American Imperialism Dbq

Japan wanted to expand more and keep on attacking more people, while the U.S. had a different view on expansionism. The U.S. did not support Japan in their expanding, leading to Japan fearing of losing strength and power. These are the reasons that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th,

In some ways it would have been ironic if America became an imperialist nation because America started out as a group of colonies ruled by an imperialist nation. Another challenger of imperialism was Jane Addams, a progressive social reformer, who gave a speech in 1899 that criticized the Spanish-American war and the increase in militarism in the U.S. She compares militarism in Cuba and an increase in crime at home (Doc4). She reflects the concerns of people on the homefront during the Spanish-American war and the U.S. acquisition of colonies in Asia and Caribbean. She believes American imperialism undermines the ideals of peace and America’s tradition of isolationism.

The War of 1812 was an armed conflict between the United States and the British Empire. In an attempt to cut off supplies from reaching the enemy, both sides attempted to block the United States from trading with the other. Significantly, the British restricted the American trade since the British feared that it was detrimental with their war with France. Importantly, the British wanted to set up an Indian state in the Midwest, which is why thousands of Native Americans fought on the side of the British. The Americans condemned the British Empire restricting their trade and taking sailors to serve on the British side.

Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.

This whole ordeal caused great upset in America and cause them to put up a bill that stated they would cut off trade with either Britain or France if the other dropped their trade restrictions. As well as this Britain was influencing native Americans against the settlers. All this dispute would cause America to go to war with their former cousin.

Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. It is a great way to strengthen the economy and gain power and territory for countries that practice it, though it often failed and resulted in war and the deaths of innocents. Four intellectuals that played a big part in influencing American imperialism were Frederick Jackson Turner, Alfred T. Mahan, Herbert Spencer and John Fisk. All of these influencers had different ideologies and came together to justify American imperialism. They believed America needed to expand power and gain territories.

Colonial America is facing struggles from within and from the British, but are still trying to maintain neutrality. However, Patrick Henry believes in otherwise and being fed up with British actions against the colonies, expresses his thoughts in his “Speech in the Virginia Convention.” Henry is biased since he is an American and sees the British as the enemy, but this is also in a time where tensions between colonial America and Britain are rising as the colonists revolt. Patrick Henry utilizes rhetorical strategies such as rhetorical questions, antithesis, and parallelism to bring forth claims that they must go to war against Britain since all the possible ways to try to prevent war have been exhausted and ineffective.

Many Americans thought occupying foreign countries, like the Philippines after the Spanish American War, was a bad idea because it contradicts the American values of equality found in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. (Doc D) However, a majority of America sided with people like Senator Albert J. Beveridge who believed people were chosen by God to expand into China and the Philippines to open more Asian markets. (Doc E) This was a continuation of past expansionism because acquiring land for money Manifest Destiny have been motives for expansionism for

This meant Thomas Moore had a critical view on The United States. This view angered many Americans because Moore was criticising the way the country was run at the time; even though the Americans were in the wrong. A theory as to why Thomas Moore was passionate about the goings on in America was because he had “... would have been exposed to both the political and interpersonal variations during the 1790s and 1800s - a period which saw two revolutionary actions (1798, 1803) as well as an Act of political Union (1801)” this would create a personal connection to any type of slavery or rebellion (Smyth 23). A few years after traveling to North America, Moore wrote “The Last Rose of Summer.” This song has a beautiful melody, and when it is sung it sounds like an angel.

While the Filipinos sought independence after being released from Spain, the U.S. perceived the nation as incompetent. William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, in his decision on the Philippines mentions that they are ill-equipped to run a self-government and any attempt to do so will cause misfortune in the region, thus, the United States has no option but to rule over the Philippines. This concept of racial uplift influenced the treatment of Filipino citizens during and after the war, as Shi states the blatant racism and torture they experienced during the three years of war and after hindered any peaceful bonds between the two nations. After the Filipino resistance was reduced, the United States acquired the Philippines to mark its next bitter, controlling relationship with a foreign

People who opposed the annexation of the Philippines were often anti-imperialists who believed conquering foreign lands went against the concepts of republicanism. In “Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League” (Document A), we are presented with the common beliefs such as the fact that the U.S. did not have the authority to rule another country or colony without its permission. The document expresses that taking control of a land without its peoples’ permission is cruel and oppressive. An example of an anti-imperialist is William Jennings Bryan. In his speech “Paralyzing Influence of Imperialism” (Document D), Bryan asserts that U.S. intervention on the Island is unnecessary because the Filipinos are just seeking independence, they do not want any control.

It put both anger and fear in the Americans that didn 't want slavery. Even though some people think that it was a good idea that the United States declared war against Mexico. For reasons, like it contributed to the land expansion of the U.S. and the discovery of natural resources. I still stand by my statement and say that it was not the better choice because of the effecting aftermath.

War Hawks were the main demographic in Congress that wanted war for a variation of reasons. They brought up a possibly to expand the United States’ territory as they wanted to take over Florida from Spain and Canada from the British. The War Hawks were into the idea of nationalism as they had a very prideful of their country. As such, they wanted to have retribution for the capture of American ships, seeing it as an insult to America’s rights. Others such as John Randolph of Virginia, were against the War Hawk’s ideology.

The social reaction to expansionism continued throughout both movements because the opposing sides of each argument disagreed on completely different topics. Many during the time of Imperialism believed America was destined to expand due to the believed superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race (Doc 1), and was justified in expanding due to the fact that America would spread democracy and that they were required to expand because it was the “White Man’s Burden” (Doc 1-POV). This is also true for Manifest Destiny, which was built on the idea that God ordained the western hemisphere for Americans.

Within the years 1800 and 1855 an issue that was making waves in the United States was whether the country should expand in size or not. Multiple events such as the Mexican-American war and the idea of “Manifest Destiny” lead to a growing discrepancy between the supporters and opponents of expansion. Although the opponents had some valid and understandable concerns with expansion, the supporters overall had a better argument. To start off, trade was a reason that many people supported the expansion of the United States. The supporters claimed that the expansion could lead to a route to Asia and that the United States trade would flourish and the economy would boom and everyone would have their fair share of the success (Doc. F).