Explain The Cultural Motives Of American Imperialism

Imperialism entails increasing a country’s influence and might through means such as military capacity and the more acceptable means that is diplomacy (Bensel, 2000). American has been through this process on different occasions whether self initiated or brought up by second and third parties. Imperialism comes about through several sources that include economic sources, geopolitical sources as well as cultural motives. These sources hold various degrees of imperialism depending on their application and their causative agents. Cultural motives vary from religion factors to gender diversity among other factors. On the religious front, the imperialism theme comes out through the “American revolution”. In order to expand its territory during
those historical times religion became more than just a faith, it eventually morphed into a symbol of allegiance to the cause. Religion was a basic component in what determined the American identity. For instance in 1898, the united states went to war against Spain yet during this period the thought of acquiring land overseas was a foreign concept. After the war ended, annexing Hawaii from Spain came into the main picture as a byproduct of the war. This occurred in the month of July the same year (Bensel, 2000). The religious aspect comes in when the protestant churches helped to prepare an all-binding national temper receptive to the acquisition. The hand of the church was undoubtedly part of the whole process if not in part. Along the lines of cultural motives comes the line of thought that prop up gender as a major influence.
Unlike the modern day world, during the periods past men and not women were part of the army. This assumption manifests further through the advertisement by Howard chandler Christy. The advertisement is a painting of a woman wishing she were a man so that she could join the navy. Another source of imperialism is the economic factor. Naturally, money talks and the businesspersons of then had keen interests in maximizing their profits by all available means. This involved using cheap labor, control over markets as well natural resources. After the industrial revolution, the newly acquired territories provided raw materials to their colonial masters. Finally, geopolitical factors determined the political; landscape of a region depending on the leaders in power. This led to allegiance with ruling classes with similar ideologies and wars with those who held different points of
view. The wars that America waged provided plenty of opportunities for the U.S to realize imperialism. Through the U.S could eliminate any opposing forces thereby giving it room to expand into those territories that held a similar opinion to theirs. This is expansion through military forces enabled acquiring new territories, hence imperialism. On the same line as expanding, wars enables development of better arsenals in order to have an edge over the opponents. The improved weapons helped American to be in a position to defend itself in case of any attacks by other hostile nations. Production of better weaponry also meant better times in terms of the economy. The sale of weapons to warring communities and nations meant a ready market for the weapons whose sale would generate large amounts of income. War has its consequences on both the loser and winner; one such consequence is acquiring new territory.
This is quite evident when the U.S obtained several territories from Spain. These territories include Florida undertaken by secretary of state through the “Florida Purchase Treaty”. Other territories ceded were the Philippines, Texas, Colorado, Utah and California; the ceding process came about in 1822. Through imperialism, U.S obtained foreign bases and one such base was in China (Bensel, 2000). This base led to interaction on an economic platform between the two countries and the open door trade policy came forth as the fruit. The policy enable trading with all of china’s markets as well as respecting Chinese territorial integrity through the hands of the then secretary of
state. War also led to changes on how the army structures set up. Through the various wars that the United States waged during that time new efficient weapons came into use, the chain of command as well as the coordination improved in order to improve chances of winning. Different people held major positions in army bases and in turn, they were answerable to a higher office. The army also underwent extensive refresher courses that allowed it to operate smoothly. The smooth operation also involved the National Guard, which consisted of citizen-soldiers in the sense that it involved citizens volunteering for training in order to join the army and navy. One of the notable faces of the American industrial revolution is Andrew Carnegie; he formed a respectable and recognizable steel business that made him one of the richest entrepreneurs of his age. He saw the opportunity during the civil war which fueled the needs of the iron industry most notably replacing wooden bridges with metal iron component ones. His business ventures brought him immense wealth and provided employment to the population of that time. His line of work assisted imperialism by creating channels of easy access and transportation during the ensuing war.