Changing American Identity In The Late 19th Century

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The late 19th century and early 20th century conflicts changed the American identity into a world power. Many large events happened in this time. First America became involved in the Spanish American War, which America ended up winning and America gained lands, including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. We officially stayed neutral throughout World War One, but later on we entered the side of the allies and sent troops to fight alongside the French and British, where America prevailed once again. America became involved in international affairs, especially in the Western Hemisphere. America began international trading and investing through things like the William Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy. “To-day, more than ever before, American capital …show more content…

“The Government should give full weight not only to the national, as opposed to the individual benefits to accrue, but also to the fact whether or not the Government of the country in question is in its administration and in its diplomacy faithful to the principles of moderation, equity and justice upon which alone depend international credit, in diplomacy as well as in finance,” was a quote from the document showing how the government will only support this if the other country is fair and equal. This supports the claim that America is changing its identity into a world power because now the economy is spreading in other countries which will help American businesses and when businesses get more money, so does the country, and this makes the country more powerful. Furthermore, the international trade caused America to get involved in things they didn't want to be in, like the Great War. This is when they went to war against the central powers because of their international trade connections with the allies. The conflict was that America got pulled into war because of their international trading, and this changed their identity because now the world sees that their troops were the game …show more content…

One of the main conflicts that america faced in this time was that they had a disagreement on ideals. Some americans believed that America needed to remain an isolationist country and that they shouldn't get involved in international affairs, while other people believed that America needed to spread its ideals all over the world and they need to expand their power and influence throughout the world. One of the biggest themes supporting this was imperialism. There were many disputes about this topic but in the end, america did end up spreading its power and influence throughout the world. One of the first steps to this imperialism is the Roosevelt Corollary. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was written in 1904 and it was meant to get America involved in more political affairs, especially in the western hemisphere, and it was meant to show that America would act out of humanity and not just for its own self gain. Through this America got involved in affairs like those in Panama, where we ended up building one of the most influential canals of all time. To add to this, America also became the policmen of the Western Hemisphere because of our power and wealth. All this supports to the claim because now, instead of hiding in our own little nutshell, America is beginning to take a prominent role in world

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