American Imperialism The Unites States has
American Imperialism The Unites States has
As America bustled with a new sense of power generated by the strong growth in population, wealth, and productive capacity, labor violence and agrarian unrest increased. It was felt that overseas markets might provide a safety valve to relieve these pressures.…
The United States in the nineteenth century evolved from settling on the Atlantic coast in the seventeenth century all the way to the Pacific Coast. Some civilians from the late 1830s and 1840s believed slavery to be the primary cause of western expansion. While this may be true, it was not the primary reason. There were many reasons for the expansion that were equally as important and impactful as slavery. The annexation of new states would allow the United States to grow economically and industrially. With John O’ Sullivan’s and the government’s view of “Manifest Destiny”, it was an American’s obligation to expand because of their national pride and superiority over Mexicans, African Americans, and Native Americans.…
Nugent, Walter. Habits of Empire A History of American Expansionism. N.p.: Random House, 2009. Print.…
Throughout the history its been argued whether the United States had been expansionistic oriented or not, due to its limited presence only in the North American continent. In the late nineteenth century, the United States emerged the drive in expanding to the outside of the continent. The idea of imperialism in the Philippines became popular under the parole of protecting the world from Spanish rule, which was just a cover-up for the real reasons for the presence on these islands. This policy caused much controversy among politicians as well as the citizens. There were many reasons behind these imperialistic urges. One of the main reasons is that the United States sought to expand to foreign markets, and needed the Pacific islands as refueling stations for their ships. The other important reason for the expansion was to spread the Christianity among the heathen (Carnes page 576). In addition, the final reason for these imperialistic urges is that the U.S. had the necessity to annex some overseas properties.…
After the Civil War, the U.S. emerged as a powerful economic nation. By 1890, its frontier had disappeared; consequently, it started to expand and gain possession of non-contiguous lands. This expansion, that led to the United States governing other peoples, is termed imperialism. Alfred Thayer Mahan, an early imperialist, believed a nation’s control over the sea determined its power. The navy that was needed to control the sea required coal to fuel its voyages. This, in turn, required colonies to serve as coaling stations.(Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History: Securing International Markets in the 1890s.) Josiah Strong, also an early imperialist, believed in “lifting up” inferior nations and people. He was convinced that the world needed to be Christianized and civilized.(Josiah Strong Facts) Strong’s ideas were echoed in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, which also illustrated the feelings of Social…
Contrasting views about American expansion were linked to different notions of the “US mission.” For the first time in over a century, America had to evaluate the foundation that their founding fathers laid down and determine if that foundation…
The cartoon does not show the Americas nor an American “grab bag.” Those reasons show similarities to early expansion because the image depicts the other nations fighting over land and the US is not in the picture -- showing how we were concerned with only the land near or part of the Americas. However, it also shows the differences in expansionism because in the past the US was only involved in expanding in North America, but during the late nineteenth century the US was motivated by competition between other nations to expand in other parts of the world, such as in the Pacific Ocean. Representing expansionism driven by religion, Josiah Strong of the American Home Missionary Society wrote of the push for Americans to expand for purposes of religion. He wrote, “let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization . . . will spread itself over the earth.” His words obviously show the common belief that the spread of governmental territory will also bring potential for religious expansion. As Europeans had attempted to convert Native Americans to Christianity and Protestantism when first arriving, many US citizens attempted to convert the natives of Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines to these religions, too -- even though spreading religion was not the priority for expansion. This same passage also expresses the idea of spreading US power around the globe, “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.” In the past, the US has only dealt with territorial expansion in the lands most…
As for the piety, a strong sense of duty and the missionary ideal of doing good for others motivated expansionism. And for politics, the public outcry for support of things like the Cuban rebels against Spain, fueled by sensationalist journalism, also spurred expansionism.…
