Compare And Contrast American Imperialism Dbq

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The start of the second Industrial Revolution was also the start for the push of imperialism throughout the country. The decision of taking care of another country because of the opinion that they were not “civilized” was a motive for many of the United States leaders. Leaders included President Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, and President William McKinley. The imperialist group was strong but they had much push back from anti-imperialist. The anti-imperialist included Jane Addams and Mark Twain. Many people pushed for overseas expansion in belief they were spreading civilization on countries that were not comparable to the United States in their point of view. Others believed that the United States needed to put the focus on …show more content…

The U.S. government was made up of those whom supported United States imperialism including well known presidents Theodore Roosevelt and President William McKinley. President William McKinley had described to a church delegation his decisions in the Philippines in 1899 and said “…to educate the Filipinos and uplift and civilize and Christianize them by god’s grace do the very we best us could…” (Doc 3). The imperialist group wanted to believe they were helping countries, while only believing in their own opinion that the other countries were uncivilized and struggling. President Theodore Roosevelt had also thought the same as President McKinley. Roosevelt had said in his speech, “The Strenuous Life”, “…I have even scanter patience with those who make a pretense of humanitarianism to hide and cover their timidly” (Doc 5). Imperialism easily grew through the strong leaders of the United …show more content…

When William Jennings Bryan was campaigning for presidency in 1900 he said in one of his speeches “Our experiment in colonialism has been unfortunate” (Doc 6). He simply and strongly believed that it would be a bad idea for America to take control of grounds that were not theirs. Satirical Magazines had also made its way into American culture and opinions of Anti- Imperialist were not held back. In 1904 a satirical magazine had published an article from Puck, (Doc 7), was just an ironic visual that America may have been stretching its limits too far. Lastly Women had begun to rise in the social culture of America. Women like Jane Addams, who accomplished many things such as the Hull House. Jane Addams like William Jennings Bryan was an anti-imperialist, she had explained how imperialism had a negative effect on America’s young children, “ The little children on the street played war… the barbaric instinct asserts itself.” (Doc 4) . Jane Addams was a feminists as well as an anti-imperialist. She was concerned for the affects it has on the children at the time. Anti-imperialism was on the rise just as imperialism with strong support of a wider social range of