Exploitation In America

Exploitation is wrong, but there have been multiple times in history where men have “justified” exploitation with progress and expansion. The real question is if their claims were entirely true. In the past, America used its power to exploit, conquer, and gain a foothold in foreign continents like Asia. Some may think that America’s exploitation was completely unjust, while others think that exploitation was needed for progress. America’s exploitation during imperialism was definitely unjust. Even acts that made America seem good were just that – acts. Evidence of this can be seen in how America exploited countries by undermining local government and ideals, using military power, and reforming countries into its own image. First of all, America

The farmers eventually gained enough power and they overthrew the monarchy (Expansion in the Pacific, Annexing Hawaii, 12/12/17). Another example of how the U.S. undermined authority appeared during the Spanish-American War. America joined with the Philippine rebellion to help them force the Spanish occupiers out of the country. With the support, the rebels had successfully taken over many Spanish centers, and it looked like the Spanish would surrender and the Filipinos would gain independence. However, the tables turned when Spanish surrendered to the U.S., which was holding the capital at the time, instead of the Filipino rebels, who were holding much of the surrounding area. The U.S. acquired Guam, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico from the Spanish at the expense of the independence of the Filipinos (The Philippine-American War, 12/11/17). The final example of America exploiting other governments happened in Cuba. After the Spanish-American War, Cuba had been left in shambles and plunged into chaos. America used the power it gave itself in the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary to come into Cuba and set up a military government (America’s Changing Foreign Policy, 12/4/17). The U.S. military government helped administer to the island, but

used its military advantage to force other countries into doing what it wanted. The reason that the U.S. was so powerful was its strong navy. The navy itself was a result the book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History by Alfred T. Mahan, which showed that great empires in the past grew because they had strong navies (Imperialism & The U.S., Causes of Imperialism, 12/4/17). One example of the U.S. using its strength was in Japan. Commodore Matthew C. Perry had quickly opened up trade with Japan on March 31, 1854, when the Japanese realized that they could not compete with America’s tech and weaponry (Expansion in the Pacific, Perry Opens Japan, 12/12/17). Another example of the U.S. using its military to control was, again, just after the Spanish-American War in Cuba. When the U.S. set up a government to help rebuild Cuba, they backed up the government with the U.S. military. This most likely meant that the Cubans had to follow the law, or else the military would step in (Information About U.S. Foreign Policy on Cuba, 12/6/17). Others might say that the U.S. using its military was needed to open up Japan and that the military government was there only to help fix Cuba. On the other hand, both Japan and Cuba complied out of fear of being killed the military. In the end, the military may have been needed, but that still does not mean it was