The Turn of the 19th Century

The Turn of the 19th century is arguably one of the darkest times for American international relationships. During this time the U.S. obtained vast chunks of territory out of the global butcher house, vying with other European powers for more land. Spain had abused control over their territories, and its native peoples cried out to the U.S. for aid. The U.S. eventually gained control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands, all in the name of humanitarian concern for the native peoples of these territories. However, the evidence clearly conveys that the U.S. partook in blatant imperialism unjustified by arrogance and superiority.

American populace cultural views such as Mahan’s definition of Security in Terms of Sea Power and manifest destiny all helped impact the government to make selfish decisions. Mahan’s views on American Naval power compared British imperialism, “the chain of maritime power to which Great Britain owes her wealth and greatness” to American expansion. His optimistic views on expansionism by navy convinced America that it needed naval bases to future its global trade.

Document D also coveys that fact that America wanted to hold European territories for its own interests, contrary to the “Humanitarian” interests of the native peoples. This cartoon shows America as a rooster telling the European chickens that America was well aware of the fact that they too were vying for land, just that now the Monroe Doctrine was holding them back.

The Monroe Doctrine was another reason why American exploited the European territories for their own gains. Theodore Roosevelt created a Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, which based America’s intervention on whether or not a nation could “act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters,” as stated in Document J. This ruling shut out other European nations, but let in the U.S. to foreign territories.

Document E clearly depicts Roosevelt using brute force against the foreign nations in letting the U.S. use their territory for its own, such as using Cuba for naval bases, as stated in the Platt Amendment, Document H. America was not all united with this unjust imperialism, as the American Anti-Imperialist League Program from Document A stood against these imperialistic views. Their belief held that “imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends toward militarism… We protest against the extension of American sovereignty by Spanish methods.” America was widely split on this international issue, but no so much with a much more national issue.

 America would have focused on its own humanitarian concerns first if its true foreign goal was for that same purpose. Instead, America chose to charge blindly into foreign affairs, as seen in Document E, instead of realizing it had its own humanitarian issues to deal with first.

Overall many American populace views seemed to agree that the acquisition of the foreign territories was based primarily by greed and arrogance, rather than humanitarian concerns. Document B reveals the views of a cartoonist during this time, showing a picture of Uncle Sam ordering from a menu of European Islands, wondering which one to take first. Views such as this one all point toward the same conclusion that American interests in foreign acquisition were for their own interests.