Imperialistic behavior of America during the late 19th Century

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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.

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