Before The Late 19th Century US Foreign Policy Dbq

The end of the nineteenth century marked a significant change in the American foreign policy. Prior to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, America had paid little attention to foreign affairs. When compared to some of the more powerful European countries, such as France, Germany, and Great Britain, the United States had a

To what extent was late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism a continuation of past United States expansionism and to what extent was it a departure?

Prior to the late 19th century, the United States was preoccupied with domestic affairs and simply used the Monroe Doctrine as their lone foreign policy. By the late 19th century, however, domestic concerns suppressed just enough to let foreign issues take the spotlight. The Industrial Revolution brought mass production, which forced the United States to seek a new global market for trade. America also became increasingly concerned with intervening in Latin American affairs and spreading democracy to less powerful nations. Due to the aforementioned factors, imperialism played a pivotal role in shaping American foreign

During the 1890’s, the United States began building and advancing their economy, as well as focusing more independently on becoming an even more powerful nation. Not only did the Americans begin to create a stronger national military and navy, they also began to look overseas towards the Pacific Ocean for resources and territories; this is when America began to look less like a national power and more like an imperial power. There were many reasons as to why the United States began to expand between 1880-1929, two of which include the military opportunities countries abroad had to offer, such as Pearl Harbor, as well as the domestic and political objectives the U.S. felt obligated to fulfill. Although, there were many important reasons for the United States to began to expand, the most significant reason for the expansionist foreign policy was the economic resources and opportunities other foreign countries had to offer the U.S.

In the late 1890's, the United States experiences imperialistic feelings rise again. The country as a whole feared our resources running out, so there was an increase in foreign trade. The intellectual justification for the idea of the New Manifest Destiny was social Darwinism, or survival of the fittest. In Latin America, the United States sided with Venezuela against Britain over border disputes; we were willing to go to war with Britain on the matter and we were protecting our own interests there. In 1898, France and Britain annexed Hawaii to the United States, which was an

In the late 19th century, a new idea of expansionism had interested the nation. During the spanish American war, many people were divided over the topic of Imperialism. Ultimately, many benefits came with US territory expanding. Not only did the US get bigger, but many aspects of our nation improved significantly. American expansion abroad was justified because it helped the government and economy advance greatly.

To what extent was late 19th century and early 20th century US expansionism a continuation of past US expansionism and to what extent was it a departure?

Until the end of the nineteenth century, American foreign policy essentially followed the guidelines laid down by George Washington, in his Farewell Address to the American people: “The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is—in extending our commercial relations—to have with them as little political connection as possible.” By avoiding

American expansionism in the late 19th century and early 20th century was, to a large extent, a continuation of past United States expansionism, while also departing with previous expansionism in some aspects. During the period of time between the late 19th century and early 20th century, America was going through significant changes. After a revolution in Cuba against the Spanish, as well as the Americans starting the Spanish-American War, the Americans received several territorial concessions from their defeated opponent. Thus, America started on the path to imperialism, gaining several more territories in a short amount of time. Such an expansion in the late 19th century and early 20th century was mostly a continuation of past

Through the last quarter of the nineteenth century the United States foreign policy set out to gain overseas power in an attempt to obtain the status of a global superpower capable of controlling international trade. The United States attempted to reach that status through military force, international trade and the obtainment of land. An example of this attempt to gain the global superpower status was the Spanish-American War, which was fought from April 1898 to August 1898. The United States achieved victory in this war and gained the ability to control the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico. After this victory the United States was able to set its sights on gaining control in the Asian region of the world, which would have been a huge success and a game changer for the American region.

The United States, from its inception had a lust for real estate. From the original chants of "manifest destiny" to the calls for the annexation of Indian territories, America has been driven to acquire land. In this country's youth, land was needed for economic expansion; however, by the end of the 19th century, the entire continental United States had been in possession and the citizenry of this country turned their eyes out to sea. The United States no longer sought new lands to farm and work nor did they need new areas for their geological resources; the motives had changed. The United States was now driven by the temptations of world power and political supremacy. The self-absorbed citizenry looked upon their intrusion into

Through the strong foundation of Isolationism and the policies enacted such as The Monroe Doctrine, the United States played a largely neutral role in foreign affairs. The Monroe Doctrine passed in 1823 was to forbid European nations from colonizing any territory in the Western Hemisphere. Although the United States didn’t have the authority or firepower to back this up, it resulted in almost four decades of compulsory US involvement in any foreign affair. After the Civil War, Isolationistic practices grew stronger as the government had to find a way to re-unite the torn nation. President Grover Cleveland promised to avoid committing the nation to form any alliances with other countries while also opposed to the acquisition of new land. The climate of post Civil War US prevented us from deep involvement in foreign affairs. Our navy was also weakened by the war. Our natural resources were scarce and our diplomatic relations with other countries had been neglected. With the attention of our government focused solely on our nation, we proceeded to develop our interior. One of the biggest reasons for growth in US land mass was the public idea of Manifest

While there are many reasons behind the United States imperialist endeavors in the early 20th century, the main justifications were wealth, religion, recognition, and science. Before the 20th century Americans business believed Americas, economy could survive while being self-sufficient and did not require any international interaction. But after facing multiple economic depressions in the late 1th century they came to the realization that interaction in the world’s economy could benefit them economically. After they came to this realization they turned to the United States government to protect their economic interests abroad, even going as far to use military force if necessary.

The foreign policy of the U.S. continued to let Great Britain police the world since, “They who controlled the seas, controlled the world,” and England’s great navy dominated the individual sea power of Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States. While Germany swept through Poland and ignored the western front with France and England, it generated a wishful conclusion that it was phony war.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States pursued an aggressive policy of expansionism, extending its political and economic influence around the globe. Reasons for this were the strong desire for military strength, the thirst for new markets in order to stimulate the economy and trade, and the core belief in cultural superiority (QUOTE). During that time United States became an expansionist nation, so by late nineteenth century America’s thrust into Imperialism had already begun. A new form of imperialism to an extent, the policy still involved extending its country authority and control over foreign countries as a medium of obtaining and maintaining an empire. Imperialism usually involves a stronger nation (emerging world power U.S.) extended control over a weaker nation. But different from the previous European empires of the colonialist time, which were formal administrative systems founded on social, economic and political control, the American Empire was in one way or another a voluntary association, established in improving international mass market.