U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
American Foreign Policy from 1890 to 1930
From neutrality to intervention
Early on in American history, President George Washington advised Americans not be become embroiled in foreign conflicts. However, at the end of the 19th century, it became increasingly difficult for America to remain isolated from the issues affecting its neighbors abroad. The period from 1890-1930 was characterized by a far more expansionist American foreign policy than had been the case before. Although this policy was often defended by the notion that the U.S. was making the world safe for democracy, self-interest rather than idealism was usually the real motivating force.
A good, early example of this in Latin America can be found in the form of the Spanish-American War (1898) which eventually resulted in the U.S. acquiring territories in the western Pacific and Latin America. Spain's repression of the Cuban pro-independence movement combined with the sinking of the Maine (sent to protect U.S. residents in the region) generated popular support for intervention ("Spanish-American War," 2015). Many called the Spanish-American War the first example of how 'yellow journalism' could fundamentally change the course of American foreign policy. "From Cuba, [William Randolph] Hearst's star reporters wrote stories designed to tug at the heartstrings of Americans. Horrific tales described the situation in Cuba -- female prisoners, executions, valiant rebels fighting, and starving women and children figured in many of the stories that filled the newspapers" ("Yellow journalism," 1999). Although Spain was indeed a colonial and repressive power, many of the stories generated by Hearst's...
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
American history is an exercise in country branding and national identity construction. Through a careful editorializing and curating of historical documents, events, and places, historians contribute to the shaping of American identity, ideology, and culture. Revisiting the process of history making shows how historians and history educators can encourage critical thought, shifting away from the use of historiography as propaganda toward a discursive process. Historians can define and interpret evidence
American foreign policy change from 1940 to the present? Before the 20th century, the U.S. had a strong tradition of isolationism and non-interventionism. Beginning with American participation in World War I and continuing with its involvement in World War II after the invasion of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. increasingly began to conceive of itself as not only a player on the international stage, but also the ideological promoter and protector
interventionism from the perspective of realism vs. idealism. Realism is defined in relationship to states' national interests whereas idealism is defined in relation to the UN's Responsibility to Protect doctrine -- a doctrine heavily influenced by Western rhetoric over the past decade. By addressing the question of interventionism from this standpoint, by way of a case study of Libya and Syria, a picture of the realistic implications of "humanitarian
The Despotism of Federalism Why Hamilton was Wrong Stephen Knott opens his book by quoting Alexander Hamilton, the original promoter of despotism, who, via The Federalist Papers, advocated for a strong central government—like that which the American Revolutionaries had just opposed in the Revolutionary War. It is ironic because, in that opening quote, Hamilton is talking about the risk of despotism, a risk which he made all but certain would become
In Iran, the American-backed Shah had become increasingly unpopular throughout the 1970s. The Shah fled Iran in 1979, finding temporary refuge in the United States. Religious extremist Ayatollah Khomeni easily filled Iran's political and social need for a backlash against American interventionism. Iran's 1979 Revolution had a major impact on its relationship with the United States and with the rest of the world. Whereas the Shah had guaranteed a steady
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