In the years following the Civil War, the United States turned to rebuilding and isolation. However, as the century approached its close there was a turn towards expansion and imperialism. The politics of the Gilded Age, tainted with corruption and weak leadership, led to Americans to attempt to show their strength. The first imperialistic opportunity was presented to President Grover Cleveland. With a small scale revolution of white planters in Hawaii led to a call for the US annexation, however this was spurned by the president. Because there was no real way to expand the “empire” without violating the Monroe Doctrine, it became apparent that the only way the United States would be able to expand was by war. The two other powers with some stake in the Western Hemisphere were Britain and Spain. The United States previously tangled with Britain over border dispute in Venezuela, but this was resolved through negotiation. The Spanish, on the other hand, were slowly losing their already thin grasp on Latin America, seemed like a fair fight. The first step towards a confrontation came from the Spanish Ambassador to America, Dupuy de Lome. In a letter written about the President McKinley’s involvement in Cuban independence, de Lome blatantly insults the president. This letter slipped into the wrong hands, and was eventually published by the media. The media which this played heavily into was called yellow journalism. This type of journalism takes facts and stretches them or even makes up stories. The two most prolific yellow journalists were Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. These two men competed for readers so a simmering conflict with Spain could be pushed to a full boil with a little bit exaggeration. The most i... ... middle of paper ... ...lly bounced up higher than ever. The question can be asked, did Imperialism really help the United States? The answer can vary depending on how you see it. Some may say yes, it did help because the economy reached places it never reached before. However, after the election of Wilson, there was a surge in the economy and a reduction of imperialism. Most logical way to look at the imperialistic surge of the 1890s and early 1900s is that it was a catalyst to the inevitable. The United States, with its large population and immense resources were obviously going to exert their power in some way, shape, or form, and imperialism was the earliest expression of that. It can be safe to say to that Imperialism helped shaped the United States as country that was a little over a century old and that it was inevitably going to happen, just as it would for any expanding country.
At the turn of the century, and after gaining our independence, the United States land mass more than doubled through the use of purchasing, annexing, and war. However, the foreign policy of our government took a predominately isolationist stand. This was a national policy of abstaining from political or economic relations with other countries. General Washington shaped these values by upholding and encouraging the use of these principles by warning to avoid alliances in his farewell speech. The reasoning behind these actions was that the Republic was a new nation. We did not have the resources or the means to worry about other countries and foreign affairs; our immediate efforts were internal. Our goals that were of primary importance were setting up a democratic government and jump-starting a nation. The United States foreign policy up to and directly preceding the Civil War was mainly Isolationist. After the war, the government helped bring together a nation torn apart by war, helped improved our industrialization, and helped further populate our continent. We were isolationist in foreign affairs, while expanding domestically into the west and into the north through the purchase of Alaska. However, around 1890 the expansionism that had taken place was a far cry from what was about to happen. Expansionism is the nations practice or policy ...
Throughout the course of history, nations have invested time and manpower into the colonizing and modernizing of more rural governments. Imperialism has spread across the globe, from the British East India Company to France’s occupation of Northern Africa. After their founding in 1776, the United States of America largely stayed out of this trend until The Spanish-American War of 1898. Following the war, the annexation and colonization of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines ultimately set a precedent for a foreign policy of U.S. imperialism.
During the years surrounding James K. Polk's presidency, the United States of America grew economically, socially, and most noticeably geographically. In this time period, the western boundaries of the Untied States would be expanded all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Many Americans in the 19th century believed that the acquisition of this territory to the west was their right and embraced the concept of "Manifest Destiny". This concept was the belief that America should stretch from sea to shining sea and it was all but inevitable. Under the cover of "Manifest Destiny", President Polk imposed his views of an aggressive imperialistic nation. Imperialism is the practice of extending the power and dominion of a nation by direct territorial acquisitions over others, and clearly America took much of this land by force rather than peaceful negotiations with other nations. Polk acquired three huge areas of land to include: the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico under the Mexican Cession.
