19th Century American Imperialism

The US was not always as big and powerful as it is today; there was a long journey to come this far. The US was a democratic republic and was built on a foundation consisting of a representative government that promotes individual freedom and liberty. As they strived to compete with the powerful nations of Europe on their way to becoming a world power, they had to abandon their isolationist ways and move toward a policy of imperialism. Their military and economic conquests showed a disregard for those very foundations with which their country was built upon. The way the Native Americans were treated dates back to Indian Removal Act of 1830. This was a time when they would relocate tribes from the southern US to lands west of the Mississippi

This country was important to the US because they wanted to station navel bases and refueling stations, used by ships traveling the Pacific Ocean. At the time, US citizens immigrated to Hawaii with the goal to quickly overthrow the government they had in place. Two groups, missionaries and businessmen went and helped planters overthrow queen Liliuokalani in order to gain access to their sugar and pineapple. In the end Hawaii gave the US a port allowing them to stop on the way to trade with Asian countries, further opening the door of trade for America. At this point in time China was at the top of the charts when it came to productions and sells. America knew they needed to be able to trade with China, so the Open Door Policy was created. This policy insured that all nations had the right to trade with China. Up until this point China was an independent nation, however they were very weak and poor due to European dominance. They were not thrilled about the Open Door Policy but they accepted it because they in turn were able to trade openly which expanded their influences. Guam had been acquired in the Spanish American war and having it gave us yet another port. As for the Philippines, the US ended up paying Spain $20 million for the land as a result of the Spanish American war. America tried to impose our way of doing things and when tried they were met with resistance. The US ended up leaving the Philippines after the Filipino insurrection. During which time the American soldiers were sent to the Philippines, there were almost 4,000 deaths that occurred during this conflict. However, the lack of support the Philippines had during the insurrection hampered the forces behind