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American Imperialism

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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

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