Preview

Imperialism -Dbq

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
798 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Imperialism -Dbq
Arsheen Memon
AP US History

DBQ

Imperialism was a significant factor in shaping the foreign policy of the United States from the 1890’s to the early 1900’s. Imperialism is when one superior country dominates their authority on other weaker or smaller countries. The concept of manifest destiny had dies down during the Civil Rights movement, but now that things were slowing down, the urgency of the United States to move to the West was more prevalent. By taking the path of imperialism the United States better molded their foreign policies with acquisitions, increasing comparison with Europe, and economic benefits. As America ventured on its exploration for imperialism their dominance grew through the world. Initially, striking Hawaii, in the early 1890’s, America instilled their fear through the world. Being stubborn and overbearing America took the throne of the Hawaiian queen, Lili’uokalami. According to the Statement by Lili’uokalami the United States was going to “reinstate [her] in the authority… as the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands…,” however this was a false promise by the United States (Document J). After the dominance of Hawaii, America went after Cuba. When they took over Cuba the Teller Amendment was put into place, claiming that the Unites States would not take over Cuba, and leave it under the control of its island’s people. Soon after this was revoked and replaced by the Platt Amendment which claimed that the, “government of Cuba shall never enter a treaty with foreign powers,” this treaty restrained other countries with collaborating with Cuba and took American dominance to the next level (Document D). In Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, you see the United States referred to as the “international police,” which show its impact on the world as a whole. (Document B).

Through this time period you see America’s relationship with Europe becoming more unstable, because of Americas growing worldwide supremacy.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Imperialism is defined as the policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations; manifest destiny is the idea that God gave a nation the right to practice this. With a continued splintering (due to a lack of party-defining issues) of the American political system, the exertion of American ideals upon other nations was one of the few topics that was left for the two major political parties (Whigs and Democrats) to disagree about. The American policy of acquiring certain choice territories can be labeled as nothing but aggressive imperialism; both the term and idea of manifest destiny were a rationalization of said imperialism. America's efforts to acquire Cuba, the acquisition of Texas (along with the Gadsen purchase), and the procurance of Oregon and California, were all exercises in aggressive imperialism, which was euphemized (and rationalized) as manifest destiny.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    U.S. history DBQ

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A trend in our American history states that as America became more economically developed, America became more involved in foreign affairs as well. In the late eighteenth century America had her first real foreign policy issues. As problems arose with France and Britain, America found herself in the middle. Through the years as time has passed the leaders of America have past and changed also. Each leader attempted different ways of going about creating a balance or solving the issues with foreign affairs involvement. As time went on and America got more and more involved, she proved she could become a world problem and showed she was a country that could not be messed with.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is 1823, nearly a half century after America declared independence from Britain. Already, it has established itself as a world military power and a valuable trading partner. Still, many of the European countries present themselves as a threat to the still young settlements in the new world. The war of 1812 and events surrounding reminded everyone of this. In response, President James Monroe of America wrote the Monroe Doctrine, forever changing the country’s foreign policy and created separate domains of American and European influence.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule of authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries or acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. Now that we know the definition of imperialism we can define how imperialism was seen in the United States. The purposes of the United States to start imperialism were to gain power, land, and products from other countries. The Christian religion got involved when missionaries went to the conquer lands to convert people such as one of its is leaders Rev. Josiah Strong. We can say imperialism was legitimate because the consequences that the United States got in the end were all positive; even though a lot of people suffered through its end.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism is a policy. Based on this policy, a country uses diplomacy and military forces to expand its power and influence across the world. This will eventually result in becoming a superpower. When it comes to imperialism, America has a lot to say because it sure was a great imperialist between 1867-1917. Many American believed U.S. had to “expand or explode” because of its fast growing population. When the population grows, industrial production demand for more resources. People start to realize and worry that some of the existing natural resources of the country will eventually dry up. Therefore, economists saw oversea markets a possible safety valve for U.S. internal pressures. As a result, foreign trade was…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Effects of Imperialism DBQ

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Imperialism is the policy of extending the rule or authority of an empire or nation over foreign countries. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new imperialism was spreading all over and was a progressive force for both the oppressors and the oppressed when it came to stereotypes and economic success. However, it made the oppressors spread their culture and achievements while the oppressed learned from the Europeans and were continuously put down with the whites thinking it was their job to make them civilized.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan couldn’t have said it any better, “No nation had ever become great without control of foreign markets and access to the natural resources of foreign countries” (Kinzer 33). Throughout the years, America has had an astonishing obsession with the idea of global imperialism. One can’t help but ask the following question: what sparked this sudden obsession with global imperialism? Even though there are many different factors that helped spark this sudden movement, the biggest single factor was the industrialization of the world’s major industrialist societies, such as England, United States, Japan, and Germany. The sudden explosion of industrialization sparked a huge consumption of the earth’s natural resources, and initiated the need for expansion. Throughout the late 19th century up until today, America has approached global imperialism in a number of different ways. Methods such as deception, intimidation, fear, and violence have all been used throughout the American conquest in order to expand this imperialistic society. America had to start expanding and had to take over weaker countries. “Americans had to look to faraway countries, weak countries, countries that had large markets and rich resources but had not yet fallen under the sway of any great power” (Kinzer 34).This paper will primarily focus on the reasoning provided by Kinzer’s book Overthrow. America has become the imperialistic society it is today because of the rapid 19th century industrialization and the constant American hunger for natural resources, territory, and global domination. “Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin to look outward. The growing production of the country demands it” (Kinzer 33).…

