American Imperialism (APA Citation)
American Imperialism in the Late 19th Century
There were two main reasons for American overseas expansion in the late 19th century: economic and nationalistic reasons. As America entered the industrial revolution, it wanted to expand commercially, this meant overseas materials and markets. Alfred T. Mahan explained this concept in his 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power upon History, and argued that modern industrial nations need foreign markets for their goods, and they must have a naval force capable of protecting these markets. As the United States began to industrialize it's navy, it also began to develop a strong sense of nationalism. Beginning with the concept of "Manifest Destiny," where American believed that God had given them the entire continent to settle and civilize; by the late 1800's Americans had developed this concept and expanded it beyond the shores of the Pacific Ocean. But instead of conquering new territory, Americans were introducing liberty and freedom to places around the world. This became the justification for the opening of Japan in the 1850's, the Spanish-American War, the American intervention in China, American intervention in Latin America, and continues to be the justification for American intervention around the world today.
It was Senator Albert J. Beveridge, in his speech "In support of an American Empire," which spelled out a more practical meaning...
However, there were people who were against American Imperialism. Some believed that by expanding into islands, they were opening the door to people whom they viewed as lower in race and culture. America, at the time, had many who believed that Americans were superior in race and culture. There were other issues at hand during this time -- tensions between other world powers, an volatile economy -- and some
What were the primary motivations and factors that led to the U.S. shift from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Introduction America’s so-called “shift” from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries was really nothing more than a natural evolution of America’s “Manifest Destiny.” Before the US could enter its imperial phase beginning with the Spanish-American War
Anti-Imperialist League, formed in 1899 by prominent citizens such as Andrew Carnegie and William James, held the belief that American Imperialism went against the spirit of those that fought the Revolutionary War and participated in the creation of the Declaration of Independence (Halsall, 1997). Specifically, they asserted that the American government's actions in places such as Cuba, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico represented a hostile attitude toward liberty and
American Involvement in International Affairs Between 1890-1905: The United States of America emerged as the world's super power in the decade of the 1890s and has exercised that power throughout the 19th Century. Since the beginning of the 19th Century, the United States has continued to be the world's super power through which it is considered as the pre-eminent power and country across the globe. The main reason for the country's
Shaping the 20th Century In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Though the Monroe Doctrine was aimed at stopping European influence in the United States, the Roosevelt Corollary marked the United States' first officially aggressive stance as policeman of the western hemisphere. The effects of this Corollary were far-reaching, revealing an official change in U.S. attitude about the world and our place in it, and
American History Final Exam Stages of the American Empire Starting in the colonial period and continuing up through the Manifest Destiny phase of the American Empire in the 19th Century, the main goal of imperialism was to obtain land for white farmers and slaveholders. This type of expansionism existed long before modern capitalism or the urban, industrial economy, which did not require colonies and territory so much as markets, cheap labor and
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