Grade 8 Social Studies: The U.S. as an Expansionist Nation Culminating Task America may be a relatively young nation, turning 240 years old this year, but in its short existence, it has had a powerful influence over world affairs, for better or worse. George Washington once said, “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” However, since his presidency, the United States’ position in the world has steered from a steely isolationist stance to one open and hungry for involvement in the matters of other countries. America craved land and power to bolster itself and utilized foreign policy to do so, shifting towards an imperialist position. However, this change in foreign policy resulted …show more content…
Under its terms, Japan opened two ports to American trading ships,” (Changing Foreign Policy 1). However, to establish their interests, Commodore Perry and President Fillmore felt the need to utilize warships as means of symbolizing power as well as to scare Japan into submission, almost as if insinuating the use of those ships in case Japan refuted their request. After the pursuit of Japan, America moved on to their next target: Alaska. William H. Seward sought to purchase Alaska from Russia to add land to his ideal “American Empire.” He visualized “an American empire dominating the Caribbean, Central America, and the Pacific….Seward imagined a canal across Central America,” (Visions of American Empire 1). Many of these visions eventually came true, as America came to be in possession of many territories in those areas and the Panama Canal was built by president Roosevelt later on. This imperialist mindset was caused by competition between nations: every nation wanted to be more powerful than the other, and land translated into power. According to the text, the argument for imperialism was that “By adding new lands, the United States would join the ranks of the world’s greatest powers,” (Visions of American Empire 1). Their intentions were purely in their own …show more content…
The purchase of Alaska was quickly followed by a string of territories unjustly captured by America. To illustrate, one can consider the annexation of Hawaii. Hawaii was ideal for the cultivation of sugarcane plants, leading to heightened interest in the island nation from American planters and businessmen who could profit from the sugarcane industry. Furthermore, Americans wanted to build a Pacific trading empire that could also serve as an access point to Asian commerce. These two interest combined led Americans to overthrow the rule of Queen Liliuokalani of hawaii and temporarily govern the land. Eventually, they asked for Hawaii to be annexed to the United States and it was, despite clear opposition from the Hawaiian people and the Queen herself. It states in the text, Most Hawaiians were against the annexation.Liliuokalani, herself, visited the United States and called on members of the U.S. Congress to reject such a step. In spite of her efforts, President Benjamin Harrison signed an annexation treaty,” (The United States Annexes Hawaii 1). Secondly, there was the case of the Samoan Islands. The Samoan Islands granted Germany, Great Britain, and United States trading rights, and even allowed America to build a naval station on their grounds. As a result, relations between the three countries
Imperialism is a recurring theme in the history of the world. Stronger countries see themselves as superior to other societies and believe their ways are right. They force religion, government, and practices on countless foreign lands. At the very end of the nineteenth
The monarchy continued to lose faith in their American counterparts and the promises of self-determination for the Hawaiian people by the U.S. While members of the annexation movement believed U.S influence to be faltering and feared a loss of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Civil War broke out in the United States. Under Kamehameha V’s reign the increased demand for sugar, wool, and other food stuffs due to the loss of agricultural resources in the south. This surge in the economy immediately benefitted the missionaries, who had since established a place within Hawaiian trade and
When Theodore Roosevelt went to Colombia he asked the government of Colombia if he could build a canal through their land so the US could import items more efficiently. The Colombians said no, but Roosevelt having a plan B went to Panama and encouraged them to break free from Colombian rule. Panama, influenced by the President of the United States at the time did break free and said yes for the US to build a canal through their country. They gained Hawai’i through trapping the Queen of Hawai’i in her palace with local militia while the farm owners slowly sold their land to the US government. By the time the queen was released, it was too late. All of Hawai’i was owned by the US government now. This showed their selfish ambitions because if the US did not get what they wanted through diplomacy then they will resort to cheap tricks. Such as keeping the queen in her palace while the farmers sold all their land, and persuading Panama to separate from
These advances along with the pressure of other countries seemingly shifted intentions of expansions. Document G, a drawing of America guarding China, along with Document E, which states “we will not abandon our opportunity in the orient”, both hint at alternate desires for the country other than growing and civilizing. There was a hunger for power that swept the globe, including America. However the United States had a lot to gain from these areas like new materials, business, and relationships. These advances that they were fighting for did line up with previous expansion’s desire to better America. The desire for power was their, but this did not lesson American desire to better the nation and the people in
The enlightenment was a period during the 17th to 19th century that promoted freedom, liberty, and democratic governments. This would spark a series of revolutions around the world such as the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and revolts in Latin America. The enlightenment time period sparked uprisings of democracy gained through corruption, liberty through oppression, and peace through war. When the enlightenment ended in 1790, European imperialism had already begun, reaping benefits in various countries, powerful and developing alike. In the time period 1750-1900, the oppressive and demanding expansion of European imperialism around the world led to a range of peaceful to violent resistance in Afro-Eurasia.
