AMERICAN
IMPERIALISM
A Journey into How the United States
Become an Imperial Power
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
I can explain the economic and cultural
factors that shaped American foreign policy
at the turn of the 20th Century
I will be able to analyze and compare the
actions of the United States between 1896-
1909 to action of the United States between
1945-present.
WHAT IS IMPERIALISM?
When a stronger country takes over an area
through economics, politics or military
control.
By 1900, it was a global trend
BACKGROUND TO AMERICAN
IMPERIALISM
European nations were colonizing Africa
By 1900, British Empire controlled a quarter
of the world’s land and people
Japan joined Europe in competing for control
of regions in China
REASONS AMERICA DESIRED
IMPERIALISM
United States wanted new markets for their
goods
In the late 1800s, the United States was
developing a modern navy and wanted to
gain naval based abroad to protect the
nation’s interests
The belief by some that American culture
was superior and should be spread to other
regions—extension of Manifest Destiny
GLOBAL IMPERIALISM
America wanted to be like Europe and Japan
in gaining control of lands beyond the
borders of North America
By the end of the 1800s, there was a desire
for the United States to extend their imperial
power into such areas as Hawaii, Cuba and
the Philippines
EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM
Late 19th Century, Africa was the focal point for
European expansion—considered before that as
the “Dark Continent” because the interior was
virtually unknown
Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany,
Portugal, and Spain desired to gain resources
from Africa and create new markets for their
goods
By early 20th Century, only Ethiopia and Liberia
remained independent in Africa
EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM
Great Britain expanded into Africa and Asia,
coining the phrase, “The sun never sets on
the British Empire”
During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-
1901), Britain built an empire that included
one quarter of the world’s land and people
BERLIN CONFERENCE
Europeans avoided war through diplomatic
agreements that resulted in dividing Africa
Nations claimed land for colonies, then signed
treaties with each other to reserve areas for
colonies
Mid 1800s, Germany and France called for a
conference to discuss African colonization
14 European nations and the United States met in
Berlin, Germany in 1884
BERLIN CONFERENCE RESULTS
Nations agreed to respect each other’s prior
claims for colonies in Africa
Agreed to establish rules for future colonial
development
First international agreement on imperialism
in Africa
ASIAN IMPERIALISM
Late 19th Century, Japan had political reform from feudal
order to a central government modeled after European
nations
Japan believed that a strong military would increase
industrialization by obtaining raw materials in other areas
Japan joined in the competition with Europe for control in
China in the 1890s
US watched other nations in the 1880s and 1890s gain
economic success and had a desire to expand trading
opportunities with China
AMERICAN IMPERIALISM
Extension of the old belief of Manifest
Destiny, which had pushed people from the
Atlantic to the Pacific
With the closure of the North American
frontier, by the 1890s, many Americans
supported the idea to expand beyond its
borders for economic growth
THREE FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGED
AMERICAN IMPERIALISM
United States wanted to join in the economic
competition with other industrialized nations
United States by 1900 had a strong naval
force
A belief in the racial and cultural superiority
of people of English descent
AMERICAN DESIRES FOR NEW
MARKETS
By the end of the 19th Century, technology
increased the ability of American farms and
factories to produce more items
Production was more than Americans could
consume, so America needed new markets
With increased production, the United States
needed to find more raw materials for its
factories and new markets to sell the
manufactured goods
AMERICAN DESIRES FOR NEW
MARKETS
Belief in the Imperialist view of increased foreign
trade would solve the issues of overproduction and
economic issues such as employment and the
economic depression of the late 1880s
SENATOR ALBERT J.
BEVERIDGE
Senator from Indiana, he was a strong imperialist
Advocated obtaining new territories for
economic gains
“Fate has written our policy for us; the trade of
the world must and shall be ours….We will
establish training-posts throughout the world as
distributing points for American products…Great
colonies governing themselves, flying our flag
and trading with us, will grow about our posts of
trade.”
1900 AMERICAN ECONOMIC
GROWTH
Exports had total $234 million at the end of
the Civil War, increased to $1.5 billion
Exports exceeded imports to produce
favorable balance of trade
Favorable balance of trade led to American
economic power
STRONG MILITARY
Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, president of the Naval War
College advocated a strong American military
expansion
Mahan’s book, The Influence of Sea Power Upon
History, 1660-1783, stressed the need for a strong
navy to defend the peacetime shipping lanes, which
would increase America’s economy could grow
Mahan believed the United States needed to
strategically locate bases in areas such as the
Caribbean where its fleet could refuel and urged to
develop a modern fleet
MAHAN’S BELIEF IN STRONG
MILITARY
Urged the United States to construct a canal
across the Isthmus of Panama
Increase desire to acquire Hawaii and other
Pacific Islands as naval bases and economic
markets
Between 1883-1890, US built 9 steel-hulled cruisers
After the construction of the Maine and Oregon,
the US developed the world’s third largest navy
ANGLO-SAXON SUPERIORITY
Cultural factors justified imperialism
Social Darwinism: a belief that free-market
competition would lead to the survival of the
fittest—emphasized racial superiority
Social Darwinism viewed that it was the US
responsibility to spread Christianity and
civilization to the world’s “inferior” people
SOCIAL DARWINISM
Not only racial superiority was encouraged,
but this belief supported the idea of defining
civilization by one culture’s standards
ANTI-IMPERIALISM
Believed imperialism as a threat American
Anglo-Saxon heritage based on moral and
practical concerns in imperial practices
Nothing justified American domination over
other countries
ANTI-IMPERIALISM
Constitutional protections were not granted to
newly acquired territories claimed by the US
Maintaining a military large enough to enforce
American influence and protect newly acquired
territories was too high
Cost of new territories prohibited American
economic growth
SOURCE
The Americans: Reconstruction through the
20th Century. McDougal Littell
