American Imperialism Dbq Essay

Throughout the early nineteenth century, the ideas of expansionism swept through the United States The belief in Manifest Destiny, that the United States was destined to spread across the continent of North America, gave reason behind the allocation of new territories and acceptance of new states. However, the debate over the legality of slavery in the national identity, made it difficult to adopt new areas into the control of the United States with ease. In the later portion of the nineteenth century, expansionism was mainly motivated by imperialism. The United States was determined to become a leading world power and the belief in the survival of the fittest, Social Darwinism and the idea of the “Gospel of Wealth”, the rich helping those

The war brought conflicts to the national identity in that different types of people believed that it was in the United State’s best interest to stay out of or continue the fight in the Spanish American War. Theodore Roosevelt, the Governor of New York and strong supporter of both militarism and imperialism, explains the importance of the United States acquisition of the Philippines in his speech “The Strenuous Life”. He describes the Filipino people as incapable of providing a secure and democratic government so the intervention of the United States was entirely necessary (Document 5). This idea relates directly to the theme of the poem “The White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling, which urged the United States to colonize in the Philippines, as it was the duty of the American people to help struggling governments. Theodore supported the Spanish-American War, and even created a private military group known as the “rough riders”, unaffiliated directly with the United states, to personally fight in the war. In terms of one view of the national identity, aiding in the Philippines and fighting in the Spanish American War was needed to help fulfill the American mission of helping those who need guidance to be

It is against the Declaration of Independence to inflict the democratic government on a group of people who do not have the wish to be governed, therefore denying the basic human right of liberty (Document 2).Sumner was a strong believer in Social Darwinism, which accredits his issues with helping the people of the Philippines adopt a democratic government. Mark Twain, great American author- thought that the United States should be given consent to govern by the governed, rather than placing unfamiliar customs on the Filipino people. There was also concern as to the spread of foreign expansion. The Philippines are geographically located a great distance away than any other territory acquired by the United States (Document 7). The location of the Philippines worried some because it had the potential to make the United States involved in affairs in the eastern hemisphere. This would contradict the isolationist statement of the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, and force more direct relations with other