Imperialism In America

Imperialism is a policy where a country wants to expand their power and influence. Imperialism can be both good and bad. Bad imperialism is when the imperialist power dominated colonies economically. They subjected its people to heavy taxes, as well as economic oppression. The imperial power also imposed its own cultural standards on the colony. Good imperialism allowed for the spread of culture, technology, and language to take place around the world. Hawaii, Alaska, and The Panama Canal were three places that the United States imposed their imperialist actions on. Hawaii became a state that the U.S. controlled and protected through economic treaties. The United States choose to get involved with Hawaii to have a place to control closer to Asia next to big growing powers like China and Japan. Keeping European powers out of Hawaii had always been a goal for the United States. The United States got involved with Hawaii when Queen Liliuokalani tried to restore the power of monarchy after the death of King Kalakaua, which meant that the U.S. had less influence power on Hawaii. On Hawaii a group of American sugar planters who worked for Sanford Ballard Dole overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian monarchy. The Hawaiians then established a new government with Dole as president. United States Marines then had to come in to protect American lives. President Grover Cleveland sent a new U.S. minister to Hawaii to restore Queen Liliuokalani to the throne. Dole refused to step aside and instead declared the independent Republic of Hawaii. Cleveland did not want to overthrow the government by force so President William McKinley made a treaty with the Republic of Hawaii. In 1898, the Spanish-American War broke out, two years later, Hawaii was officially U.S. territory. Which worked out good for the U.S. by gaining more resources and a new location for a naval base. To me this is good imperialism because the U.S. won hawaii fair and square. The purchase of Alaska in 1867 meant the …show more content…
The canal would shorten the time and distance that ships would have to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, which eliminated the long sea voyage around South America. Panama belonged to Colombia, Roosevelt wanted the government of Colombia to sign a treaty which allowed the United States to build a canal through Panama.The Colombians thought the treaty was unfair and refused to sign it. Roosevelt was impatient and thought it would be easier to deal with the people of Panama, Roosevelt sided with the revolutionaries and sent two gunboats to Panama to support against Colombia.The revolution lasted 3 days and Panama became an independent nation, 12 days later a treaty was signed between the US and Panama, Unfortunately for Panama the deal they signed was worse than the one given to Columbia. Americans were given permission to build the canal, as long as they protect Panama's independence. I consider this to be bad imperialism because The United States made an offer to Columbia but when they didn't take it they made a worse offer to Panama. Imperialism can be both good and bad. Hawaii, Alaska, and The Panama Canal were only three places that the United States imposed their imperialist actions on. Imperialistic practices led to anger between major countries. still today there is a lot of hate towards the former colonial