Between the 1870s and the 1920s, imperialism increased because of economic, social, and political forces. Economically, many groups were interested in colonizing other countries because of their natural resources. Socially, they wanted to make themselves the highest and they wanted to look the best. Politically, they wanted to make more income and be the richest country. Two groups in particular were the most interested in imperialism.
The United States during the early twentieth-century was a heated debate. Constant changes including World War One, the Spanish-American War, and the idea that the United States would join the League of Nations would lead to major debates determining what role the United States should have taken during the constant changing world. This essay is here to go into detail about what the United States should have done during this time period as well as highlight some of the outcomes from a more progressive nation. Imperialism is defined as “The use of diplomatic or military force to extend a nation’s power and enhance its economic interests, often by acquiring territory or colonies and justifying the behavior with assumptions of racial superiority”
Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, imperialism affected numerous societies across the world such as Africa, Japan, Great Britain, Korea, and Asia. Imperialism extends and influences a country’s power to gain territory and effects society with the inventions of education, transportation with roads, bridges, and canals, and communication with the telegraph. Great Britain has all the natural resources (raw materials), markets, and cheap labors that others lack such as Japan. Joseph Chamberlain believed colonies were valuable to Great Britain because they would increase the demand for goods, develop new markets, and would give an opportunity to extend influence and control over Africa (Doc 1).
Imperialism was a big impact on the late 1800’s leading into the early 1900’s with counties like the British, Spanish, Russia, and Germany pushing to gain more land in different counties. This would lead to an arms race and the buildup which would lead into World War 1. Many different alliance were made if another country would attack another other countries would help with the fight. This would keep peace till the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
The United States American expansionism in the 1890's was motivated by the search of new markets and investment opportunities. Businesses created the expansion because the economy was so prosperous at this time. Mechanization and mass production allowed the industries in America to grow, which led to the growth of business, consumer goods and the overall American corporation. According to the textbook, the businesses interest shaped diplomatic and military strategy. Additionally, farm production increased, transportation systems improved and railroads were a significant factor.
United States Imperialism in the late 19th century was very selfish time. Many people in that time, debated about whether are not benefiting our country was the right way or the wrong way. The motiving factors that impacted our imperialism are economic, military, and cultural. These factors impacted the American Imperialism from 1890-194 by having control over weaker territories meeting our expanding needs.
The New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society were two very ambitious and transformative programs being implemented in the United States during separate eras. While both aimed to address issues in society and improve the lives of American citizens, they had significant differences in their core principles and goals. For starters, the New Deal, which was implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1930s sought to relieve some of the devastating effects of the Great Depression. It focused on immediate relief, recovery, reform, and introduced various policies and programs, including the creation of public work projects, labor reforms, and the creation of social security. The primary goal was to increase economic growth, create jobs, and restore the public’s confidence in our government.
Leading up American Imperialism was an era defined by change and monopolies. Prior to Imperialism was the Gilded Age. The Gilded Age was an era dominated by monopolies and “Titans of Industry” like JP Morgan with banking, Andrew Carnegie with steel, Cornelius Vanderbulit with railroad, and John Rockerfller with oil. Each of these men dominated their industry eventually creating a monopoly over them, they did this with the process of vertical/horizontal integration where companies would buy out their competitors then eventually all steps of their production process. There were many developments in the age of Imperialism however the biggest was the American shift from Isolationism to Interventionism.
The American Age of Imperialism was the time period that took place after the Gilded and Progressive Eras, as they emerged as a great power with new economic opportunities that resulted from those times. In the early 1900s, American Westward expansion had ended as the frontier was considered closed. However, Americans wanted more so they looked elsewhere for land. This is when they entered into imperialism when a country expands its policy through diplomatic or military means. To America, this meant taking control of small islands to the south considered inferior, expanding trade into Asia, and justifying with the belief racist supremacy belief that America is “saving” them.
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.
From the 1800’s through the early 1900’s, Americans pursued imperialism and closely related it to Social Darwinism. This left a positive impact on America through the military and economic worlds. The United States felt that the colonies were greatly affected by the military power. Militarism and imperialism were closely related because imperialism meant the stronger taking control of weaker and having a strong military is what America wanted to have.
Before the 20th century the United States was an isolationist nation but around the late 19th century America decided to convert into an imperialist power. They had numerous reasons to shift into being an imperialist nation. America didn’t want to begin imperializing to settle and live in the nations they were taking over, they already had America for that reason, they wanted to adopt these nations for what they had to offer, which was many things. America saw an opportunity to improving their nation and took it. Even if there were many causes for America to imperialize, three of them stood out the most.
The early 20th century had a remarkable impact on human kind, creating ripples in the continuum of history that are still felt in modern times. The biggest and by far the most remarkable event was World War 1. It's main trigger being the assassination of Archduke Franz the war began tragic and tense. In an attempt to prevent Germany from becoming too powerful, other European joined powers for what was to be an exhausting and long battle of attrition. The war was essentially a huge chain of events, tracing back to the Franco-Prussian War and the actions of important people like Otto Von Bismarck.
Following the end of the Industrialist Era and the emergence of countless technological advancements, the United States entered the world stage. The United States was attempting to create an empire by expanding to land outside of its own borders in order to benefit the country’s economic interests. Many citizens, whose views were greatly influenced by their understandings of national identity, saw this overseas expansion in conflicting ways. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these groups differed in their opinions on the idea of expansion due to either their wanting to remain a democratic country built on the ideals of freedom and liberty to preserve their sense of national identity, or their wanting to expand for economic reasons and nationalism. Imperialism, which is the extension of a country’s power and influence through expansion, began as early as the 17th century, when Britain colonized the New World in order to expand economically and gain natural resources for manufacturing.
At the start of the 19th century, America was already expanding its territory. In 1803, the United States of America had bought the Louisiana Territory, it was bought from France which had made the country two times larger. In 1819 Spain had given up their territory of Florida to the United States. President Monroe issued the “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823, its main purpose was to warn the European countries to not enter the Western Hemisphere. In order for America to achieve its goal of becoming an imperialist nation they had conquered other countries economically, culturally, and with a strong military in the late 1800’s.
