American Identity In The 19th And 20th Century

Several conflicts in the 19th and 20th centuries contributed to the shaping of the American identity in separate ways that eventually led up to the America that we know today, that is still changing politically, socially, and economically. Conflicts including the Spanish-American War, WWI, and the Roosevelt Corollary all changed greatly how the American identity is seen both domestically and internationally. These conflicts caused us to see ourselves as more powerful, however, more unstable. Other countries viewed us to be more protective or aggressive as a result of these conflicts. The Spanish-American War, during 1898, was crucial to the expansion of America to the west coast and Manifest Destiny, as well as trading with the far east (China, Japan etc.). After winning the war, America annexed Hawaii and Guam as territories. These islands, combined with American Samoa-an island earlier received from Germany-served as rest stop, or stepping stones, so to speak, to the far eastern countries. Also, the territory that is now California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming were won, over a half a million square miles of land. Finally, Cuba gained its independence. Domestically speaking,
The war involved world powers from all over Europe, that improved military weapons significantly. At first, America did not want to join the war. We had invested lots of money into a Allied powers win, billions of dollars, in fact. Eventually, however, we were forced to join the war, as Germany had harassed us time and time again. Additionally, Germany sent a telegram to Mexico that was intercepted, that said to attack the US and they would assist in retrieving land lost in the Spanish-American War. After winning the war, the US had earned even more international respect. Wilson even proposed a system to prevent another war. This plan, however, had