Essay On American Imperialism

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.

     Since its inception, America as a nation has developed and progressed according to trends of change that collectively define an era. Like all other eras, the time period of 1875-1925 experienced growth, changes, movements, and new ideals. It is the way that these changes came about that defines this era. Americans started to push for changes in many arenas of life that were previously unchallenged. New experiences and opportunities were also presented to America that caused tributaries in the former American ideal. These pressures for change could not be ignored and thus America continued its maturity in a new and unique manner. The changes in the American sphere of life and the development of greater

I think that American imperialism was partly a success but mostly a failure. It was sort of a success because America was able to expand and take over many nations to have more land which was the goal, but it was also a failure because after gaining domination in many nations, the U.S. was unable to meet the amount of responsibility it required to take care of all the land. The struggles that America faced in taking care of the nation were shared in a poem written by Rudyard Kipling titled “The White Man’s Burden”1 and I believe that the poem is a good example of how imperialism did work but how it was regretted by America. It also failed because it went against the constitution, created hostility between nations, and it destroyed lasting cultures and promoted the idea of Americans being superior.

In the late 1890's, the United States experiences imperialistic feelings rise again. The country as a whole feared our resources running out, so there was an increase in foreign trade. The intellectual justification for the idea of the New Manifest Destiny was social Darwinism, or survival of the fittest. In Latin America, the United States sided with Venezuela against Britain over border disputes; we were willing to go to war with Britain on the matter and we were protecting our own interests there. In 1898, France and Britain annexed Hawaii to the United States, which was an

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

Imperialism is a recurring theme in the history of the world. Stronger countries see themselves as superior to other societies and believe their ways are right. They force religion, government, and practices on countless foreign lands. At the very end of the nineteenth

unlawfully gained Hawaii as a territory due to one major contributing factor, the Spanish-American War. High tensions and treaties failing, the U.S. sought to use Hawaii as a strategic gain on Spanish, by creating a strong military base in the Pacific. “Advocates argued that Hawaii was needed to support American soldiers in the Philippines“(Moss 18). It is required for the people of the native land to consent to being annexed into a country by Joint Resolution, but nevertheless, the appropriate procedures were ignored. These procedures were not met because of the potential economic, strategic, and imperial gain. After illegally annexing Hawaii by Joint Resolution and violating the U.S. Constitution, Hawaii ultimately became a controlled point in the U.S.’s stride for imperialism

Jamestown is the first permanent settlement in what is now the United States, Jamestown was founded in 1607. Those first colonists are what started it all, without their bravery to explore new lands the United States may not have turned out the same. Those colonists provided the first stepping stone to expand into more and more colonies. People believe that those first English colonists are what molded and continue to mold American character today. There are three reasons that make this true. If you are not lucky enough to be born wealthy you can always work hard to become wealthy. New beginnings are often found in the New World. Also, Religious freedom was first introduced by the leaders of those beginning colonies.

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

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

Why was the United States interested in expansion in these areas? Why was America building a global empire?

Annexation of Hawaii: America had relations with Hawaii because of the Sugar Trade. After the Civil War money opportunities began to grow. In 1890 congress passed the Mckinley act that raised the tax on the sugar and made it more expensive. This put Hawaii in a depression. The sugar planters went to America's military and in 1893 the marines , without the approval of the president, marched onto the island and the American minister of the islands raised the U.S flag. The queen was forced to step down from her throne.

The competition the the advantage economically and politically was fierce. They were all trying to gain control of the New World. Each group would do it for the trading routes and the economic advancement to get ahead of the other nations. Whoever had the most land at anytime would be the one to winning in this rat race we call imperialism.

The intellectual elements presented during Imperial America made it easier for America to begin looking across their borders. The telegraph was one invention that greatly helped with the spread of information. The telegraph sort of served as the "Internet of the nineteenth century" (Keene, 568). These telegrams were able to connect Americans to events overseas and around the world. It also improved the communication between governments. Another technological advancement was the use of steam-powered ships. These ships helped to greatly reduce the amount of time it took to move products and people across the world. They also helped to improve the U.S. Navy. With these new steam-powered battleships, America was able to become the third most powerful

Nationalism is the ideology based on the foundation that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the selected nation is more important than other individual or group interests. There are many things that people are able to relate to and identify as being that can include; their culture, homeland, family, and/or religion. There is naturally a strong loyalty towards the place people were raised. However, that tends to bring enemies too because not everyone is born in the same place and it tends to bring competition on which place it better bringing rift to all around. Even though with all of the negatives that come with strong nationalism, I believe nationalism brings more good than bad in Europe, Japan, Russia, the United States.