How Did The Spanish American Imperialism Dbq

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The United States expanded a lot after the civil war because of the second Industrial Revolution. The second Industrial Revolution brought economic prosperity and overseas expansion. During the beginning of the 20th century, the main topic discussed was foreign policy. There was a divide in the United States. Some people supported the overseas expansion and some people didn't like to get involved in foreign affairs. Presidents during the time, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, thought and America should expand and spread its good fortune on other countries . There was opposition by William Bryan Jennings and Mark Twain. They condemned imperialism. According to Jennings and Twain, imperialism didn't suit the American identity and violated …show more content…

Yellow journalism and the sinking of an American ship were the two main reasons for the Americans being involved in the war. Some Americans fought the war to bring change at home. Especially, the African Americans fought the war with a hope of equal civil rights (doc 1). They believed that if they risk their life as the white soldiers did, then they might be treated equally. Other American fought the war with a hope that the new nation will prosper with the American help. Teddy Roosevelt, an imperialist, condemned anyone who was against the takeover of the Philippines (doc5). Before becoming a president teddy Roosevelt saw the United States as a parent to the philippines. After becoming a president Roosevelt felt that the United States needs to be an international police. He recommended his ‘big stick’ policy. This included the Roosevelt corollary as suppose to the Monroe doctrine. This included that the United States should intervene in the Latin American problems when its interest is threatened. With this decision, not everybody was happy. Many Latin American poets and writers wrote about standing out together against the americas and criticized Roosevelt’s big stick policy. Theodore Roosevelt didn't care about it much and continues to spread his ideas. William McKinley also supported imperialism. He thought the Filipinos could not govern themselves and they needed the americans to help them become more civilized (doc3). This idea was reflected in some of the “march of the flag” speech. It argued that the United States can take over these territories because they are not fit to govern themselves. After some time the united states annexed even more territories like cuba and puerto

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