They also used the Spanish conflict to gain control of other Spanish lands in the Latin Americas, Puerto Rico and Guam to expand their economy by searching for new markets abroad. For instance, the Americans looked to expand into the east in the 1890s to access raw materials and to export over produced goods to help the American economy. The annexation of Hawaii on July 7, 1898, was an effort to create a stronger economy because it was considered the ‘’crossroads to the Pacific’’ so by annexing Hawaii the, the Americans were able to gain access to other countries such as the Philippines which they purchased for 20 million dollars displaying motives of expansion. In 1901 when the Filipinos wanted independence the US refused which led to the killing of 50,000 to 200,000 Filipinos in a war between the Philippines and the USA which suggests that the motive for the war in the Philippines was to keep their economic influence and to show the great military power of the US. This was not uncommon in American foreign policy as they also went to war in Vietnam to uphold their values of capitalism but unlike in the Philippines, it was unsuccessful. Therefore, Vietnam was typical of US foreign policy as the events in the Philippines gave the US confidence to intervene in other Asian
American expansionism in the late 19th century and early 20th century was, to a large extent, a continuation of past United States expansionism, while also departing with previous expansionism in some aspects. During the period of time between the late 19th century and early 20th century, America was going through significant changes. After a revolution in Cuba against the Spanish, as well as the Americans starting the Spanish-American War, the Americans received several territorial concessions from their defeated opponent. Thus, America started on the path to imperialism, gaining several more territories in a short amount of time. Such an expansion in the late 19th century and early 20th century was mostly a continuation of past
Imperialism is when stronger nations take over weaker nations. As a matter of fact, one example of Imperialism is the Scramble for Africa, which happened during the 19th Century. The Scramble for Africa is when European nations all wanted a piece of Africa which they were incredibly rich and raw materials. For example, African countries had Gold, diamonds, coal, oil, and so much more. There are many factors that play into the development of Imperialism, but which one played the largest role.
The Spanish war gave the United States an empire. At the end of the Spanish war the United States took Spanish colonies such as Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and many other islands. The creation of the American Empire leads to the end of the Spanish Empire. The United States wanted to build up the countries so that markets would open up and purchase American goods and to improve the American economy.
Imperialism is when a larger, more powerful nation takes control of smaller, weaker nations. The American idea is for freedom. As a nation the United States promotes the freedom of itself and other countries. America once fought for the freedom from a larger, more powerful nation, so why would the government want to go back on what this country was started on, which was freedom.
After the Civil War, the United States struggled to keep up with other countries in the world. While figuring out how fix the corruption in the American government, the other countries were practicing imperialism. Imperialism is a policy by which strong nations extend their political, military, and economic control over weaker territories. Realizing that we needed to make a change, the United States started working towards the goal of practicing imperialism as well. To do this, our first few targets were Hawaii and Alaska. In 1867, we sought to buy Alaska because they had resources that we wanted, such as lumber and minerals. This was known as Seward’s Folly after the Secretary of State William Seward. In 1898, our desire of Hawaii was fulfilled when they agreed to annexation. However, this was not without struggle. King Kalakaua of Hawaii wanted the white planters to vote, but when he died, his sister, Queen Liliuokalani reversed his decision. She took away the power of whites, which eventually led to her being overthrown with the help of the United States Marines. The Hawaiian people opposed annexation, but when Mckinley became president, Hawaii was declared American territory. Sanford B. Doyle, a white plantation owner who asked for the annexation, became the first governor of Hawaii. This addition into American territory drastically influenced our economy.
When we think of countries fighting for resources, we think of two nations of equal strength fight for valuable territory. However imperialism was different, it was more powerful nations like those in Europe, fighting for political and military power over weaker countries like India in the 19th and 20th century. The definition of imperialism is the policy of extending the rule of an empire or nation over foreign countries, or of acquiring and holding colonies and dependencies. This practice was very common of European countries at the time, but was ultimately inhumane and cruel towards the subject country. The reason for this it cause many negative things, and some positive things too.
The USA want to achieve the dream of across the Atlantic and Pacific, seized the
The phenomenon of the Western imperialism is not new. It is a process of which according to colonizers aims to civilized the people of under-developed countries. According to Ferry, there were many economic concerns which urged them to expend colonies in the world. The hidden purpose of this expansion was to get the maximum economic benefits. Through the expansion of French colonies all around the world, France became able to expand its trade with other countries. The most important fact in this regard was that foreign policies of powerful countries became the cause of this expansion.
Although much debate surrounds the United States’ classification as an empire, there is no doubt or argument saying that the U.S.’s involvement in global affairs has changed the world, whether that is a positive or negative outcome will be left for another day. In this paper, the US shall be regarded as an empire because of its past and present actions in the global viewpoint. American dominance in the global view of the world can be traced back to the end of the Second World War, when they surpassed the United Kingdom as the world’s superpower, although many British people did not accept it at the time. It was at this time that the U.S. began to fight proxy wars to contain the threat of Communism, which just ended up undermining American