The turn of the nineteenth century brought along several economic and political changes in America. These new ideas cultivated the creation of several urban societies and industrialization of the work process. However, a new approach to foreign policy became a turning point in America’s history. After the Spanish American War, The U.S. received new territorial claims, opening up a road to imperialism. The new expansionism ideals and tactics presented a great departure from U.S.’s former techniques. Americans broadened the concept of “Manifest Destiny”, focused on obtaining resources, and supported war, just to acquire land for personal gain. Thus, there are only a few similarities between United States’ new imperialism and early expansion. …show more content…
However, the few aspects that imperialism was influenced by helped America become a stronger nation. The concept of “Social Darwinism” and “survival of the fittest” was continuously accepted, when the U.S. expanded to the Pacific. Josiah Strong stated how expansion became “the final competition of races”. (Document B) In the past America had to cope with Britain, France, and Spain to acquire land, but now the competition would only intensify. America also gained land such as Alaska through means of purchase, which it has done previously. For instance the U.S. was involved in: Jefferson’s purchase Louisiana Territory from the French, the purchase of Florida, and "Gadsden Purchase". Furthermore, there were some groups who opposed imperialism and addressed how expanding was promoting cruelty throughout the world. The Anti-Imperialist League viewed controlling the Filipinos as “criminal aggression” and betrayal of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. (Document D) This perspective proved how some Americans were trying to protect their original values, and became unwilling to depart with old approaches to expansionism. One of these Americans was Senator Hoar who didn’t want America to be seen as a …show more content…
Roosevelt, a former Rough Rider whose victory at San Juan Hill gained him fame and political prosperity, adopted an aggressive foreign policy. Even though Roosevelt propelled domestic reform under the federal government through his New Nationalism, his Big Stick Policy opposed American traditions. When seeking to construct the Panama Canal, Roosevelt was turned down by Colombia to obtain rights of the isthmus. As a result, he supported the Panamanian rebellion in 1903, solely to get permission for the canal once Panama received its independence. Going to such an excessive extent, was a degree no president had gone through before, depicting how the imperialist ideals were breaking America from its former approaches to foreign situations. Additionally, when the President enacted “The Roosevelt Corollary” he created a larger separation between new and old expansionism. Under this corollary, U.S. would serve as the “police power” in the Western Hemisphere, giving America superiority over certain nations and as Roosevelt declared “all question of interference by this Nation put to an end”. (Document F) Despite the fact that the corollary was an extension of the Monroe Doctrine, it gave U.S. an expansionist power which it had never controlled before, changing the perspective of American imperialism. The U.S. would now monitor and “tighten ties of a civilized
Roosevelt shaped the legacy of expansionism that he inherited from McKinley into a new imperialism. Roosevelt's reinterpretation was dedicated to the idea of order in world affairs, rather than occupation or colonization, eventual independence for undeveloped or developing nations once they had conformed to the American model of government, and a world in which international disputes would be settled by negotiation instead of war. The new world order that Roosevelt envisioned was broad in that it would open foreign markets to American values and products.
In foreign affairs, the "white man's burden" helped to justify Roosevelt's "New Imperialism" in foreign policy. Uncivilized nations would gain eventual independence once they had conformed to the American model of government and democracy. Roosevelt's corollary to the Monroe Doctrine set up the U.S. as policeman in the western hemisphere. Under TR, the U.S. empire extended to include the Philippines, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. He also oversaw the building of the Panama Canal, a tremendous feat that enhanced U.S. commerce immeasurably.
Arguments for and against overseas expansion raised a foreign policy debate in the late years of the 19th century to the early years of the 20th century. People favored overseas expansion because they wanted the American economy to grow. Missioners, who wanted to convert the inhabitants of the new lands, also propelled this new policy, and theories such as the Social Darwinism and the Manifest Destiny made people believed it was right for America to expand its frontiers and help the less fortune. But there were some who disagreed with overseas expansion because they looked at it as a hypocrisy act among Americans, or as a way of subjugating other nations just for America’s benefits. Some others were concerned that making contact with under-developed nations would eventually dilute their racial stock and the strength of America.
From western expansion to foreign imperialism the United States has always been an expansionist country. Early America’s focus was to conquer the natives and obtain western land within North America, but in the latter of America’s history, specifically in the nineteenth and twentieth century, foreign imperialism became the new focus. America’s activity in foreign imperialism was a continuation and departure of the United States’ early expansionism. It was a continuation in terms of manifest destiny, the spread of Christianity, and by the concept of “the city on a hill” and a departure in terms of foreign involvement.
The United States of America has never been content with stagnation. The landmass of the Thirteen Colonies was enough to rival that of the Mother country from which they separated. The forefathers believed that it was the manifest destiny of this nation to eventually claim the expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. By 1890, nearly a hundred years following the original claim of Manifest Destiny, the land that was once open, was now under American control. But no sooner was the Great American Frontier closed, than was the door to East Asian expansion opened with the great gold key of American diplomacy. In a world where imperialism was contagious, and cartographers had to work around the clock to keep up with an ever-changing geopolitical landscape, the United States seized the opportunity to establish herself as a significant world power. With great expansionist minds at her helm, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft the United States began to grow beyond her border to claim stake in this wide-open world. This new expansionism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a different institution than its early to mid nineteenth century counterpart. Still, the drive to exercise the sovereignty of the United State and to propel itself over the world’s stage was the same then as it was in the time of Thomas Jefferson. In order to understand this assertion, attention must be given to three levels of analysis. First, the similarities that exist between the drive and purpose of old and new expansion must be taken into account. Second, the differences in the global political scene must be considered. Finally, there exits differences in the means by which expansion occurred.
