Running head: AMERICAN IMPERIALISM IN THE 19TH CENTURY 1

American Imperialism in the 19th Century

Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Imperialism is the expansion and subjugation of foreign lands by strong nations for

economic, political, and military control. The American imperialism in the 19TH Century was

driven by social, economic, and political ambitions. This paper will illustrate and discuss the

American Imperialism in the 19TH Century indicating why the policy was adopted and how it

was eventually rationalized. Along with this discussion, this paper will highlight the major

events which occurred during this time of Imperialism and the countries that in the world that

United States was involved with due to this particular policy.

American Imperialism in the 20TH Century was adopted by the Monroe Doctrine of

1923, which underlined the new country’s foreign policy. At independence, America had only 13

states and embarked on acquiring neighboring territories that had ties to the new country.

Westward acquisitions started with purchase of Louisiana and subsequent acquisition of Texas

and New Mexico from Mexico. According to the underlying rationalization of acquisition was

the manifest destiny, which was the new nation’s belief in a duty to occupy and settle in all

North American lands coast to coast. The central ideology of the manifest destiny that came to

be ingrained in most Americans was that territorial expansions were inevitable for the new

powerful nation and even divinely ordained. As a result, expansionists used the phrase to justify

further acquisitions of Oregon territory, California and Alaska (Hietala, 2003).

Another major reason for American imperialism was the industrial revolution in the late

19th Century that saw an excessive production of consumer goods. This led to competition for

new consumer markets and sources of cheap raw materials, which saw major powers in Europe

like Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, rush to acquire colonies. This became the most

significant reason for the aggressive policy of expansion with economic, political, and military

control as major objectives. In addition, colonies like Hawaii and the Philippines proved to be
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valuable investment opportunities due to rich agricultural lands and mines respectively

(Davidson, 2008).

American imperialism was particularly accelerated by it’s militarily superiority. Besides

acquisition of territories like New Mexico in the Mexican war in 1866, The Spanish-American

war over Cuba saw America defeat Spain in just 4 months. Consequently, during the Paris Treaty

signed on 10th December 1898, America gained control of Spanish colonies; the Philippines,

Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam. Acquiring the Philippines and Puerto Rico further heightened the

need to build the Panama Canal, as a better access to the East and West coasts, and a gateway to

both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Ownership of the Panama Canal by America through the

Hay-Pauncefote Treaty signed with Britain in 1901 was one of the most significant historical

injustices perpetrated by imperialism as no Panamanian was involved with the Treaty (Winks,

2010).

The manifest destiny belief also rationalized racial superiority of the white Anglo-Saxon

race over indigenous peoples as a justification for imperialism. Following the popular social

Darwin theories at the time, which argued that imperialism, helped native inhabitants overcome

ignorance. Similarly, missionaries were the first people to explore unchartered lands and

discover their economic and political importance thus opening up territories for colonization

(Davidson, 2008).

Despite the popularity of American imperialism after independence, there was stiff

resistance from a group known as the anti-imperialist league. The group’s main argument against

imperialism was that America was founded on the tenets of liberty, equality, and freedom. They

equated any military take-over or subjugation of foreign land as criminal aggression and a

betrayal of the Bill of Rights. They equated the violent repression of the native populations in the
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Philippines and China to the genocide of native Indians by American colonies. The anti-

imperialists mantra was that “Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us;

our defense is in the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands” (Halsall,

1997).

In summary, this paper has given a description of the American Imperialism in the 19TH

Century. It illustrates the reasons why the policy was adopted and how it was rationalized. The

paper has also discussed the events that took place during the American Imperialism and the

countries that were involved with the United States due to the policy. The paper has also

identified the American Anti-Imperialist and their views of the same with the outcomes of the

foreign policy in the 20TH Century.

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References

Davidson, J. (2008). Nation of Nations: A Narrative History of the American Republic (6th Ed.)

New York. McGraw-Hill

Davidson, M. (1997) Columbus Then and Now: A Life Reexamined, Norman and London,

University of Oklahoma Press.

Halsall, P. (1997) American Anti-Imperialist League, 1899: Retrieved from:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1899antiimp.html

Hietala, R. (2003). Manifest Design: American Exceptionalism and Empire. New York. Cornell

University Press

Winks, R. (2010) Imperialism: Encyclopedia Americana: Grolier Online, 2010. Web. 18 Nov.

2010.