Isolationism

Isolationism The United States declining to give aid to Hungarian Patriots in 1849 was an example of isolationism. Isolationism is the belief to remain apart from the affairs of another country. The U.S. did not want any conflict with other countries. The United States would not support Hungry and their fight for independence. The only involvement that the United States had in this conflict was freeing Hungarian leaders out of prison. The United States wanted to focus on other things which would include expanding their country. The reason to wanting to expand the country was the belief of Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was the concept that God wanted the U.S. to reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This was the goal at this time and all that they revolved around.

Intervention

In 1899 the United States proposed the Open Door Policy, this policy is an example of intervention. Intervention is when a country is interfering with another country to be more powerful. The Open Door Policy was to allow nations to trade freely in China. After China was attacked by Japan, they were weakened and European powers took advantage of that. The United States then proposed the policy because they believed they would not get equal access to trade with China. They wanted all nations to be able to trade freely with China. At first European powers were hesitant on accepting the policy because they knew the U.S. would greatly benefit from it. They accepted the policy in the end because they did not want another rebellion with China.

Imperialism

The United States annexing Hawaii in 1900 is an example of imperialism. Imperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power. This policy would bring access to new markets and raw material. As American settlers came to Hawaii they began selling sugar to the United States, sugar became the most important export. In 1875 Hawaii and the United States agreed to give the U.S. favored-nation status which allowed Hawaiian sugar to be imported to the United States without tariffs. This allowed America to ruin Hawaii’s government and had no choice but to become part of the U.S. in 1900. Americans that went to Hawaii wanted to take over their government and economy. When the agreement ended with the United States, Hawaiian sugar growers were forced to compete with the U.S. and Cuban sugar growers, as a result Hawaii faced a great economic depression. Almost ten years later Hawaii became part of the U.S.