There are many elements to take into consideration when weighing the pros and cons of imperialism. After taking an objective look at the facts, I am of the opinion that no, the U.S. did not have the right to build an empire in the Caribbean and Pacific. Building in these areas caused many conflicts such as the Spanish-American War and the Panama Canal. In the building of the Panama Canal, the overall benefits were outweighed by problems such as diseases, and the cost was exceedingly high. The idea of freedom was also a frequent topic that occurred throughout the building of the empire. These problems that occurred through the rise to world power all convey that the United States did not have the right to build an empire in the Caribbean …show more content…
First, the United States had bought a lease in Panama from France for 40 million dollars. The United States also had bought a 99-year lease on a part of land in Panama for 10 million dollars, plus 250,000 dollars as an annual rent. The total cost to build the canal was 375 million dollars (pancanal.com).The workers who built the canal got sick and died from diseases which were malaria and yellow fever. From these diseases, 5,609 American workers died (thesilverpeopleheritage.wordpress.com). Another downside to building the Panama Canal and to the American Empire was that it was not only costly towards the United States finances, it was also extremely costly towards the environment. It cost ten dollars to kill one mosquito (economist.com). Plus, oil-polluted watercourses and insecticides killed other animals besides mosquitos. The United States spent a lot of time, money, and effort trying to build the canal.
The United States values freedom and so we should let other countries have their freedom too. Keeping other countries as territories is against our values of democracy and freedom. Some of the territories we kept were Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The Spanish American War started in the Philippines, and it served as a base for some of the Spanish Fleet. Eventually, when it declared independence, the United States didn’t know what to do with it. The United States allowed independence to
Everyone might have different opinion on rather imperialism is good for America or not but here are the reasons why it is good. Imperialism would be a great thing for America because imperialism has a lot of benefits and opportunities for a better lifestyle, because the expanding of nations can grow meaning more markets and businesses are being created that equals more money! Imperialism allows bigger countries to help smaller countries become successful. The ability to solve problems in counties near your own is great for making allies. A great example of trying to make allies is ideological imperialism which is a country’s ideas or views shared to other countries. Mainly to build each other up and exchange goods or raw materials. Imperialism can have economic forms which is the expansion of forms or acquire raw materials. The expanding of land and resources increases and the economic and political views are advanced. Transportation would be faster and easier due to the Panama Canal and we can get raw materials and the goods needed for our country. The Panama Canal is probably one of the greatest contrustion ever built, it has improved the United States for the better. New lands can be discovered and be turned into a great state like Hawaii and Alaska for example. A lot of people thought Alaska was just a cold and frozen place to be, but William Seward's bought it for 7.2 million dollars and now it’s a 49th state in America. Imperialism can improve your daily life as
In my point of view, the colonial period shifted the balance previously present throughout the world, in which imperialism had less relevance in everyday lives. Before the colonial period, the natives living in the Americas and the Caribbeans, mainly had internal fighting or conflicts between rival tribes. While in Europe, the most tension occurred between major empires competing for trade, land, recourses, and wealth. However, once the Europeans began colonizing America, both of the worlds collided in a massive fight for sovereignty and wealth. This can be seen in each country's colonization of America. In the French colonization, the colonist traded advanced weaponry to the Huron tribe for fur and strong alliances. Consequently, the natives
Throughout history, many powerful nations interfered with nations that were weaker than they were. This form of sabotaging a nation is economic, political or cultural life is called as imperialism. Imperialism is often separated into two sects. The first one is old imperialism, which was the period from the 1500s to the 1800s, where European nation started to colonize many areas such as the Americas, and parts of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the new imperialism was the period between the years “1870-1914”, where Europe became more focused on expanding their land into Asia and Africa. Imperialism had many pros and cons. In addition, it also had many causes led by the feeling of nationalism.
Many people have their ideas and opinions on the topic of imperialism of the different continents like Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Imperialism had different effects that came from the and different reasons for which it was done. There have been poems, essays, and short stories about the good and bad of imperialism. Those who read some of these works interpret them in different ways that can change the message the author originally had planned. Imperialism shed light upon that not everything is how it seems.
Imperialism was a negative event that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was first impressed by the Belgian king, King Leopold II. He ruled the land not as a colony but as his own. He treated the Congolese as slaves to gather him resources to help make him more wealthy. Imperialism was the worst thing that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo, King Leopold II enslaved the people, and stripped the land of resources, punished them which ultimately lead to the Belgian government stripping him of Power
After the Civil War, the United States struggled to keep up with other countries in the world. While figuring out how fix the corruption in the American government, the other countries were practicing imperialism. Imperialism is a policy by which strong nations extend their political, military, and economic control over weaker territories. Realizing that we needed to make a change, the United States started working towards the goal of practicing imperialism as well. To do this, our first few targets were Hawaii and Alaska. In 1867, we sought to buy Alaska because they had resources that we wanted, such as lumber and minerals. This was known as Seward’s Folly after the Secretary of State William Seward. In 1898, our desire of Hawaii was fulfilled when they agreed to annexation. However, this was not without struggle. King Kalakaua of Hawaii wanted the white planters to vote, but when he died, his sister, Queen Liliuokalani reversed his decision. She took away the power of whites, which eventually led to her being overthrown with the help of the United States Marines. The Hawaiian people opposed annexation, but when Mckinley became president, Hawaii was declared American territory. Sanford B. Doyle, a white plantation owner who asked for the annexation, became the first governor of Hawaii. This addition into American territory drastically influenced our economy.
