Difference Between Expansionism And Imperialism

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Recommended: Expansionism and imperialism during the late 19th century and 20th century

Zuhayr Alvi Mr. Tweed Honors US History II September 4, 2014 Growth of America There is a very fine line between expansionism and imperialism. Expansionism is defined as a policy to increase a country’s size by expanding its territory, while imperialism can be defined as a policy of extending a country 's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Expansionism is a good thing; if it were not for expansionism, the United States of America would not be one of the biggest powers in the world as it is today. Imperialism however is immoral and unjust. Unfortunately a lot of the “super power countries” began to turn away from expansionism and towards imperialism. In a political cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper’s Weekly newspaper, there …show more content…

After the United States of America expanded all the way westward into what is now present day California, we still were greedy. We started looking towards taking over small islands and territories that we could easily dominate and control. In the Supreme Court decision, Downes v. Bidwell the ruling states that any territory that we acquire, we can govern and we can prescribe our culture on to them (Document H). This statement from the court case shows how the United States managed to acquire territories and force the people to accept the “American way.” In the early 1900’s the United States had one of the biggest navies in the world. It was known as the Great White Fleet because we were parading the ships around the world just showing off our firepower. Using these massive ships we were able to dominate and dictate any battles on the sea. This was show in Alfred T. Manhan’s Interest of America Sea Power. This source talks about how we should keep Hawaii and Haiti away from foreigners just so we can use their ports for our trade and shipping purposes (Document C). We used our navy to take control of both of these territories and thirst for land still was not satisfied. Throughout history the United States of America often

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