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Essay On Imperial America

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The intellectual elements presented during Imperial America made it easier for America to begin looking across their borders. The telegraph was one invention that greatly helped with the spread of information. The telegraph sort of served as the "Internet of the nineteenth century" (Keene, 568). These telegrams were able to connect Americans to events overseas and around the world. It also improved the communication between governments. Another technological advancement was the use of steam-powered ships. These ships helped to greatly reduce the amount of time it took to move products and people across the world. They also helped to improve the U.S. Navy. With these new steam-powered battleships, America was able to become the third most powerful …show more content…

America was close to losing Japan’s friendship when many people in California started a campaign to stop Japanese immigration into the U.S. There were leagues formed to specifically exclude Japanese and Koreans from entering the nation. What these people wanted was for Asians to be prohibited from coming to America. These “exclusion leagues” believed that Asians “threatened American culture and unfairly competed for jobs that rightfully belonged to native-born white workers” (Keene, 585). California spoke out about protecting their nation from the “yellow peril” and they lumped all Asians together (Keene, 585). This was something that greatly angered Japan. Japan viewed Asian peoples as not being as good as themselves and was insulted to be grouped with them. In order to remain in good relations with Japan, President Roosevelt created the Gentlemen’s Agreement, which saved Japan from being lumped together with China. The social elements during this time showed just how racially motivated America could be. It also showed that some Americans did not care about their relations with other countries, as long as they had their jobs “that rightfully belonged to them” from being born in America (Keene, 585) This self-entitlement that America had would end up causing many more problems down the line. Also, the Gentlemen’s Agreement had many loopholes in it that Japan took advantage of,

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