American Imperialism: The Nineteenth Century
Tinsa Lyn-Scot Kamp
HIS204: American History Since 1865
Professor Mark Davis
November 22, 2010
The late nineteenth century was the beginning of the “new age of imperialism.” The reason for this is because of the technology of arms and the networks of communication, transportation, and commerce brought the prospect of effective, truly global empires within much closer reach. Our text states that some Americans actually still cast “covetous eyes” north toward Canada and south toward Mexico and Cuba. The reason for this attitude of jealousy was because they often dreamed of empire in more distant lands in Asia and Latin America, less through traditional territorial conquest than by opening the doors of trade to foreign markets and resources. However having these kinds of visions and wants soon brought the Unites States into conflict with old imperial powers such as: Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, and France, as well as, with the newcomers such as: Germany and Japan. This would entail major conflict because they all had their own ideas of what imperial visions were and how they would unfold. (Davidson, DeLay, Heyrman, Lytle, Stoff, 2008)
The Unites States became an imperialist nation at the near end of the nineteenth century because of Americans wanting to expand overseas with their beliefs in manifest destiny. The three factors that started American Imperialism were political and military competition including: the creation of a strong naval force, economic competition among industrial nations and belief in the racial and cultural superiority of people of Anglo-Saxon decent. (Davidson, 2008)There was also a short war that lasted less than four months; from April 25 to August 12, 1898. This was the Spanish American war, which marked the emergence of the United States as a World Power. The war in Spain ceded Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States paid Spain $20,000,000 for...