Reasons For American Imperialism In The Early 20th Century

At the start of the 19th century, America was already expanding its territory. In 1803, the United States of America had bought the Louisiana Territory, it was bought from France which had made the country two times larger. In 1819 Spain had given up their territory of Florida to the United States. President Monroe issued the “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823, its main purpose was to warn the European countries to not enter the Western Hemisphere. In order for America to achieve its goal of becoming an imperialist nation they had conquered other countries economically, culturally, and with a strong military in the late 1800’s. Economically the U.S. had made advances in technology and began to get oversea territories. Culturally they had used the

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.

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.

Imagine waking up one day and being forced to drop every custom and tradition you’ve ever known. This is what many countries had to endure when Americans decided it would be okay to imperialize them. Imperialism is the act of extending a country 's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. By the late 1800’s America started imperializing weaker countries. Americans were not justified in barging into weaker countries, and taking over for their own selfish gain. They mistreated the Filipinos and exploited the Puerto Ricans lands, they’ve done more bad than good which is why they are not justified.

Imperialism is the term used when a country expands its current power and influence through diplomacy or military force throughout other lands and countries that are weaker than their own. Some motives of imperialism is, economic reasons, like industries need resources, and customers to sell to. Another reason would be military factors, and nationalism. Imperialism in the US hasn 't been a failure. The goal was to increase the country 's influence, territory, power, and belief. This was all to compete with other world powers. In the 1800’s-1900’s we weren 't even close to the world power we are today. Through imperialism the united states grew and became one of the strongest nations to this day. The USA prospered because of the amount of success American imperialism brought to the table.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the United States had minimal interest in becoming an empire who controlled overseas countries. Instead, Americans decided to just use Manifest Destiny on their own continent as their form of expansion. In the late 1800s, the frontier was announced to be “closed”, so Americans were forced to look overseas in order to expand trade by looking for new markets. After America made the decision to support Cuba in its revolt against Spain during the Spanish-American war, the United States gained its own colonial empire when it defeated Spain in 1898. Once the war ended, Americans had to debate between becoming an imperialist empire or remaining in isolationism.

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. In addition, the increasing effect of social Darwinism led to the acceptance that America was superior to other countries and essentially responsible for bringing concepts such as industry, democracy, and Christianity to under-developed societies. The mixture of these attitudes along with other factors led the United States toward imperialism.

Imperialism actually means ‘to command land’ Around 600,000 people died from all of these different events No person or nation likes to be controlled, and that is what America was doing We took away people’s freedom Many people were shipped to America and used as slaves without their consent

Colonialism and Imperialism affected our world both positively and negatively. On one hand, Imperialism has often been linked with racial segregation, manipulation, and hardship. On the other, it has been said that many colonial powers contributed much in terms of schools, roads, railways, and much more. Whether this time period was constructive or harmful, it has played a large part in shaping our lives today.

Imperialism was motivated by, “political ambitions… Nation’s will to power… or glory or national greatness,” (Doc 3). Imperialism for many countries is caused to improve the nation’s overall power. Additionally, according to President Mckinley, the U.S.’s involvement of Imperialism in the Philippines, was due to the fact that, “They were unfit for self-government,”(Doc. 7). The U.S. believed that there was nothing else for them to do, but take them over.

Support Natural resources caused imperialism to become an important part of China. China at the time had a weak military and not much of a political system. Because China was a good target for the European Countries they tried to take all the land they could. Since China was already a colonized country there were already established trade routes. Imperialism was also a big contributor to the culture of China that helped in the betterment of the existing society.

At these times, and even in today’s society; The more money you have, the more say you have in government and what goes down. (Document 3) In conclusion, imperialist use imperialism to take control over other colonies/countries to expand the borders, or to acquire vital resources. Imperialism was good because although certain leaders came around who were power hungry, many leaders wanted to build and help civilize their country. Imperialism has been the most powerful force in world

Why Imperialism Was Not Justified Many Americans and Europeans believe that there was many good reasons for imperialism. These people think this because they were the ones that benefited from it. In imperialism, the stronger countries took over the weaker countries and used them for their resources which improved their economy. Most also claim that they helped the countries they were imperializing, but the Europeans were actually hurting them. This led to the natives rebelling which arguably led to World War 1 later on.

Rooted in American exceptionalism, the idea that the United States is different from other countries due to its mission to spread liberty and democracy, America acquired territories like the Philippines. Many Americans accepted the ideology of the white man’s burden; an important factor in the decision to rule, rather than liberate the Philippines after the country was taken from Spain after the Spanish-American War. One of America’s notable examples of American imperialism was the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 which became a state later in 1959. Imperialism greatly effected many nations throughout the late 1800s and 1900s. As countries fought for more power and influence, it became one of the main reasons for WWI in the early 1900s.

Colonization was rebirth if you will in the later 19th century through the wake of industrialization which gave Europeans a new desire to conquer and established the need to go and claim natural resources to be used in the factories. Many of the larger nations joined in this rebirth with the most notable actions being the Scramble For Africa which showcased the most rapid expansion of European influence ever seen before. "The effects were profound. In 1875, 11 percent of the continent was in European hands. By 1902, the figure was 90 percent."(Cole, 534) Europeans also had significant influence in Asia in which they conquered large pieces of land in India and Indochina in order to establish a strong trade connection. European powers in these regions constantly tough each other for supremacy while completely disregarding the people who live there which lead to many different catastrophes.