American Imperialism

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The years after the Civil War were the years of great economic expansion in the history of United States. With the increase in production by industries, the demand for resources increased rapidly and because the land under the control of the United States could not fulfill this demand, the only option was to expand the territorial area. In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia and in the same year, it annexed Midway Islands. Until 1890s, the expansion was restricted to west and did not go further the nation’s boundaries. But the decade of 1890s, the period between 1893 and1903 was a turning point in the history of United States, marked with the expansion of America for the first time outside its main land. Even though policy makers justified imperial expansion under the doctrine of manifest destiny, other causes, specifically the Depression of 1893, strategic military acquisition in order to improve US security, international competition, and the urge to control greater a part of the world in order to become the world power, actually encouraged the US to expand across its borders. This changed America’s traditional foreign policy from isolationist to interventionist that drew America into various international disputes at the risk of its own security. After 1865, facilitated by the development and expansion of railways, American industries grew rapidly and pushed its production beyond the domestic demands. This progress attracted immigrants from throughout the world increasing the population of the US rapidly. This increase in population, wealth, and industrial production necessitated more resources, and with America already expanded to the West, the only option was to explore the areas outside the national bounda... ... middle of paper ... ...d with this responsibility comes a threat, a threat against its own people. Works Cited • Graebner, Norman A. Foundations of American Foreign Policy. Wilmington, Scholarly Resources Inc., 1985 • McKinley, William. “President McKinley on American Empire.” Voices of Freedom: a documentary history, edited by Eric Foner—3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011 • Jayne, Madison M., An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera, “Imperialism defined and demonstrated,” Sep 08, 1900. http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/ampage?collId=rbpe&fileName=rbpe08/rbpe085/0850170c/rbpe0850170c.db&recNum=0&itemLink=D?rbpebib:1:./temp/~ammem_Id14::@@@mdb=manz,mharendt,rbpebib,cwband,cwnyhs,gmd,mreynoldsbib,mtaft,cwar,fsaall,mfdipbib,mff,scsmbib,mal,mcc,ncpm,pan,afcpearl,lhbprbib,afc911bib,papr,runyon,detr,mgw,nfor,sgp,sgproto,ww2map&linkText=0

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