In the early 20th century, world domination was a realistic notion advocated by American leaders, specifically, then-Governor and future President, Theodore Roosevelt. Many outspoken political commentators opposed this notion and believed world domination was excessive and unnecessary and was not in America’s best interest. One of these political commentators was none other than the revered Mark Twain, who, in his 1901 satirical piece, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, attempts to expose the downsides of American expansionism. Twain accomplishes this by satirically describing the pursuit for world domination as a “game” between coercive countries and highlighting the deceptive nature of these countries to win the “game”. Also through …show more content…
By using imagery and symbolism, Mark Twain attempts to demonize American foreign policy by portraying it as dishonest and opportunistic. Twain uses the term “Christendom” to describe America and other players of the “game” whose objective is to conquer foreign nations. Twain uses the term “Those Sitting in Darkness” to describe the nations “Christendom” is attempting to conquer. It is readily apparent that Twain is implying that the nations who house “person’s sitting in darkness” have not seen the light of “Christendom”, which means they are non-Christian nations. To drive home this point Twain gives the example of China, a prominently secular nation, stating it houses countrymen who are “sitting in darkness” (Twain 3). Twain explains that in order to to gain access to these countrymen and conquer their land, America must appeal to their trust by showing them the “Blessings of Civilization”. This is a form of religious imagery as Twain is implying that “Christendom” is blessed by a higher power and have an appealing set of morals and virtues that they can offer unblessed nations.
However, Twain suggests in numerous occasions that these “Blessings of Civilization” are merely a guise to help gain the trust of “those sitting in darkness” in order to better conquer them. After describing the “Blessings of Civilization” Twain mockingly states, “There. Is it good? Sir, it is pie. It will bring into camp any
American foreign policy from 1890-1930 was driven primarily by our businesslike economic and strategic considerations based on American self-interest. With westward expansion over, there had to be a new way for the United States to continue expansion. In the name of maintaining our innovative spirit and political ideology, our conquest for money, resources and trade took us outside of our borders for the first time. After all, how could we continue this upward monetary and resource tick if we didn’t expand? All countries are very self-centered and driven by their own success, and ours is no different in this respect. Going from a country that could large in part be ignored, to a real world power
America’s role in the international arena during the 1900s is best captured in the poem by Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” and had been clearly articulated in the speeches of Roosevelt and Beveridge. The American government believed that it is the American duty to interfere and be an influential power in the civilizing of nations that American’s perceived as unable to rule over themselves or as savages, illiterate, and the cause of chaos which ultimately affects the America’s vision of successful world commercial activities. However, it must be clarified that this goal is characterized by conflicted opinions within the American nation itself. Some believed that America should not interfere with the fate of other nations and argue for their
Twain’s essay discusses imperialism and its consequences. Twain uses two very different characters, a priest and a stranger, to contrast pro-imperialism and anti-imperialism. Ultimately, Twain’s essay reveals to readers that praying for success in war is also
*The ideology that inspired Josiah Strong's passage is the idea of America's "Manifest Destiny" which many christians in the United states believed in. This is the idea that the United States is the superior country that has a duty to God to spread its christianity to other "savage" people and countries. This was also the belief that America needed to help the other countries who cannot help themselves and cannot successfully self govern. Americans used this "destiny" to justify seizures of other countries. They also used this ideology as an excuse to conquer the west and push away the native americans.
The period 1875-1920 has been described by some historians as a period of “selflessness” during which the United States helped weaker nations from dominant European powers and spread the “blessings of democracy and civilization.” Others have described the “New Manifest Destiny” as a time of “ruthless American expansion” at the cost of weaker nations and in violation of our own principles of consent of the governed and popular sovereignty.
By the year 1901, the United States possessed one of the largest navy’s in the world, a growing empire, and the respect of the world as a growing power. It gained these achievements by being involved in the growing imperialism of this era along with Britain, France, Germany, and Japan. However America did not gain its power spontaneously. During the Gilded Age and prior America established policies and precedents that would lead America into the discussion as a world power. Although the United States expansionism in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries was a continuation of the social and cultural continuation of the past, it was also resulting from the departure from the methods of the past in the government’s pursuit of new economic and political endeavors.
As America was competing with other nations in its race to acquire more territory, politics in America favored a continuation of America’s expansion and promoted military force for the protection of our dominance over the Western world. Initially, many nations were trying to expand into uncharted lands as well as lands already existing. In Thomas Nast’s image titled “The World’s Plunderers,” the largest powers were seeking expansion by capturing colonies. Scared of falling behind European powers such as France, Russia, and Germany, the United States strived to be superior and followed their lead (Document A). Each man in the cartoon has a grab bag labeled with a different country picking from the world, which illustrates how countries around the world were attempting to gain as much territory as they could while it was still accessible without fighting for it.
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.
The Next Decade, a novel by George Friedman, talks about the predictions of countries in the upcoming decade and how the United States should react to the various challenges. The novel’s first major claim is that the United States is actually an empire, similar to how Rome and Great Brian were. However, unlike the previous empires, the United States refuses to acknowledge its status as an empire. “What makes the United States an empire is the number of countries it affects, the intensity of the impact, and the number of people in those countries affected.” The implication of this quote is that the US has gotten to be so large, if the US decided to draw out of global affairs, the impact would be detrimental. Instead of escaping its duty to the world, Friedman claims that the United States must acknowledge its status as an empire and function as such in order to maneuver the next decade. This claim is a wise claim made by Friedman, but it his only claim of worth in the novel. In The Next Decade, Friedman fails to make his thesis credible because he doesn’t his sources, provide logical arguments on his predications of the future, or examine alternative possibilities.
Many strategies have been devised by empires over centuries, these strategies and decisions have helped shape the world as it is in its present state. The author explains how strategic decisions made in the past were the wrong decisions in his opinion, as John Perkins had seen first hand the devastation that could be caused by the American government in its pursuit for a “global empire”.
After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority.
But if we shall neglect…shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us” (Winthrop, 20). This idea that the Christian deity is somehow connected to America’s greatness can be found in Conwell’s work, albeit used in a different manner.
“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.
The West uses Orientalism to justify its blatant exploitation of the East. Both Charlotte Smith’s “Beachy Head” and Samuel Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” unveils the West’s desire to exploit the East and define the exploitation by highlighting different dimensions to the desire. “Beachy Head” places economic exploitation at the forefront of the poem while also arguing that an underlying layer of sexual exploitation exists in the West’s desire for the East. The trade rhetoric reveals the West’s view of the East as a prime resource for trade purposes while the less obvious feminine imagery exhibits the sexual dimension to exploitation. Instead of subtly hinting at this sexual layer, “Kubla Khan” overtly references the sensual while also exposing the West’s fear of becoming like the East. The sexual rhetoric depicts the West’s intense sexual desire for the East while the mention of the “savage” side conveys the West’s need to distance itself. Both interpretations of exploitation expose the destructive and corrupt nature of Orientalism and how it advantages the West at the East’s expense.
In truth, its history dates back as far as the sixteenth century, following the first great expansion of European capitalism, which resulted in slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism (Ezema, 2009). Throughout history, world powers have continually sought to perpetuate their way of life: from the philosophy and mythology of the Greeks, the political ideologies and linguistics of the Romans, and the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance (Daghrir, 2013). Thus, it comes as no surprise that the aftermath of the post-war era, which saw the collapse of Soviet communism and the emergence of the United States as the sole hegemon, saw the aggressive spread of American ideals, values, and beliefs. Indeed, just as American goods flooded world markets in the post-World War II era; American culture now penetrates every continent through the aggressive development of mass communications, trade expansion and information technology.