American Imperialism In The 19th Century

In the years following the Revolutionary War the United States would begin to expand, although not popular among all citizens, it helped shape the country into what we know today. The first acquisition of territory would be as a result of the Treaty of Paris with Great Britain ending the Revolutionary War. This treaty marked the boundaries between the British colonies still located in North America and ceded the thirteen American colonies to a newly recognized country known as the United States of America. This would not be the only acquisition of territory that the United States would complete between the years of 1789 and 1815 but it would be the initial acquisition of territory that would develop this newly formed nation.

Many people believed that Mexico invaded the United States and caused the U.S Mexico war; however, it was actually United States who raided Mexico first. The author, Rodolfo Acuna, purpose of writing “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” was too informed of how the United States came to invade Mexico which led to the U.S Mexico War. Such as how the U.S President Polk, who played a huge role in the U.S Mexico war. Other events include the Anglo Settlements in Texas who brought their slaves, Texas War of Independence, and the terms of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. All these events are what led up the U.S Mexico War.

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.

Before the 20th century the United States was an isolationist nation but around the late 19th century America decided to convert into an imperialist power. They had numerous reasons to shift into being an imperialist nation. America didn’t want to begin imperializing to settle and live in the nations they were taking over, they already had America for that reason, they wanted to adopt these nations for what they had to offer, which was many things. America saw an opportunity to improving their nation and took it. Even if there were many causes for America to imperialize, three of them stood out the most. Those three reasons being, economy, military, and culture superiority.

A combination of factors, including manifest destiny and a need for raw materials and naval bases, eventually prompted the U.S. to adopt the practice of imperialism (Shi and Tindall 666). American imperialism partially contributed to our involvement in WWI by increasing our

A great change United States history was the development of the country as a whole, regarding its magnitude in land mass and overall spread of acquired territory. Also known as the Age of American Imperialism, this significant expansion came about from foreign relations with other nations. Through peaceful negotiations, as well as violent conflicts, the U.S.’s sphere of influence and control expanded across various bodies of water. Increased involvement with world relations triggered a shift in power from one side of the world to the other, which would lead to the establishment of the U.S. as a world power, or an independent entity powerful enough to bring change on a global scale. Foreign relations between the U.S. and other nations during the late 1800s and early 1900s increased and became more complex as their involvement within global affairs likewise intensified. Moreover, major reasons for these increased relations included political, economic, religious, and cultural reasons, and for the purpose of saving the idea of masculinity within American men.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America started expanding abroad to try and enlarge our borders. However this expansion ended up creating more problems for the US. In the end America lost more than they gained all due to American imperialism.

America had a dream of Manifest Destiny (O’Sullivan). Which they believe that God had set aside the entire North America for United States(Textbook). “Which later started the Westward movement”. During the time Native Americans tribes and Mexico had already had been inhabiting the area(Textbook). They would not leave without a fight.

The Spanish American war was a product of Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis and the urbanization of America. In 1895, a rebellion broke out in Cuba, as Cuban patriots wanted independences from Spain. Through the yellow journalism, reports of Spain’s cruel military tactics lead to a public uproar in the U.S. However, most of these stories were exaggerated as a form to promote war. After an American battleship, the USS Maine, was destroyed, America was “forced” to start war and stop Spanish occupation. The war lasted from April 1898 till August 1898; through this war we took control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the islands of the Philippines. The end result of this war comes to show that the reasoning behind the war has more to do with

When America, as we know it today, was created, it had just freed itself from an unwanted, suffocating European power. The people wanted nothing to do with foreign affairs and their presidents’ policies reflected that. As America moved forward and established themselves as a world power, they began to want more. At the turn of the twentieth century, this want for more hit its peak and because of other circumstances, more was just within reach. America had always prided themselves in staying out of foreign problems and focusing inward, but now a new age was dawning. Those who were pro imperialist argued that the US had built itself up and it was now their duty to help others and expansion could help America internally, but anti imperialists

It was in the late 19th century that the United States entered an era of imperialism. Expansionism was very popular during this time period and the United States was not excluded from its rising trend. The country joined the other world powers in expanding their influential grip over the smaller and less developed nations of the world. Small crops of protest did emerge in response to the growing imperialist power, notably the American Anti-Imperialist League, but they had no large impact on the growing policy of expansionism that continued throughout the time

The Industrial Revolution had caused an economic boom in the United States. At this time, many citizens of the United States demanded for expansion over seas. 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

After the Civil War, the United States had begun to prosper because of this second industrial revolution. With this property, the people had begun to expand across the whole of the United States causing the frontier line within the US to disappear, which lead to the rise of the idea of imperialism and stronger foreign policy. Because of the rise of yellow journalism, the closing of the frontier line, the expansion of the United States Navy, and the rise of colonization of foreign European powers within Asia, debates and conflicting views had begun to arise on the idea of imperialism and whether or not it is a good idea to expand overseas and become a world power. Advocates for the expansion of the United States argued that it was the duty of

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.

As a result, American imperialism experienced its highpoints from the late 1800s through Post-World War II. During that time, the United States exercised political, social, and economic control over countries such as the Philippines, Cuba, Germany, Austria, Korea, and Japan. In this demonstration of power, America’s intervention in foreign affairs throughout the world had proven to have a cynical agenda rather than humanitarian