The United States needed to create an empire because the Philippines could not govern themselves. Document C says that “ that we would not give (The Philippines) back to Spain- that would be cowardly and dishonorable”. We would be cowardly and dishonorable if we gave the Philippines away, the Philippines could not manage on their own. If the United States gave the Philippines back to Spain they would not be able to manage on their own. The Philippines are an unstable for self-government and soon would fall apart. Creating an empire was the best option for the United States because it gave America to become closer and be more civil.
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
Imperialism has been one of the most powerful forces in human history, serving to set the foundation of our modern world. While this has led to the formation of a global society where cultures, ideas, and innovations are spread across countries, imperialism has also left a history of exploitation, racism, and violence that is still affecting the world today. Imperial relationships are always imbalanced when it comes to power and influence; that is, one group (known as the metropole) maintains authority and control over another group (known as the periphery) with economic, political, and cultural dominance (Spiegel 2012). There are many reasons why one group chooses to dominate the other, such as expanding territory, extracting raw resources to fuel economic development, or to spread their beliefs (i.e. religion) (Spiegel 2012). In spite of these varied reasons, one of the main motivators for imperialism began with competition between empires.
Since the beginning of time various groups across the globe have fought for their freedom, and territory. Some groups failed and found little fortune while others prospered giving way to powerful nations capable of seizing land from the less fortunate for their own benefit. This is what modern day historians refer to as imperialism. Throughout history these powerful nations have used imperialism to their advantage. In simple terms imperialism is a powerful tool used by powerful nations in order to spread their influence into other smaller less powerful nations, whether it be through religion, pop-culture, technology, or military force. Which eventually results in total domination over the area in which the powerful nation has spread its
“Do the benefits of imperialism outweigh the costs?” Yes. Imperialism is the best for the country. The main reasons that the power of imperialism is important for the United States is because of the land and resources that each place has, money, and the language and government. “The policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries.” (Dictionary Collins, English 2016) this definition of imperialism describes why it was crucial for the united states to imperialize other countries.
The Panama Canal was a very tedious and tiring job to build. Many problems were faced during the making of this grand canal. Some of the problems were the fact that that was the time of Yellow fever and Malaria, which was carried by mosquitoes and spread fever to the people and workers in Panama. Another challenge was also digging up the steep, landslide prone, Culebra Cut. the bigger of these two problems was the Mosquitoes.
expanding it boarders in the early and mid 1800’s. Throughout the world in the 1880’s there was a large need for countries to gain places where they could get natural resources. Almost every Western European Nation was in need to imperialize. Examples of this were the scramble for Africa, and the spheres of influence. The cartoonist Thomas Nast depicts this in his cartoon “The worlds plunder” which appeared in Harper’s weekly in 1885. America’s need to I imperialize was similar to that of Europe. The way the U.S. went about gaining markets was no different then what they had done before to gain land. The U.S. looked to fighting to gain land and when they saw the Cubans wanted independence from Spain the U.S. looked to help Cuba to get land in return. Throughout the war there was yellow journalism to gain support from the American population. Also when the USS Maine got bombed the American immediately blamed it on Spain. Years later it was found the explosion happened internally and Spain couldn’t have bombed it. The U.S. easily defeats Spain and in return for helping Cuba the U.S. gained Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and Guam. After Cuba Got there independence the U.S. wanted to keep their influence in Cuba so they passed the Platt amendment which made Cuba a protectorate and gave the U.S. a naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It also would not let Cuba Make a treaty Without The U.S. The U.S. Justifies their actions for helping Cuba and gaining
Many nations wanted to expand their territory and gain control of natural resources that are nonnative. As a result, Imperialism began in the late nineteenth century due to economic, political, and social forces including the Industrial Revolution, trade, and military conditions. Imperialism is the domination over an undeveloped, less industrialized country by a stronger, more industrialized nation. Although Imperialism has shaped the culture and customs all over the world, it had both negative and positive impacts throughout imperialized nations. The Perspectives on imperialism varied widely between those who imposed it and those who were affected by it.
The canal was the best thing that ever happened to Panama. The Panama Canal was started under President Roosevelt and completed by his successor, William Howard Taft. The canal was built across an isthmus, a narrow body of land that connects two larger land areas, which connects North and South America. In some places in Panama the isthmus is only 50 miles across. The French started the canal in the late 1800’s. They had just built the then famous Suez Canal with relative ease. The Suez Canal, unlike the Panama Canal, was a straight canal on level ground, in a relatively dry climate. The French had failed in building the Panama Canal because of the tropical climate, in which deadly tropical diseases consumed their