Why did the US become an imperialist power?

Question

Detail the steps by which it did so during the years 1898-1905.

Answer 1

A variety of factors coincided during this period to bring about an accelerated pace of U.S. expansion:

Wars such as the Spanish-American War that led to liberation and acquisition of former colonies of foreign states

The industry and agriculture of the United States had grown beyond its need for consumption.

Powerful business and political figures such as James G. Blaine believed that foreign markets were essential to further economic growth, promoting a more aggressive foreign policy.

The prevalence of racism, notably Ernst Haeckel's "biogenic law," John Fiske's conception of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority, and Josiah Strong's call to "civilize and Christianize" - all manifestations of a growing Social Darwinism and racism in some schools of American political thought.

The development of Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis," which stated that the American frontier was the wellspring of its creativity and virility as a civilization.

As the Western United States was gradually becoming less of a frontier and more of a part of America, many believed that overseas expansion was vital to maintaining the American spirit.

The publication of Alfred T. Mahan's The Influence of Sea Power upon History in 1890, which advocated three factors crucial to The United States' ascension to the position of "world power": the construction of a canal in South America (later influencing the decision for the construction of the Panama Canal), expansion of the U.S. naval power, and the establishment of a trade/military post in the Pacific, so as to stimulate trade with China. This publication had a strong influence on the idea that a strong navy stimulated trade, and influenced policy makers such as Theodore Roosevelt and other proponents of a large navy.

In the period between the mid-1800s until the beginning of the twentieth century the United States gained a number of overseas islands and territories. The following areas have at one time or another been under the control of the United States of America and have not been fully incorporated into the country as states.

Puerto Rico (1898-1952, obtained by the 1898 Treaty of Paris with Spain following the Spanish-American War, now a US commonwealth)
Guam (1898-, obtained by the 1898 Treaty of Paris with Spain following the Spanish-American War)
Cuba (1899-1902, 1906-1909, obtained by the 1898 Treaty of Paris with Spain following the Spanish-American War)
Now independent with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The naval base occupies land which the United States leased from Cuba in 1903 "... for the time required for the purposes of coaling and naval stations." The two governments later agreed that, "So long as the United States of America shall not abandon the said naval station of Guantanamo or the two Governments shall not agree to a modification of its present limits, the station shall continue to have the territorial area that it now has, with the limits that it has on the date of the signature of the present Treaty."[1][2]
Republic of the Philippines (1898-1946, acquired by the 1898 Treaty of Paris with Spain and now independent through the Philippine Independence Act of 1935
American Samoa (1900-) Acquired as colony and established by Treaty
U.S. Virgin Islands (1917-, purchased from Denmark)
Panama Canal Zone (leased from 1903-1979 and now part of Panama)

Answer 2

Rev. Dr. Glen has answered this question very well, and did not have to resort to a cut and paste answer from Wikipedia like one other here did. In the case of the Philippines, the U.S. became an imperialist power (while denying it at the time and still denying it today) since they considered themselves to be more "enlightened" than the European imperialist powers - the best example from the period 1998 - 1905 being Spain.

Sorry, but asking anyone "to detail the steps by which it did so" is just asking them to do your homework for you.

Answer 3

The initial steps of the U.S in becoming an 'imperialist power' started with President Monroe, who declared that the Northern America was off limits to other foreign powers, and that Northern America and her surrounding territories were the sphere of influence of the United States alone.

The second significant advance was the American-Spanish war, in which the United States defeated another rival for influence in the America's - Spain. As a result of this war, the U.S took from Spain significant colonial possessions - the most significant being the Philippines.

In aquiring the Philippines from Spain, the United States had its first Asia-Pacific colony - this made the United States a stakeholder in Asia-Pacific region, and therefore a major power in the Pacific. The U.S would view any events in Asia-Pacific with concern to its own colonial possessions - especially with the rise of Japanese colonialism.

Another significant event was the U.S sending troops to protect its embassy during the Boxer Rebellion in China, and to help foreign powers against the rebellion. For the First Time, the U.S was involved in another major powers internal problems.

The third would have been U.S involvement in the First World War - this really put the U.S on the world stage and a major player in World events. Woodrow Wilson's 14 points program gave the U.S its first voice in European affairs. But it was also significant that the U.S was now dragged into European affairs despite the later isolationist calls for the U.S to remain neutral from Europe.

The fourth would have been the U.S concern with the rise of Japan and the dominance of Germany in Europe. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria and later China marked the start of Japanese hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region. While the rise of Germany marked the attempted dominance of continental Europe by a single power. These concerns would result in the inevitable U.S involvement in WW2.

Answer 4

I will cover the time period you mentioned. First, in a general sense Europe had carved up Africa and acquired much foreign territory. I think part of the movement was not to be left out the acquiring land policy.

Specifically, William Randolph Hearst's newspaper helped stir up opposition to Spain's misrule in Cuba. Greatly exaggerated propaganda, but it got us into war against Spain. Spain was a decayed power, which the U.S. easily defeated. Some of her spoil fell into our hands the Philippines, Guam, and more.

It was rationalized that we would "civilize" the Philippines. We then had a harder time taking them than defeating Spain. It is important to realize the results of this were unsettling. Many Americans from Williams Jennings Bryan to Andrew Carnegie thought our seizing the Philippines (which we did not give their independence until 1946) was wrong. So the U.S. then retreated into isolationism; imperialism was by no means embraced. President Theodore Roosevelt built up our navy, did help make a peace between Japan and Russia, and built the Panama Canal, but these actions certainly were not on the scale of European imperialism.

The United States did intervene some in Latin America, our backyard. To some extent there was American imperialism in South America, we were heavily invested and influential in Mexico under Porforio Diaz, but so were other foreign countries.

Probably propaganda for the Spanish American War, economic concerns in Latin America, and competition from Europe led to our developing imperialism, but during this time period it was limited.

Answer 5

it may - those days usa behaves as a democracy and yet wages conflict and nevertheless invades different worldwide places. Gotta bypass all the way in case you're doing so, or you will create a lot of enemies... once you're a democracy - then preserve your person agency and don't bypass away the abode front the place little ones ought to pay for preparation and adult adult males ought to pay for healthcare

Answer 6

Because the US could...and that is all that really matters in the 'game of global domination'. Those who are able; do...those who cannot; fall to those who can.
Two primary factors permit the US to dominate...then as well as now:
1. Geography
2. Availability of natural resources
Combine these two key ingredients with a 'willing' populous and, shall we say, a 'questionable' heading on the moral compass, and.....

You've got yourself an 'Empire', so to speak.

Answer 7

no homework for you here. Single greatest volume with all the answers you need is in "Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris. Short answer is economic expansion, labor, racism.

Answer 8

There's good money in it, that's why. For the rest, you'll have to ask Teddy Roosevelt...

Answer 9

Peer pressure; all of Europe was doing it, so the US had to as well!

Answer 10

Hmm, I thought it really got started in 1914 when they decided that military intervention was required to keep access to the oil.