The major American aspiration during the 1790s through the 1860s was westward expansion. Americans looked to the western lands as an opportunity for large amounts of free land, for growth of industry, and manifest destiny. This hunger for more wealth and property, led Americans conquer lands that were rightfully someone else's. Manifest destiny and westward expansion brought many problematic issues to the Unites States verses the Indians that took the Americans to the Civil War.
The United States, as a young nation, had the desire to expand westward and become a true continental United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Various factors, strategic and economic, contributed to the desire to expand westward. According to John O’Sullivan, as cited by Hestedt in Manifest Destiny 2004; "the U.S. had manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence to the free development of our yearly multiplying millions" (¶2). As Americans ventured westward to settle the frontier, their inherent superior beliefs, culture and the principles of democracy accompanied them. America’s ruthless ambition to fulfill its manifest destiny had a profound impact on the nation’s economy, social systems and foreign and domestic policies; westward expansion was a tumultuous period in American History that included periods of conflict with the Native Americans and Hispanics and increased in sectionalism that created the backdrop for the Civil War.
Throughout history, the United States had come off as a stubborn nation that would take what they wanted at any cost. This was prevalent in both cases of expansion as the Americans risked war and national safety for the sake of gaining land, or even merely for proving a point. During the early years of expansion, the Americans had pushed aside the Native Americans and whoever else inhabited the land they wanted. They believed that the land was rightfully theirs and that every one else was merely squatting on their territory. This idea was continued into the early twentieth century as the Americans looked to the oceans for new territories to their kingdom. This idea is greatly exemplified in document 'E', in which Senator Albert J. Beveridge delivers a speech to Congress, saying that, "...and thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world..."
The U.S tried to play a role in worldwide politics in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. With promising markets developing in China, the U.S needed a path to Asia. It’s overseas expansion was the key to this path as they could use the island nations they had taken and use them as “stepping stones” for a path to China. This brought upon resistance through whether the U.S had overstepped its boundaries and pushed too hard for this path. Document 6 shows this anti-imperialist view in which William Jennings Bryan proclaims that the acquisition of overseas territories such as the Philippines was the action of an Empire and that a Republic can never be an Empire. His views are influenced by the inherent Nativism present in society. It is an opposed view in which the U.S was hurting itself in its goal for world power rather than help itself. Document 2 reinforces this ideal, with William Graham Sumner bashing at the U.S’s attempt to become a colonial power much like Spain was in the
Imperialism is when a mother nation takes over another nation and become its colony for political, social, and economical reasons. Imperialism is a progressive force for both the oppressors (mother country) and the oppressed (colony), majorly occurring during the late 19th and early 20th century. It had more negative effects than positive effects due to its domination to other nations.
Many Americans were also afraid of competition from other nations. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and even Japan were all "grabbing" and taking over weaker countries in Africa and the Pacific Ocean. Some people in the U.S. believe that they too have to compete or they will fail to survive. America's feelings toward expansionism were also changed by such books as The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.
A reason America wanted to expand was because they wanted their economy to thrive. After the Spanish American war, Hawaii became extremely important to the US for business uses. Eventually, Hawaii and the US signed a trade treaty which allowed Hawaiian sugar to be sold in America. Soon after, President Mckinley decided to annex Hawaii because there were a lot of factors about Hawaii that could benefit America. The annexation of Hawaii allowed America to create more naval stations in order to protect it’s world trade. The growth of America’s economy was partly because of Hawaii's goods. The economy of the US would not be as successful as it is today if we did not expand our borders. The US had the most advanced economy, but that didn’t stop them from trying to achieve more success which leads to my second evidence. America needed new markets to sell US-made goods as well as raw materials like sugar and oil. So America’s plan was to trade with China and expand their trade routes. America didn’t want to risk the chances of losing trade opportunities with Japan, Africa, China and other nations so they had the intention of expanding abroad. Furthermore, the US was able to have a successful and wealthy economy by expanding
In 1898, in an effort to free Cuba from the oppression of its Spanish colonizers, America captured the Philippines. This brought about questions of what America should do with the Philippines. Soon, controversy ensued both in the American political arena as well as among its citizens. Throughout its history, America had always been expansionistic, but it had always limited itself to the North American continent. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, however, there emerged a drive to expand outside of the continent. When America expanded to the Philippines, the policy it followed was a stark break from past forms of expansionism. Despite much controversy, America followed the example of the imperialistic nations in Europe and sought to conquer the Philippines as an imperialist colony that they would rule either directly or indirectly.
Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory
While true that the Early US foreign policy is described as isolationist in its behaviour to other recognized nations, the reason for it is the view of western expansion as a discovery, not conquest. This is due to the difference in culture, specifically the concept of ownership of land, between the Indians and the white colonists. This “exploration” is the main reason for the later changes and cultural acceptance of aggressive expansion; there of course were other contributing factors, such as Manifest Destiny, Louisiana Purchase and the developing Nationalism, which will be analysed in the next part of this essay. The presented terms are frequently used as an argument to explain the US cultural mind-set in the 19th century and its continued tradition. While the concept of conquest can still be found even in today’s US, it was a partial failure in the 19th century.