Imperialism Paper Economic, Cultural And Military Influences

American Imperialism
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American Imperialism
The American Imperialism is a term which is commonly used to refer to the economic, cultural and military influences the United States has on other countries across the world. This term became a household name during the reign of President James K. Polk when the idea of the “American Empire” was actualized in the late 1800s. During this period, industrialization forced America’s businessmen to find new markets for their goods. Moreover, the influence of social Darwinism made the Americans belief that they were responsible for spreading Christianity, industry and democracy to less developed countries. These are some of the factors that pushed the United States towards imperialism. American Imperialism is based on American exceptionalism which infers that America is a unique country due to its mission of spreading liberty and democracy across the world. This idea can be traced back to Alexis de Tocqueville who asserted that the United States was a unique country. Tracing the beginning of American Imperialism maybe a challenge, some scholars argue that it started when the Constitution was written. Others claim it began with the Louisiana Purchase. However, whichever the origin, American Imperialism gained momentum on the late 1800s through the World War I. During this era, America exerted economic, social and political control over various countries such as Korea, Cuba, Philippines, Japan, Austria and Germany.
Imperialism in America has been debated for a long time. One of the reasons why this step had to be initiated and America claim territories of other states is because the Asian market was of importance to the American policies and any threats to the markets prompted interventions to these policies. They also had to secure China trade from other world powers such as Japan, Russia, Britain, France among others. China was used as a free trade center just for the interest of the economy of America. This was a major step and reason as to why America settled for imperialism. Another example is acquisition of the pacific island of Guano where the people collected bird manure which was a vital ingredient for industrial farming.
Those who agreed with America’s expansion ways for conquering other states argued that the American had been given responsibility of freeing these states into freedom. For example, Cubans were trying to be independent from Spain domination. The Spanish President had forced some of the Cubans to ogive out their land for military camps and the Spanish soldiers were failing. The same was happening in Manila, Philippines where Spain was also controlling the region. These two places were free and experienced democracy but they were under the growing American empire which they were not realizing. After the wars were over, the debate on imperialism got hotter with the pro-imperialism arguing that giving Philippines to Spain would indicate that America was weak something that was to dishonor the country. They also argued that allowing the colonizers have the Philippines was not good for business and would ...