In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States began to grow into an empire. Within the United States, policies of both expansionism, the policy of territorial or economic expansion, and imperialism, the policy of placing a nation under the political, military, or economic control of another nation, were considered. The United States’ first large step toward an empire came with the Spanish American War, a war fought because the United States wanted to buy Cuba from Spain during the Cuban revolution. However, after the war, the United States did not gain Cuba. Instead, it later gained Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines from Spain, beginning the process of turning the United States into an imperialist power.
Imperialists often profess to have an interest in the development of a people or state they intend to conquer. And sometimes there is indeed evidence of ‘development’, but the benefits to the imperialists are always disproportionately greater. The Region has its politico-economic genesis in the bowels of imperialism. The Region, consequently, has progressed or retrogressed within this very context of imperialism. Imperialism has condemned the Caribbean Region to ‘Third World’ status perpetually it seems.
When reflecting on the two fundamentally conflicting arguments -are foreigners better on their own or do they need our help? “American imperialism” comes to mind. This term denotes the economic, military, and cultural influence of the United States internationally. First propagated during the presidency of James K. Polk, the concept of empire-building in the America’s, developed throughout the late 1800th century. During this time, industrialization caused American capitalists to seek new global markets in which to sell their commodities.
Expansionism in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century shared many similarities and differences to that of previous American ideals. In both cases of American expansionism, Americans used the theory of manifest destiny to justify their conquests for new territory. Later, Social Darwinism was added to the mix, which made Americans even more big-headed. Both of these theories caused Americans to believe that the United States was superior to other nations and that all lands were theirs for the taking. However, there were also many differences between the two expansionist periods because some people supported imperialism while others were highly opposed to the idea.
In an attempt to increase trade and prove itself as an economic and military superpower, the US began to expand overseas and increase its military size; the US believed in International Darwinism and saw these actions as an expansion of Manifest Destiny which led to imperialism. People like William H. Seward pushed to annex Midway Island and purchased Alaska to expand the size of the US. However, imperialism became a controversial debate among the American people throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Expansionists and Jingoists like Theodore Roosevelt wanted to protect and gain control of other nations including Puerto Rico, Philippines, and Guam, whereas anti-imperialists such as William Jennings Bryan, Mark Twain, and Jane Addams were against entangling the US in unneeded conflicts overseas and depriving other nations of their rights. Thus, while advocates of expansionism wanted to civilize other nations, become a superpower, and improve US unity, oppositions wanted the US to improve domestic conflicts instead of involving itself in foreign affairs and should not force America’s ideals on other nations.
Imperialism is a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Throughout history, there have been many examples of costs and benefits of imperialism. These have lead to both positive and negative outcomes. I believe that imperialism is very beneficial to the people that are receiving help from these Imperialist countries. I believe that imperialism was beneficial for the people that had their countries interrogated, and expanded.
Although the United States is not an empire around the world in terms of owning nations, they have expanded their economic influence in countries across the globe. The United States economy is able to thrive due to expansion of U.S. business into other countries. Large U.S. cooperation’s produce their products in factories overseas that do not have strict labor laws, which in turn allows these businesses to produce their product for a cheap price and control the supply and demand of the product. Imperialism has allowed businesses to thrive as they can produce their product at a lower price foreign than domestically in the U.S, and then in turn sell that product at an extremely high value by controlling the supply and demand of the product on the market. Their expansion all over the world has allowed the country to combat overconsumption and gain control of markets worldwide.
Imperialism and its consequences Imperialism is the term that describes one nation’s dominance over another nation or territory. In the 1800s there were four types of imperialisms, which were; Colonial imperialism, Economic Imperialism, Political Imperialism, and the Socio-Cultural Imperialism. Colonial Imperialism, this form of imperialism is virtual complete takeover of an area, with domination in all areas: economic, political, and socio-cultural. Economic Imperialism, this form of imperialism allowed the area to operate as its own nation, except for the trading and other businesses. Political Imperialism, although a country may have had its own government with natives in political positions, it operated as the imperialist country
When Imperialism made its way to American colonies, so did Victorianism. America exploded with new technological advances and a new vision on the future. This strategic move was a positive merger between America and Britain. Many of the inventions that were introduced are still in use today for travel and leisure, but most are currently being used in import and export trades. Because there was an Imperial system, the Victorian age was apparent.
Imperialism is when a government gets involved in the other countries powers and decisions. Isolationism is the distancing of countries powers and keeping out of the decisions that other countries are making. I believe the United States should be imperialist to protect the country by knowing what 's going on with america. With the USA getting involved helped us prevent wars and fight for good reasoning. A pro of Imperialism is industrialization grew internationally growing businesses and other factories and similar industries.