    • 1378 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American imperialism in the late 1800's was a break in American foreign policy. America has always wanted to expand the country. In the 1880's, many people thought that America should join countries such as England and set up colonies overseas. Imperialism is when a bigger, stronger country wants to control other smaller and weaker territories.At that time, imperialism was a trend around the world. America became an imperialist nation because of economic reasons, militery interests,and cultural superiority.…

    • 941 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Imperialism has been a part of United States history since the American Revolution. Imperialism is practice by powerful nations or people seeking to expand and maintain control or influence over weaker nations. The United States switch to imperialist behavior in 1898 has caused great historical attention. After all, the United States had generally claimed to stand in opposition to the practice of taking colonies, instead being an advocate of freedom, democracy, and self-government for all. However, the United States saw a need for expanding more. The United States embarked on a new wave of expansionism in the late 1800's because of its desire for new markets, America’s aggressive mood, and new military strength.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imperialism Apus Dbq

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As countries develop they must expand, and like many countries, the United States found its way on a path of expansionism. Though this happened throughout the U.S.’s early history, the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries proved that the U.S. continued to be an expansionist country. However, there is also evidence that shows how the U.S. slowly departed from their expansionistic ways.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In analyzing the causes and effects of United States Imperialism from 1870 to 1916, one finds that there are three main factors. These major factors of United States Imperialism in this time period are: Hawaii, the Spanish-American war, and Theodore Roosevelt. In this time period Hawaiian islanders were very happy to live traditionally, but Americans were not content with the traditional ways of the Hawaiians (Buschini, n.pag.). Even though America seemed to be on the road to imperialism with Hawaii, the Spanish- American war actually set the United States on the new road of Imperialism (The Spanish American War n.pag.). Theodore Roosevelt played an important role in the United States road to imperialism in the 1870 's while serving as president. These three subjects all have given us many causes and effects, in dealing with United States Imperialism in 1870 to 1916.…

    • 812 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The idea of American imperialist is a derivative of ideal of Marxism and the U.S. Foreign policy after the Spanish-American War. American has been considered the police of the world for years. We find ourselves on every continent in almost every country of the world. Many people have compared the United States to the Roman Empire and the fact that the Roman Empire crumbles and so will America. The idea that of America being a imperialist state is shared not only by anarchist of U.S. government but by many nations around the world. America’s policy to uphold democracy around the world can be seen as America attempting to maintain power in foreign nations or convert other nations to our form of government can easily be misconstrued as imperialistic. In order to understand American Imperialism we must first understand the two separately; America’s foreign policy by itself, the idea of Imperialism, and finally the two together. The U.S. Secretary of State is the foreign minister and is the official charged with state-to-state diplomacy, although the president has ultimate authority over foreign policy; that policy includes defining the national interest, as well as the strategies chosen to both safeguard that and achieve its policy goals. The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States, as mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the U.S. Department of State, are "to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community." This is was is in debate, whether America is doing to much to attempt to benefit the international community, and if we are, is it in our interest of those of the foreign nation. The U.S. Foreign Policy began in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase encompassed all or part of 14 current U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement, stated, "This accession of territory affirms…

    • 1272 Words
    • 37 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wanted something because you felt you deserved it? Throughout history people have wanted to expand and take what they wanted. It is human nature to want things and set goals to acquire those wants. Imperialism was a proper and legitimate course of action for the U.S.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    America can be seen to be the custodian of international history for the majority of the 20th century playing an important role in practically all key international crisis and events from the First world war to Bosnia. An international event could not be considered major unless the US were involved ( Mckay. 2013, p422) The end of the Cold and the fall of the soviet union 1991 marked for many the end of history as such: as Fukyuama describes it “ , the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government’ (Fukuyama, 1989, p. 4). The result of this global jostling for dominance. Was the emergence of the US as the sole super power or a global leviathan esque figure on the international…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    American Imperialism first started with westward expansions. This is also known as Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny is the idea that it is our God given right to own everything from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. After we accomplished Manifest Destiny we bought Alaska. Seward purchased Alaska from Russia. After this we funded and supported revolts in Cuba, Hawaii and the Philippines. We got involved in these revolts in order to establish naval bases. We wanted naval bases because we believed that whatever nation had the strongest navy, would also be the strongest nation. Roosevelt put a stop other countries having our same imperialistic ideas with the…

    • 147 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics