Economics Of Imperialism Essay

When discussing the economics of imperialism, it is important to understand that, similar to many issues of government, usually one party benefits while the other is disadvantaged; the imperial power benefits while the colonized people are negatively affected. The United States in the 1800s and the turn of the 20th century was an imperial power, taking over and expanding our territory to various locations such as Alaska, Hawaii, and other places in the Caribbean area and Latin America. One of the main rationales for imperialism, on the imperial power’s side, is the economic benefits it results in. For example, the United States took control of Hawaii in 1898, mainly because of the fact that Hawaii was the source of a major export good: sugar.

Oftentimes the imperialist power enforces reforms to take precedence over the traditional system, causing a feeling of resentment towards the imperialist power that was supposed to only help the country grow, but instead, is repressing what makes the smaller nation unique. An example was this was when the United States entered South Vietnam during the Vietnam war crisis. The United States tried to industrialize and modernize the peasant-country of South Vietnam just as it had tried several times in other East Asian civilizations, “almost always in pursuit of its own interests,” by offering economic assistance, military support, and educational development (Wilcox, 1973). As Wilcox mentions in his article, the United States entered South Vietnam with its own interests just as an imperial power would, and if a victory would occur on their side, would more likely than not try to corruptly implement more U.S. ideologies to the small East Asian country, as the U.S. had already placed their own Catholic president in the small Buddhist country. Despite the efforts of the United States, the people of Vietnam resentfully rejected United States reforms, resisting their imperial