American Imperialism In The Late 1800s And Early 1900s

Expansion

By the year 1901, the United States created one of largest navy in the world, a great overseas empire, and a growing reputation as a world power. These many labels became evident in the imperialism of the era. For example the rapid expansion, colonization, and competition was occupying most of the influential nations in the world like Britain, France, Germany, and - Japan. Although in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the United States did not follow George Washington's advice of staying neutral, they began to fixate themselves on the world, the United States expansionism was actually caused by past foreign policy. Whereas the United States expansionism of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries was a

American imperialism of the 1800s and early 1900s demonstrated the same cultural and social justification as expansionism that occurred in the United States. The original doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which created in the 1840s to encourage westward expansion in the United States, presented a belief that America was destined by God to expand its borders across the continent. Before the Progressive Era and the age of imperialism, Americans were also using Social Darwinism to justify their controlling and conquering of Native American and their land. For example with the Louisiana Purchase, the Homestead Act, and the Dawes Act, Americans continued to force their dominance and upon these Native Americans attempting to preach a “superior” Anglo-Saxon culture. These actions continued into the

Before the American age of imperialism, they issued the Monroe Doctrine, stating United States dominance of the Western Hemisphere and warning Europe that their colonization was over. “The Monroe Doctrine was intended to discourage and prevent further colonialism and military intervention by European powers, especially Britain and Russia, in the Western Hemisphere and any attempts by European powers to exploit or endanger the growing independence of Latin American countries from the Spanish empire” (Gale Virtual Reference Library). Although expansionism around the year 1900 shared a similar motive with the earlier decades, it was encouraged by new economic and political pursuits. Past expansion involved annexing territory contiguous with the existing states that enabled the spread of American settlement; it was utilized for the spread of agriculture and the American population, and all acquired territory was intended to ultimately become states. Now the new territory in the age of imperialism was wanted with the economic intent as a use of colony. The colony could provide raw materials and markets for the products of industrialism.This was in attempt to bring the United States more power. This competition with other nations in the imperialist race to claim foreign territory. Theodore Roosevelt answered this demand by supporting entrance into the Spanish-American war, primarily to acquire