Dbq Essay-Expansionism/Imperialism

DBQ The long history of the United States is one of continual expansion as shows in the late nineteenth and twentieth-century. Certain factors can be found that are responsible for early American expansion and late nineteenth century imperialism. The motives for expansionism both in America and out were relatively the same. Religious reasons such as in early expansion was spreading Christianity and in late imperialism spreading Christianity to our little brown brothers in the Philippines. Economic factors were contributed by building railroads in expansion and using the sugar and cheap labor in Cuba during imperialism years. Social motives like those in the early years were that of railroads across the plains and keeping up with the European powers in the imperialistic years. Humanitarian, we thought, reasons in the early expansion years was assimilating the Indians and then years later, assimilating the Filipinos. Finally, geographic motives such as the Louisiana Purchase to double the size of America and annexing Hawaii and imperializing Cuba and the Philippines in the later years. The only major difference between these times was the expansion beyond America’s borders. Both in early expansion years and in imperialism years, American had religious motives to expand. In the early expansion years, the pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, and other religious groups were searching for religious freedom. They did this by expanding into places such as Massachusetts Bay, Boston, Maryland, and other places in New England in search of religious tolerance. In Maryland, especially, the religious tolerance expanded a bit through the Maryland Toleration Act of 1649. This granted tolerance to all forms of Christianity, a step in the right direction for religious freedom. In the imperialism years, the religious motives were to convert the Philippines, Cuba, and Hawaii into Christianity. In Senator Albert J. Beveridge’s Speech to the 56th Congress in 1900 regarding the Philippines he says “…and thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world…” This shows that Americans thought that God chose them to spread Christianity to the rest of the world. The second motive during these times was humanitarian. Or, so, we thought. The famous poem White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling was the moral of why we thought we were being humanitarian. During the expansion years, we assimilated the Indian tribes all over the West. The government wanted to merge the Indians to live like Americans. They took them off of their land and made them dress, talk, and practice the same religion as the Americans. Although they built the Carlisle school, the school just for Indians to educate them, they still took away their heritage and tribal traditions. In the imperialism years, although we helped Cuba get independence from their long ruler, Spain, we did them no better by ruling them. We used Cuba for the economic gain from their excellent raw material: sugar. Also, America also assimilated the Filipinos. Just like for the Indians, Americans also built schools and taught them English. This, again, in a way is good because they were being educated but also was bad because it took a bit away from their heritage. In Theodore Roosevelt’s Annual Message to Congress in 1904 he says “All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship.” Although we did help Cuba and the Philippines in some ways, we used them for economic and geographic gain through their raw materials and land. The third motive for expansionism was social reasons. In the early expansion years, the invention of railroads across the country made it a lot faster for trade. Industries could get their product across the country days faster by this invention. The railroad was a motive for expansionism because if people could get around the country a lot faster, they could make it bigger to add more railroads, housing, and jobs. In the imperialistic years, part of the reason America wanted to imperialize was to keep up with the European powers that were imperializing European and African countries. America didn’t want to seem as if they were inferior to the European powers because maybe then they would try to take over America. Another social motive during imperialistic years was the Panama Canal. By making the canal, America cut the travel time down by 15,000 to 9,000 miles. Making a world of difference to not only America, but to other countries sailing around that area as well. This made trade a lot easier but was also used as a defensive posture from Europeans. As said in Alfred T. Mahan’s The Interest of America in Sea Power in 1897: “The position of the United States, between the two Old Worlds and the two great oceans, makes the same claim, which will soon be strengthened by the creation of the new link joining the Atlantic and Pacific.” The Panama Canal was used to strengthen America and to “look outward.” The geographic motive for expansionism is tied with economic motives as one of the greatest motives for it. In the early expansion years, things such as the Homestead Act of 1862 were made to improve lands in the West. By improving the lands, industrial items such as railroads and cities could be built there. Also, the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was bought from France to double the size of America. This was a footstep in the door to pioneer across the rest of the country to make what is now the United States of America. More states were added because the more states (free or slave) there were, than more people would live there. More people living there meant more votes in the House of Representatives. Finally, more votes meant if America would be a free or enslaved country. In the imperialism years, we annexed Hawaii in 1898 mainly for a naval base. We also imperialized Cuba to help them acquire independence from Spain and then used them for sugar. In Josiah Strong’s Our Country: Its possible Future and its Present Crisis in 1885, he says “…the highest civilization…will spread itself over the earth. If I read not amiss, this powerful race will move down upon Mexico down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond. And can anyone doubt that the result of this competition of races will be the “survival of the fittest?” This race among the European powers and America to imperialize was spread over the world to see who was the strongest and most elite of these powers. The final motive for expansionism and imperialism was economic motives. During early expansion, the economic motives contributed to making the state of Georgia. Georgia was where debtors went to escape their debt so they wouldn’t be imprisoned for it. Finally in the early years, California was used for gold, which gold miners would make a lot of money off of, and for a port with Asia. This trading port with Asia meant America could have a lot more products and workers to gain even more economic power. In the imperialistic years, to create a higher economic gain, Hawaii was also used as a naval port with Asia to bring more cheap labor in, Cuba was used for their raw material of sugar, and the Philippines were used for their cheap labor. Through dollar diplomacy and the open door policy in China, America was the world’s biggest economic power. In the “American Diplomacy” cartoon in 1900, Uncle Sam is holding the key to the door to China and letting the other European nations in. Even though the open door policy guaranteed open trade to all European countries and America in China, America made the most money off of it and controlled it. Through the motives of religion, economic, geographical, social, and humanitarian, the United States was a departure towards the end of the late nineteenth-century and into the twentieth-century but until then was expansionism. Early expansionism and imperialism differ because imperialism left the borders of the United States and took over other countries.