ipl-logo

American Imperialism Analysis

813 Words4 Pages

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. Remnants of the influencers’ philosophies still exist in present day. Frederick Jackson Turner believed that in order to keep the American …show more content…

Social Darwinism itself is the ideology of Herbert Spencer. Spencer was another historian that justified imperialism. He believed in survival of the fittest. In order to survive America had to keep conquering and gaining territory, money, power and resources so that she could be the fittest. Spencer was known as the revolutionist of society. John Fiske, another historian that justified imperialism, believed that every person and country should become English. Ethnocentrism was part of Fiske’s ideology. Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture. He wanted America to take over other countries and convert them to be one hundred percent english. He believed all languages, religions, bloodlines, and political habits should be …show more content…

Alfred T. Mahan and John Fisk worked together. Mahan pushed for conquering the new frontiers while Fisk wanted to take the newly conquered places and make them one hundred percent english. Frederick Jackson Turner and Herbert Spencer worked together too. Spencer preached about survival of the fittest and that if America wanted to survive she needed to continue to gain territory and power in order to be on top and Turner wanted to continue conquering new frontiers to stay strong and American. All of these philosophers justified imperialism in their own ways. They gave good reasons to support their ideas. All of the reasons were reasons that the U.S. needed for our own benefit such as the Turner thesis and a strong navy to protect our trade. Some reasons even appealed to helping others. Fiske and Spencer thought that we would be doing the countries we took over because then they would be moved to the top of the country ladder and we would be teaching them better ways to

Show More
Related

  • Dbq Imperialism In America

    430 Words  | 2 Pages

    At the turn of the 19th century, America presented the policy of imperialism and there was a ton of debate over the subject. Some say that imperialism would benefit America by increasing trade and help make this country more powerful. Others say that imperialism would be horrible for America because we are taking over countries without their permission and restricting their choice. The United States should adopt the policy of imperialism because it would help grow our country, increase trade, and help the economy.

    Read More

  • How Did Albert Beveridge's Political Cartoon Protest Colonial Imperialism

    1128 Words  | 5 Pages

    Those who favored colonial expansion and the foundation of foreign colonies had different justifications for believing so. There were those who believed their race to be the superior race, and that because God had given them the gifts of knowledge and land, it was their mission to educate and govern the inferior races. Albert Beveridge, a former Uniter States Senator in the late 18th century, was a strong supporter and defender of imperialism. Using religion and divine right to justify the taking over of other nations, Beveridge claimed that God had given them the means and power to reach out to inferior nations and spread the ideals of Christianity. He even went so far as to state that it would be immoral and selfish of the American people to rise to this call of expansion.

    Read More

  • What Is The Difference Between 1890-1920 American Imperialism

    1142 Words  | 5 Pages

    American Imperialism Imperialism by the book is the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political or military territories. The time period where the US exampled imperialism was very important for our country because the US was able to grow with the new territories that were gained and the economic gain from the new market that were acquired. The spread of American culture was also a big concept during this time in the countries history. The United States exhibited imperialism between 1890-1920 through military strength, new markets, and cultural superiority.

    Read More

  • The Underlying Causes Of World War I

    926 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imperialism is a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force. Once conquering a territory a nation wants, it becomes a colony for the mother country. Mother countries want colonies so they can profit and enrich their imperial power. All the European nations wanted to pursue all the same actions of gaining land, resources and power. Mother countries were all willing to go to war to have the most colonies.

    Read More

  • Dbq Imperialism Essay

    433 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imperialism is when a strong country extends its power and influence on a weak country. In the 1800’s, Europeans were trying to colonize Africa so they can profit from. In addition, it was completely different than other imperialistic takeovers as now you had several powerful countries all looking to colonize an entire continent. Europeans used imperialism to colonize Africa for many reasons such as religious, moral, political and economic gain. The first motive was to spread Christianity to the native peoples of Africa.

    Read More

  • American Imperialism Dbq Analysis

    741 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the late 1800s, Europe was scrambling to conquer vast amounts of land. Imperialism had swept the continent by storm, with many countries vying for pieces of Africa and Asia to control. From 1880 to 1900, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy fought for African possessions and by 1900, nearly the whole continent had been split and placed under European rule. There was plenty of motivation for Europeans to conquer the world, and while some supported it, others didn’t. Most people in Europe at this time held ethnocentric views toward the “uncivilized” cultures in the world.

    Read More

  • American Imperialism Dbq Essay

    1082 Words  | 5 Pages

    Imperialism is the act of colonizing smaller countries and territories. Many countries apply imperialism to their government, to gain power. The power can be economic, political, social, or even military benefits. In the late 1800s, America was also one of the countries that decided to include imperialism in the government, however, unfortunately in America's imperialistic era, land was gained at the cost of trust and values. Imperialism in America cannot be justified due to its contradictions of American Ideals and conflict between other countries.

    Read More

  • Essay On American Imperialism In The Late 19th Century

    474 Words  | 2 Pages

    United States Imperialism in the late 19th century was very selfish time. Many people in that time, debated about whether are not benefiting our country was the right way or the wrong way. The motiving factors that impacted our imperialism are economic, military, and cultural. These factors impacted the American Imperialism from 1890-194 by having control over weaker territories meeting our expanding needs.

    Read More

  • Imperialism In The 20th Century

    1223 Words  | 5 Pages

    Following the end of the Industrialist Era and the emergence of countless technological advancements, the United States entered the world stage. The United States was attempting to create an empire by expanding to land outside of its own borders in order to benefit the country’s economic interests. Many citizens, whose views were greatly influenced by their understandings of national identity, saw this overseas expansion in conflicting ways. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these groups differed in their opinions on the idea of expansion due to either their wanting to remain a democratic country built on the ideals of freedom and liberty to preserve their sense of national identity, or their wanting to expand for economic reasons and nationalism. Imperialism, which is the extension of a country’s power and influence through expansion, began as early as the 17th century, when Britain colonized the New World in order to expand economically and gain natural resources for manufacturing.

    Read More

  • American Imperialism In The 19th Century

    718 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Imperialism

    516 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imperialism is expanding a country’s influence and power using military force or diplomacy. This greatly helped many countries, such as Great Britain, France, and Germany. However it hurt other countries who were not in favour of imperialism, such as Egypt, China, and India. Peoples in colonized countries developed nationalist resistance movements to protest imperialism, both violently and nonviolently, whereas supporters of imperialism claimed it brought modernity, civilization, and education to “backward” colonized people. Imperialism is more easily understood when put into context.

    Read More

  • Dbq Imperialism Essay

    592 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Economic And Economic Causes Of Imperialism

    1520 Words  | 7 Pages

    Imperialism is the ambition of a powerful nation to dominate the political, economical, and cultural affairs of another nation or region. The idea of imperialism occurred after the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The specific years of imperialism are from 1870-1914. The regions that were affected by imperialism include Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These region were wanted by the imperialist powers of this time, which were: Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast American Imperialism

    463 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imperialism means that one country controls all political, economic, or cultural life in another country or region. Europe successfully did this in the Americas and established colonies in South Asia, Africa, and China. Although this would seem like a substantial amount of power, Europe did not gain much influence until later on. Once Europe recognized their own growing control, they embarked on what is now called the “New Imperialism”. Many components played into this seemingly rapid success, but one significant reason was that of the

    Read More

  • Why Was Imperialism Bad

    483 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about American Imperialism Analysis

Open Document