Imperialist portrayed imperialism as a positive effect as they believed their empire would expand and prosper. As stated by Joseph Chamberlain in document 1, he states that colonist provided a way for expansion and control. He also states “...new markets shall be created, and the old
The departure from previous expansionism (up to 1880) developed alongside the tremendous changes and amplifications of United States power (in government, economics, and military.) The growth in strength and size of the United States' navy gave the country many more opportunities to grow, explore, and expand both in size and money. The better range and build of ships allowed the U.S. to enter the far-east "trade and money" lands of the Philippines (eventually a territory) and China. Because of the huge production of agricultural goods and the need for outputs and markets for these goods, the United States needed to find other places for shipping, trading, buying, ...
During the Spanish American war, many people were divided over the topic of imperialism. Ultimately, many benefits came with the US territory expanding. Not only did the US get bigger, but many aspects of our nation improved significantly. American expansion abroad was justified because it helped the military and economy advance greatly.
At the end of 1800s and early 1900s, U.S start taking control and expand all over the
The United States saw its territory more than double in the first three decades of the 19th century. Bursting with nationalist fervor, an insatiable desire for more land, and a rapidly increasing population, the western frontiers of the United States would not remain east of the Mississippi. The eventual spread of the American nation beyond the Mississippi into Native and French land, referred to as “Manifest Destiny” by John O’Sullivan, was rationalized as a realization of their God given duty. The Louisiana Purchase set the precedent for unrestricted westward expansion in America, and allowed for others to follow in his footsteps. Characterized by racist overtones, a lack of the “consent of the governed, and ethnic cleansing, there is no valid distinction between this American continental expansion and the international expansion sought by Europe in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and is clearly imperialist in nature.
Immediately following the war with Spain, the United States had both the political will to pursue imperial policies and the geopolitical circumstances conducive to doing so. But the way in which these policies would manifest was an open question; was the impulse to actively remake the world in America’s Anglo-Saxon image justified? Hence, there were several models of American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century. In the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Samoa, the United States asserted unwavering political control. In Cuba, and later throughout most of the Caribbean basin, the economic and political domination of customarily sovereign governments became the policy. Ultimately, the United States was able to expand its territory
The public was further angered by something called “yellow journalism”. Yellow journalism refers to writers such as Joseph Pullitzer and William Hearst trying to outdo each other with screeching headlines and hair raising “scoops”. Where there were no headlines, the yellow press would exaggerate and fabricate stories to get readers interested in their newspaper. For example, Hearst once wrote about Spanish Customs Offic...
Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the United States expanded its territory westward through purchase and annexation. At the end of the century, however, expansion became imperialism, as America acquired several territories overseas. This policy shift from expansionism to imperialism came about as a result of American's experience in the Spanish American War and the Congressional debates that followed the American victory.
The 19th century set the stage for different policies that lead to the extending of America’s power, which is defined as imperialism. Imperialism started for different reasons like the Americans wanting the U.S. to expand or explore the unknown land, or even some feared existing resources in U.S. might eventually dry up. The reason imperialism started doesn’t really matter, but more of what it caused. Imperialism lead to Cuban assistance, the addition of Hawaii and Alaska to America, and Yellow Journalism.
Spanish atrocities against Cuban rebels were widely reported to Americans in newspaper publications. Publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst used ‘yellow journalism’ to boost publications sales and...
In 1898, in an effort to free Cuba from the oppression of its Spanish colonizers, America captured the Philippines. This brought about questions of what America should do with the Philippines. Soon, controversy ensued both in the American political arena as well as among its citizens. Throughout its history, America had always been expansionistic, but it had always limited itself to the North American continent. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, however, there emerged a drive to expand outside of the continent. When America expanded to the Philippines, the policy it followed was a stark break from past forms of expansionism. Despite much controversy, America followed the example of the imperialistic nations in Europe and sought to conquer the Philippines as an imperialist colony that they would rule either directly or indirectly.
Imperialism has definitely played its role in our lifetime as well as in the 19th century. First of all we attacked Iraq regarding a power issue. We believed they had some powerful items in which could be harmful to our nation so we decided to attack them to ensure our security. Another one is how we attacked Japan because they were becoming to powerful. We have done a lot to these countries just so we could have the security of keeping our power. Military reasons are also another reason for Imperialism.