Spanish American Imperialism Dbq

In 1880 the United States had a population of 50 million, and by that measure ranked with great European powers. In industrial production the nation stood second only to Britain and was rapidly closing the gap. Anyone who doubted the military prowess of Americans needed only to recall with which they had fought one another in the Civil War. The United States was becoming a world power, controlling territories in the Caribbean and extending across the Pacific to the Philippines. Along with European powers, Americans were pursing imperialism because they believed the nation would reduce to a second-class power if they don’t compete with imperialistic nations for new territories. The decisive U.S victory in Spanish-American war filled Americans …show more content…
Conflicts between Spain and Cuba had led to overwhelming demands for the United States to go war against the Spain and to take a side with the revolutionaries in Cuba. The news about the U.S battle ship Maine in the Yellow Press had President McKinley to declare war against the Spain to protect the lives of U.S citizens and to end the bloodshed. Including African Americans, many imperialists supported the war. African Americans encouraged themselves to participate in the war because it was a chance to show the Whites that they were capable of doing what they do. It was also a chance to end the racial prejudice if they took the victory for the United States. (Document 1) One of the term in the Treaty of Peace provided the U.S acquisition of Philippines which many Americans were not prepared to take over. The big question after the Spanish-American war became the Philippines, and created heated argument between imperialists and anti-imperialists. McKinley’s advisor, Theodore Roosevelt, an eager expansionist, argued that United States had an obligation to provide government. He …show more content…
A principal target for American imperialism was the Caribbean area, Cuba, which the expansionists wanted as early as the 1850s. The booming industrial after the Civil War had created a major shift of U.S relationships with the rest of the country. Due to the desire of raw materials and worldwide markets, it intensified the foreign involvement. Moreover, the growing U.S believed that other nations could not govern themselves, so they asserted the control over those nations. U.S becoming a world power altered the course of the history, and eventually led to the involvement in World War II. During WWII, U.S wanted to remain neutral as they felt that U.S entry into World War I had been a terrible mistake. However, when the Japan attacked the U.S fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii more than 2,400 Americans were killed. Hawaii was the one of the colony of the United States had annexed, and when Japan attacked the island and American lives were lost, Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japanese Empire, bringing the United States into the world war once