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The impact of Franklin D. Roosevelt
AMERICAN IMPERIALISM SINCE 1800s
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Theodore Roosevelt came into presidency in 1901 towards the end of the Philippine American unofficial “quasi” war. At this point there were two major groups of people in the US known as the Imperialists and the Anti-Imperialists. The Imperialists believed in expansion of American beliefs and values beyond the North American continent, while Anti-Imperialists believed we should focus on our domestic issues before expanding more. Roosevelt was a very strong Imperialist. Theodore Roosevelt’s aggressive foreign approach led to the development of the Panama Canal, involvement in foreign affairs in South America, and his role as a peacemaker on the world stage.
The United States during the early twentieth-century was a heated debate. Constant changes including World War One, the Spanish-American War, and the idea that the United States would join the League of Nations would lead to major debates determining what role the United States should have taken during the constant changing world. This essay is here to go into detail about what the United States should have done during this time period as well as highlight some of the outcomes from a more progressive nation. Imperialism is defined as “The use of diplomatic or military force to extend a nation’s power and enhance its economic interests, often by acquiring territory or colonies and justifying the behavior with assumptions of racial superiority”
Teddy Roosevelt, an imperialist, condemned anyone who was against the takeover of the Philippines (doc5). Before becoming a president teddy Roosevelt saw the United States as a parent to the philippines. After becoming a president Roosevelt felt that the United States needs to be an international police. He recommended his ‘big stick’ policy. This included the Roosevelt corollary as suppose to the Monroe doctrine.
There are many theories connecting current and past presidents to imperial presidencies. The definition of an imperial presidency is a president who drifts from the written rules of the constitution. The various remarks and opinions accusing presidents of being imperialistic are generally from these who are conservative. This shows the occasional biasness that people occasionally show. There are many presidents who have perhaps taken their powers too far; Richard Nixon, Harry Truman, and Theodore Roosevelt were all accused of various imperialistic acts.
In the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Industrial Revolution occurred in Africa and Asia. Industrialization was an improvement of technology and factories which led to the need for more materials such as textiles. The existence of factories took away job opportunities from people which forced them to work for the government. Colonial powers did not let anyone trade with anyone in Europe, meaning they were limited to Africa and Asia. Therefore, as materials became more requested, more hard unpaid labor was done in those areas.
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
Imperialism was motivated by, “political ambitions… Nation’s will to power… or glory or national greatness,” (Doc 3). Imperialism for many countries is caused to improve the nation’s overall power. Additionally, according to President Mckinley, the U.S.’s involvement of Imperialism in the Philippines, was due to the fact that, “They were unfit for self-government,”(Doc. 7). The U.S. believed that there was nothing else for them to do, but take them over.
Republican? Democrat? During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it didn’t matter what political platform you were on, all that mattered was the U.S. expansion to new territories and whether or not the U.S. should have stayed within its boundaries. After the U.S. won the Spanish-American War, attention was placed on new countries, such as the Philippines, and the benefits, or downfalls, of American Imperialism. Imperialism is the policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
Bush, William McKinley, and Lyndon B Johnson have all exhibited examples of imperial presidency. George W. Bush can be counted as one of the numerous presidents that had a hand in imperial presidency for many reasons. According to George Carey, a professor of Government at Georgetown University, said, “Specifically, particularly since 9/11, it has been widely reported that one of the major goals of the administration of George W. Bush is the restoration of the presidential prerogatives and powers that were diminished or preempted principally during the Nixon and Reagan administrations.” George Carey was trying to point out George W. Bush and his strong and prominent want for more power. William McKinley contributed to imperial presidency by implementing a war on Spain.
Ronald Reagan pronounced that exclusive a recharged feeling of national reason could crush the monetary emergency that undermined to demolish the lives of a large number of Americans. Reverberating the dialect of Lincoln and FDR, Reagan lauded the peaceful strength of nationals who penance for the benefit of their nation. That night the new president held the most costly introduction ever. He imported limousines from New York to transport his visitors to eight diverse inaugural balls and enlisted Johnny Carson to have a broadly broadcast affair to honor the event. Among the welcomed visitors were Western oil aristocrats, Wall Street cash men and Hollywood famous people.
During the Imperialism era, America acted as a World Leader. The Imperialism era was an era that America started to act as its own country and this era was when America really started to influence the world. The begging of this era was with our found father George Washington as he made a farewell address, in that address he basically stated that America should be an isolated country and that they the people should not interfere with wars with other countries, and that the trade between countries should be equal. This is proof that America was a World Leader during Imperialism.
United States Imperialism in the late 19th century was very selfish time. Many people in that time, debated about whether are not benefiting our country was the right way or the wrong way. The motiving factors that impacted our imperialism are economic, military, and cultural. These factors impacted the American Imperialism from 1890-194 by having control over weaker territories meeting our expanding needs.
Before the 20th century the United States was an isolationist nation but around the late 19th century America decided to convert into an imperialist power. They had numerous reasons to shift into being an imperialist nation. America didn’t want to begin imperializing to settle and live in the nations they were taking over, they already had America for that reason, they wanted to adopt these nations for what they had to offer, which was many things. America saw an opportunity to improving their nation and took it. Even if there were many causes for America to imperialize, three of them stood out the most.
Following the end of the Industrialist Era and the emergence of countless technological advancements, the United States entered the world stage. The United States was attempting to create an empire by expanding to land outside of its own borders in order to benefit the country’s economic interests. Many citizens, whose views were greatly influenced by their understandings of national identity, saw this overseas expansion in conflicting ways. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these groups differed in their opinions on the idea of expansion due to either their wanting to remain a democratic country built on the ideals of freedom and liberty to preserve their sense of national identity, or their wanting to expand for economic reasons and nationalism. Imperialism, which is the extension of a country’s power and influence through expansion, began as early as the 17th century, when Britain colonized the New World in order to expand economically and gain natural resources for manufacturing.
At the start of the 19th century, America was already expanding its territory. In 1803, the United States of America had bought the Louisiana Territory, it was bought from France which had made the country two times larger. In 1819 Spain had given up their territory of Florida to the United States. President Monroe issued the “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823, its main purpose was to warn the European countries to not enter the Western Hemisphere. In order for America to achieve its goal of becoming an imperialist nation they had conquered other countries economically, culturally, and with a strong military in the late 1800’s.
