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American history imperialism essay question
The economic impact of the industrial revolution
Industrial revolution and its impact
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After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority. Economics becomes a large factor in the American imperialism; but more specifically that expansion in foreign markets is a vital part in the growth of America. As historian Charles Beard puts it, “[it] is indispensable to the prosperity of American business. Modern diplomacy is commercial. Its chief concern is with the promotion of economic interests abroad” (Kinzer 81). Williams provides that the people of United States wanted this change to culminate in the business. “A great many farm businessmen were in trouble, and if they voted together they could control national policy. There was, in truth, a crisis before the Cri...
As the United States developed into a world economic power, it also became a military and political power. Certain things led Americans to become more involved in world affairs, such as territorial growth. There were also consequences to the nation’s new role, like conflict between citizens and people of power. United States government and leaders had to learn the “hard way”, the challenges and negativity that they would face, such as loss of money and lack of control between certain nations, and the positive effects such as expansion of territory and alliances.
...he directions, it says, “The businessmen of the period felt justified in their actions as the United States became the world’s leading industrial power with the U.S. producing as much as Germany, Britain, and France combined.” This means that the businessmen not only resorted to these tactics for their own financial betterments, but for America’s financial betterments as well.
Throughout the course of history, nations have invested time and manpower into the colonizing and modernizing of more rural governments. Imperialism has spread across the globe, from the British East India Company to France’s occupation of Northern Africa. After their founding in 1776, the United States of America largely stayed out of this trend until The Spanish-American War of 1898. Following the war, the annexation and colonization of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines ultimately set a precedent for a foreign policy of U.S. imperialism.
The United States has had a changing view on the management of foreign policy from neutrality to a defender of democracy. It is characterized by the Monroe Doctrine during the 20th century that states no American interference in European affairs unless the democracy of the western hemisphere were to be threatened. This ideology was later abandoned with the entering of the U.S. in WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. The immigrants of this nation were the backbone of the working class that enabled for the U.S. to prosper economically in an open trade. As an established super power the United States has had a series of world relationships that began in 1877 to the progression of today that established the fundamental values of American exceptionalism.
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Imperialism was a popular trend among the large, powerful countries. 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”. Imperialism cannot be said as either good or bad, but as a general rule: If you live in an annexed country, imperialism is not good, if your country annexes smaller ones to gain profit, land, and respect, then imperialism is good. The United States was not much of an imperialistic country until we won the Spanish-American war. As a result of this war, we annexed Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
Before the American Revolution, the trends of colonial history remained rather consistent. The European superpowers continued to expand, reaping exponential benefits from the nations in which they colonized. Thomas Bender argues that the American Revolution was not just a revolution for the people of the continental United States, but was rather the starting point of a continuous global revolution that inspired social change and governmental autonomy for the colonized people. Bender examines global trends in Central and South America, as well as Europe before America’s Declaration of Independence to demonstrate that prior to the American Revolution, the great powers of Europe ruled with minimal backlash, exploiting weaker nations for increased
At the end of 1800s and early 1900s, U.S start taking control and expand all over the
There are several reasons why the United States sought to found an empire. For theses reasons, American began it’s divine quest. Foremost were the economic prospects of empire. There were several commercial and business interests involved with the American imperialist movement. Overproduction in America caused economic depressions. In order to curve these slumps, America needed new markets. Also, as American business increased there was an ever-growing demand for raw materials. America glanced heavily at the potential of the Far East, especially China, and it’s southern neighbor Latin America as a new market, and a source of raw materials. These are the economic factors that contributed to the rise of American imperialism. For military and strategic reasons America needed to forge and empire. In 1890 Thomas Mahan published Influence of Sea Power upon History 1660 - 1783. In his book Mahan pointed out that Great Britain’s phenomenal growth as the world power was because of it’s unsurpassed naval power. America saw that in order to become a world power, it needed to expand it’s own navy. In order to maintain this new navy, America would also need to increase the number of harbors, refueling and repair stations, and trade ships around the globe. America also came to realize that the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans needed to be connected closer to home. This raised the demand for an isthmian canal. These are the military and strategic exponents that sparked America to...
As shown, America’s rapid change as the 19th century came to a close was supported by a various amount of imperialistic beliefs, motives, and incidents that almost jumpstarted the U.S. onto the world stage. Many of these incidents such as the public’s thirst for expansion, the annexation of several faraway lands, and the build-up of U.S. military forces would not have been possible without the Spanish American War. Moreover, the Spanish American war would not have been possible without the American people. Imperialism was a consequence of the American Democratic experiment, giving the people what they want.
Once the Americans had taken over the land occupied by the Indians, to me, This idea of imperialism was a way for the U.S. to have an edge or advantage over other nations. This gave America power, control and reform policies so they could acquire addtional land. By the 19th century, America wanted to be able to expand its empire across the entire country. For the United States to do this, they seized territory peacefully by annexation or by force, resulting in conflict and war. This was known as the "Louisian Purchase," which congressed passed in 1803 (American Horizons, page 655). During this time, before Theodore Roosevelt became president, what was his purpose for wanting the United States as a global power?
During the time of the Spanish American War, the United States went through a period that is commonly referred to as “The Imperialistic Era”. Throughout this era, many of the United States actions were all influenced by imperialistic motives and simply focused on advancing and building the power and wealth of the United States.
In the end, though the era of British Imperialism in India played a significant role in India’s development into the modern world, it also came at a price. Regardless what was lost, a great deal was gained because India was able to not only increase its population, but also make the people smarter and healthier in the process. The way some of India’s residents were living before the age of Imperialism was not good, so if it didn’t do anything else positive – it helped them live better!
Although there are many other important factors, the main cause of the rise of imperialism was most certainly economic. The Age of Empire, by Eric J. Hobsbawn, provides an interpretation of New Imperialism. Hobsbawn calls imperialism “a natural by-product of the international economy” (Sherman pg 177). He is basically saying that imperialism is dependent on the rivalries of competing industries, which continually drive the international economy. Hobsbawn also dictates the need for external markets. The Industrial Revolution created many products that needed markets, thus creating a need of colonies. Hobsbawn believed that the overproduction of the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression could be solved. He also realized that many businessmen knew that they could make a large profit off of China’s large population. For example, if every one of the three hundred million Chinese purchased one box of tin-tacks the businessmen knew that there would be a huge profit, consequently increasing the desire for colonization of weaker countries.
The imperialism of the years 1450-1750 AD spurred the creation of colonies by Western European nations, which include Spain, Britain, France, and the Netherlands, within the “New World,” or the Americas. Due to the creation of these colonies, the “New World” and the “Old World” exchanged various crops, livestock, and many more goods. This is known as the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange vastly changed the culture and many aspects of the indigenous people of the Americas and the people of Europe.
Implementing new economic systems is a tough job and it doesn’t guarantee success in the industry, but there are some countries who have created economic systems from benefitting and exploiting other countries around the world. This tremendously pushed greater economies towards all new and effective economic methods, while others suffer from the decisions. Some countries have an extensive economic history in the world. An interesting era to discuss these countries during the Post-Colonial era, an area that, in my opinion, gave birth to the economic systems we see today in Europe. The countries that contribute to these transitions may differ in ideas, but, by implementing new economic systems, they prove that everything could be much better