In the past fifty years, America has grown. Through the rapid economic expansion caused by industrialization, America has broadened her horizons and become a fully modern state. Now it’s time to take up “the white man’s burden” and imperialize. Converse to people’s view of conquest during the middle ages, today’s imperialization competition is no longer just a race for land. It’s a race for land AND resources. It is time that the US join this race. The US must engage in imperialization because there are simply too many benefits to be had from it.…
In the final years of the 1800's, American focus took a unexpected turn from industrial development to the far more risky game of international politics. Previously a primarily isolationist country, America's burst of imperialism appeared almost random. After all, President Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality set the precedent for a non-interventionist country, which the United States as adhering to, more or less. However, considering the extremely popularity of Manifest Destiny, imperialism can only be an obvious result of America's obsession with territorial expansion. Imperialism was Manifest Destiny, albeit on a much larger scale.…
Some thought all this expansion was unjustified. Others thought just the opposite. American Expansion was however, clearly justified. We were helping our foreign allies to become stronger nations. Just as Theodore Roosevelt said “ All that this country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and prosperous.”…
In the 19th century American as a nation became more imperialistic. While other countries were expanding American decided to expand too. One of the influential forces to bring about imperialism was missionaries. Missionaries travelled to other countries to spread the word of god and other civility to other nations. While in these nations the missionaries would get involved in government and roles in society, like teachers. Another proponent in the advancement of imperialism was the Frederick Jackson Turner Thesis. Turners said that people had the frontier to spread westward and it agreed with our democratic system. After a census it was revealed that there was no more of the frontier to be taken. On the other side, the government…
DOC C – American Progress by John Gast (1872) Westward Expansion • Land Ordinance 1785/Northwest Ordinance 1787 • 1821 – Revolution overturned Spanish rule in Mexico, U.S. recognized Mexico as a republic • The Gold Rush, 1849 • American expansionists – those who favored U.S. territorial growth – looked at Texas, New Mexico, California as targets for American expansion • Few people living there • Rich in resources • Mexican government and economy weak after revolution • Mexicans did not deserve to keep territory Americans needed Reasons behind expansionism • Population Increase • Economic depressions—1818 and 1839 • Abundance of cheap (or free) land in West. • Expansion offered opportunities for new commerce. • People began moving over new trails like Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail.(1836) Chronology • Westward expansion =…
The United States of America can be considered as one of the nation’s top competitors in terms of strength, power. However, in the second half of the 18th century, America greatly lacked what was needed to grow and prosper into the thriving country it is today. Several historical themes like, for instance, the growth of trading systems, expansion ideas, using America’s geography to an advantage can be used to examine the growth of America. These factors allowed Americans to break out from colonial monotony. Without this vast improvement and maturity of America between the years of 1750 and 1876, America, most likely, would not be strong enough or have the potential as a country to become a threat to other countries around the world.…
At the dawn of the twenty-first century the United States stood as the lone superpower with the ability to reach any corner of the globe. Journalist Robert Kaplan wrote about the American military, and how the planet was divided into area commands and there was no corner of the globe that was unaccounted. (Kaplan, 4) The U.S. military’s ability to reach any country on the planet is only rivaled by the influence the United States wields on the political scene. In the last century, American government representatives have exercised considerable influence in bringing warring parties to the negotiating table. Additionally, American culture invaded even the most remote villages. The experience of the United States as a superpower draws comparisons to other great powers in history like the Roman Empire and the British Empire. In both cases, these powers had global reach and influence; even their periods had names, Pax Romana and Pax Britanica respectively. Although the United States is not an imperial power in the classical sense, it does preside over an empire. The degree of American power led many critics to derisively refer to the U.S. as a hyper-power. (Black, 199) As the lone superpower American hegemony could be named Pax Americana but was U.S. hegemony inevitable? The answer is yes. However, unlike great empires before it, the U.S. did not necessarily set out to be a global power. (Kaplan, 7) Instead, American hegemony was progressive and grew when significant events propelled the U.S. into a prominent global role.…