Causes for imperialism in the late 1800's
Imperialism is the policy in which stronger nations extent their economic, political, and military control over weaker territories. Many European countries were establishing colonies overseas, and some American leaders thought we should too. The concept became more popular after the Spanish-American War in 1898. Along with the belief of manifest destiny, there were three major factors that made America adapt to imperialism. They were a desire for military strength, a thirst for new markets, and a belief in cultural superiority.
The United States thought that since other nations had military all over the world that they should too. Alfred T. Mahan, Admiral of the U.S. Navy, stated many times in writing and speeches that increasing production demanded expansion overseas and new markets, making sure no nation owns islands within three thousand miles of San Francisco (so we would gain control of Hawaii), and we must build a powerful navy. The United States listened. Battleships like The Maine and the Oregon made the United States the third largest naval power in the world.
American farms and factories could produce more than Americans consumed thanks to technology in the late 19th century. The United States needed raw material for factories. They also needed markets for agricultural and manufactured goods. Foreign trade was viewed as the solution to overproduction, unemployment, and economic depression. By buying Alaska, America received resources such as oil, timber, and minerals.
Cultural factors were one of the parts of imperialism. Americans that combined Social Darwinism and belief in the racial superiority of the Anglo-Saxons (Germanic people who settled in Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries) argued that America had a responsibility to spread Christianity and civilization to inferior people. They wanted to put one influence all over the world.
Not everyone was supportive of American imperialism. Those against it argued that supporting an empire would be a financial burden. They also said America should concentrate on solving the problems in the country we have already established. Other parts to the argument were that it would made the United States become more involved in wars and that it is a violation of democratic principles. They said it was wrong to take land and not offer the people living there the same rights as people living in America.
I expected this to be a pretty easy blog topic, but it wasn’t. I can’t begin to tell you how many variations of the topic I put into Bing, only to get out the same information the book gave me. Although it took hours to gather just this little bit of information, it was interesting to learn why the United States adopted imperialism. Although I had heard the word before, I never knew exactly what it meant. I didn’t know it was the reason we created a powerful Navy, or expanded our area, or tried to influence the rest of the world, or anything like that. I would have loved to go into this topic much deeper but for some reason this is all I could find, give or take a few words. I think overall it's a good thing we own land outside of our 48 connected states.
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