African American Imperialism 19th Century

908 Words2 Pages

Imperialism is using diplomacy or force to increase a country`s power. During the 19th century, politicians, missionaries, and journalists wanted the United States to expand because other powerful countries were continuously gaining more land. People felt that if the US did not catch up with the competing countries they would fall from the “world`s leading power.” Imperialism came about because of economic and military competitions; due to this it also started unhuman ways of trying to become the best. The United States used imperialism in the wrong way. It created social inequalities between everyone, making one race or religion feel they were better than another. In 1898 a group including Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie protested against imperialism citing a variety of reasons ranging from the economic to the moral problems it created.
The United States used imperialism to force African Americans and Asians into slavery. European nations and Americans would take the African Americans and Asians and sell them into slavery. The people doing this treated the slaves as property, almost as if they were an object. When the Europeans would ship the slaves to America, they …show more content…

Beginning in the nineteenth century, there was an urge to expand outside of the continent for various reasons. “Americans believed themselves to be racially superior to others, the want for a balance of trade, and trying to spread Christianity. In 1845 Congress annexed 390,000 square miles of Mexican territory, equivalent to the 13 colonies. Not surprisingly, Mexico declared war on the US, a previous peaceful ally, and the Mexican war of 1846-48 followed” (Walsh, Lynn). A turning point in American expansion was looking at Cuba, a major producer of sugar and tobacco; in addition, Cuba had slaves. Another reason the US wanted Cuba was they would get more people to work in their factories, thus the United States could make a

More about African American Imperialism 19th Century

Open Document