idea of manifest destiny: coined by John O'Sullivan, manifest destiny was the idea that it was the Americans god given right to seize all lands in the American continent. From this fact alone it's very clear that Imperialism in the late 1800’s took many ideas from the concepts of manifest destiny. The general motives for imperialism were economic, military, political, and ideological in nature. These imperialistic ideals affected many nations and settlements like Guam, China, Japan, and Hawaii. The first conflicts of the Spanish American war began in the spanish owned territory of Cuba. Cuba was acquired by the Spanish in the mid 1600’s when spain was going through their own hyper imperialistic phase of taking many of the islands in the Caribbean and areas in the southwest. With this information it's relevant of the fact that imperialism causes conflicts, specifically with other nations. Spain's imperialistic nature drives them to protect themselves from the U.S. during the cuban uprisings.From this information we can conclude that the rebellions in Cuba were great inspirations to yellow journalistic writers which led to our involvement in their affairs with spain that all eventually led to and caused battles in the philippines and Cuba after the Spanish American War.