Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 Thesis

The year 1890 was a pivotal point in American history. It was at this point that the American frontier was officially declared to be closed. The United States now occupied the land from Atlantic to Pacific. This also marked the end of Manifest Destiny on the North American continent, since Americans had already fulfilled God’s will to conquer the western territory and vanquish the “savages” who inhabited that land. This phenomenon is explored in further detail in Frederick Jackson Turner’s 1893 thesis, which was ironically given at the World’s Columbian Exposition, given on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ trans-Atlantic voyage. In the thesis, he explains that the conquest of the American continent to the point where the population density

In his, he outlined several goals and pieces of advice for the fledgling United States. This included his advice to stay out of foreign relations. Granted, Washington’s successors failed to follow most of what he said. However, perhaps what is most inconsistent with America’s foundation is the fact that barely a century after American soldiers fought off the British, the United States’ imperial force had regressed to the same tyranny exhibited by their former oppressor. This “paradox of civilization” completely contradicts the democratic ideals which the founding fathers outlined in the Declaration of Independence, particularly the idea of the consent of the governed. As the United States entered the world arena in the late 19th century as major players, the people of the Philippines, Cuba, Hawaii, and other island nations were not given their sovereignty. Instead, their independence was taken from them in the name of “spreading

American imperialism occurred both formally and informally. Informal imperialism involves a sphere of influence. Starting back in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine of the United States prevented any European nation from intervening in the Western hemisphere. Essentially, this gave the US full imperial authority over the Americas. This in turn led to America’s formal imperialism. The event which truly set the stage was the Spanish-American War. One of the key tools utilized to gain the public’s support of the war, especially by William Randolph Hearst, was yellow journalism, involving the use of sensationalism with little to no research behind the stories. Without it, the American public would have likely never heard of the explosion of the USS Maine, nor would they have thrown their support behind the war in the mindset that the ship has been attacked by the Spanish. From this conflict, and with the help of Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, the United States gained control of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Of course, the inhabitants of these islands were not given a choice in this matter, which is indeed a recurring theme in the story of American imperialism. Another instance of this is, of course, the Hawaiian Islands. In 1887, the naval base at Pearl Harbor was constructed as