Theodore Roosevelt's Views Of Colonialism In The United States

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Meanwhile in America, there was a debate whether Washington would accept colonialism. In the 1970s most Americans rejected colonialism. But now, the people having non-colonial ideology had become aged and the new generation, like Roosevelt, were keen to be imperialist. The economic condition in America made this change. Lower sales of products had created economic depression which led lower salaries and endangered the life of middle class families. They greeted the war initiatives in the hope that it would open more opportunities and help recover the economic condition. President McKinley’s objectives, on the other hand, were not for colony, just expansion of the spheres of influence for the sake of trade and commerce. He wanted at least a foothold in Philippines so that he could make Manila Bay part of a chain of bases-Hawaii, Guam, Wake- across the Pacific Ocean that could serve as a stepping stone to China and a center of U.S. power in the Western Pacific. After accomplishing this objective, the United States adopted ‘Open Door Policy’ to China along with imperial power England and Russia. Meanwhile, he adopted big-stick diplomacy in the Caribbean.

2.13 Roosevelt’s Corollary & Big Stick Diplomacy 1901-1909

Theodore Roosevelt was ‘a garrulous Rough Raider’ in Cuba during the 1898 war. He was one of the great persuaders of Spanish-American ‘Splendid Little War.’ To justify the Cuban war, once he said, ‘they (Rough Raiders-author) were ‘children of dragon’s blood,

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