Smith 1 Jessica Smith Mr. Dearie AP U.S. History February 5, 15 Imperialism DBQ By 1901, the U.S. acquired exceptional overseas control, the title of a world power, and the third-largest navy in the world. These accomplishments were all mainly because of the current imperialistic philosophies of the age. This caused expansion, colonization, and fierce competition between countries like France, Japan, Britain, and Germany. However, the U.S. was not unaccustomed to these practices. Their expansionism was clearly an extension of previous expansionism with new political and economic influences. Although some things may have changed, the basis of expansionism remained the same. American imperialism demonstrated the same social and cultural reasons for past expansion. Manifest Destiny always drove the Americans by the belief that they were destined by …show more content…
America now longed to be known as a world power, which included the competition for foreign territory Alfred T. Mahan explained through his 1899 book The Interest of America in Sea Power, that America needed to acquire more land that would help our economy and keep the other world powers away from these lands. Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge responded by the Spanish-American war to gain new lands. Roosevelt demanded that they take Manila Bay from the Philippine territory. As president, in 1904 Roosevelt stated in his Annual Message to Congress that the duty of the U.S. was to protect the lesser countries’ stability and peace. America was to be known as the “police” of the world that would also control Latin America as well. This can be seen as a new advancement because previously the U.S. only spread its territory but remained left out of foreign affairs. This new political interest in foreign affairs therefore changed the actions of the U.S. and allowed for more foreign territory to be
The United States entered the 20th century, as historian George C. Herring observed, “a great power, but not yet participant in the great-power system.” (Herring, 336) The United States began to assume a leading role in the great-power system when President Teddy Roosevelt offered to negotiate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. Beyond fulfilling Progressive Era visions of America’s role in the world, brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth allowed the United States to solidify its interests in the Pacific, and take a leading role in world affairs. Roosevelt welcomed a war between antagonists that each threatened U.S. interests in Asia and the Pacific.
The expansion of America was desirable, creating a false duty to get rid of barbaric influence from asianic countries to expand America’s empire. After the end of Spanish rule in the Philippines, Senator Albert Beveridge saw potential in recruiting the Philippines as US territory. He writes, “...The Philippines gives us a base at the door of all East”(Beveridge 1). He wanted to expand America's commercial trades with Asia, but in order to do so would need an ally near the east. Knowing that the Philippines had just come out of Spanish rule, Beveridge suggested in the letter that they were not capable of self-governing, and America's intervention would be needed.
Dani Nelson 2/25/2017 Dr. Jones American Foreign Policy in Gilded Age and Progressive Era (1880-1920) HIST111: United States History After 1877 Over 100 years ago, the United States was looking to become the international power it is today. Establishing foreign policy through territorial expansionism in Hawaii, interventionism in Cuba, and imperialism in the Philippines was the major reason for the United States becoming a modern world power between 1880-1920. Before the 1880s, the United States had never really had foreign policy with any countries on the other side of the world. Policy had always been based upon the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that European nations were not allowed to interfere with nations in the Western Hemisphere,
Toward the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the United States was becoming an increasingly powerful nation and world power. The country was competing with other nations also expanding. Their motives for expanding were to gain land and resources. While there was a slight departure from past expansionism, the United States mostly continued as it had been in the previous years. In order to accomplish expansionism, the United States needed to acquire foreign territories to increase their global presence.
A Change to Imperialism After the civil war, Americans remained surprisingly aloof to the outside world. Because America was struggling with many problems over Reconstruction, such as trying to maintain a steady flow in the economy and settle the West, many Americans weren’t very concerned with foreign affairs. There was a drastic shift, however, that made America change from isolationism to imperialism in the early 20th century. America made this drastic shift because it wanted to expand and gain prestige, convert people into one’s own beliefs (missionary zeal), and indulge itself in foreign affairs to aid its economy and marketing. With the control of the Panama Canal, America was then able to obtain its worldwide power.
Expansionism in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century had joint many similarities and differences to the prior American standards. American citizens believed it was time to expand land territories in order to keep The United States at the top. American citizens had so much pride and spirit it was thought that the United States was the strongest and finest nation on the globe. Many Americans wanted a strict foreign policy, while others desired to remain neutral and not get involved in any crisis. Former
During the mid and late 1800s imperialism was alive and well in the United States. It was not enough for America to have acquired massive tracts of land throughout the late 1800s, such as Alaska and Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The idea of imperialism and the Monroe Doctrine called for more land and limited European intervention in the Western Hemisphere. Ultimately the imperialistic eye of the United States had to eventually turn to Cuba, an area under Spain’s control that represented tremendous opportunity to fuel the growing imperialist machine that was America. The Monroe Doctrine could not tolerate Spanish control over Cuba, forbidding European intervention in the Western Hemisphere.
Manifest Destiny led the early Americans to the Pacific, but the European Age of Imperialism influenced the United States to start to search beyond its continental borders to grow economically. As demonstrated by westward expansion, economic interests dictated political decision-making. Not only in government, but in the military as well. Rear Admiral Alfred Mahan saw the US Navy as the protector of American sea-trade routes. Without a strong navy, American trade could not reach its full potential.
United States Imperialism in the late 19th century was very selfish time. Many people in that time, debated about whether are not benefiting our country was the right way or the wrong way. The motiving factors that impacted our imperialism are economic, military, and cultural. These factors impacted the American Imperialism from 1890-194 by having control over weaker territories meeting our expanding needs.
United States’ Imperialism Power Over Hawaii Throughout the course of the years, the United States began investing their time into intervening in different countries to become a dominant world power in the Western Hemisphere. As the time reached of when the U.S. became more determined and serious over spreading its forces across colonies, a plentiful amount of the world had been already claimed. Only a few territories remained liberated from the imperialist movement, in which Hawaii was one of the unclaimed areas. In order to pertain Hawaii as their own intervention, the U.S. had mainly focussed onto preventing European countries of investing into the Hawaiian markets, resources, political stability, and economic interests.
The United States mostly expanded into Latin America and Asia/Oceania during this time period. A prominent example of overseas expansion is the Spanish-American War. This conflict, which was caused by the alleged sinking of the USS Maine, led to the United States’ acquiring of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, among others. The U.S. also received significant control in Cuba, where the Platt amendment provided a great deal of power to the United States in regards to building military bases. This acquirement of foreign territory represents a clear example of imperialism.
Why and to what extent was the U.S. an imperialist power at the beginning of the 20th century? The 19th century was commonly known as the ‘Age of Imperialism’, during this time period the United States and a number of other major world powers began rapidly expanding their territory and influence, throughout the world. Many Americans supported the concept of imperialism due to the economic, military, and political influence that came with the annexation of fertile territories. Although this ideology seemed to benefit thriving imperialist powers such as Britain and France, the United States was only an imperialist power to the extent that they extended the U.S. power, but were an empire unsuccessful in controlling the nations under their rule.
Economically the U.S. had made advances in technology and began to get oversea territories. Culturally they had used the
Many people pushed for overseas expansion in belief they were spreading civilization on countries that were not comparable to the United States in their point of view. Others believed that the United States needed to put the focus on
Expansionism consists of policies of governments and states that involve territorial or economic expansion (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). Between 1803 and 1853, the United States grew size. In the early 1800s, the land west of the United States was undeveloped and it was considered to be uncivilized and underdeveloped even though