Becky Hussing
Julio R. Firpo, M.A.
AMH2020-US History, 1877 to Present
2 February 2016
Reflection Paper 1- Manifest Destiny
Within the following are my analysis of both McKinley’s Philippines speech and Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden”. I have provided my interpretations of both sources as well as my opinions of their meanings and effect on us as a nation and society. Both sources provided for this assignment provided an insight to the social and political agenda’s to capitalize the imperialistic aspirations and stamp the label of an “Empire” to the rest of the world. Late 1800 American’s were sharply divided whether to be annexationists or anti-annexationists, but also acknowledged the equally powerful forces of racism, nationalism, …show more content…
Even though most aspirations to improve and industrialize developing worlds unfit to progress themselves have costs involved, culturally speaking, the end results are much more beneficial for both interested parties. Without the imperialist mindset that most super power nations exhibit, majority if not all aspects of our society and life would have been altered due to the events that commenced after the Spanish-American War. Our troops would have been without the resources and means to fight in wars that followed. Our economic expansion would have failed in comparison to our commercial rivals in France and Germany thus disabling future opportunities to expand international trade ourselves. The way I see it, if not for the imperialistic mindset and aspirations of the United States and other empowering nations, the possibility of the Nazi regime that occupied and eliminated majority of eastern Europe during the 1940’s would have expanded even further east and eventually ended up washing up on our Pacific coast. Therefore, the American imperialistic mindset is not only necessary but much more valuable long term when it comes to national …show more content…
The United States has even taken advantage of the September 11th events and attacks to intervene militarily not just in the Middle East but also around the globe. I believe that our intentions are sound but the means in which we execute are faulty. We seize opportunities to progress our resources in other nations, we deploy mass numbers of military to prevent further threats, but we don’t fully examine the total spectrum of the causes and effects our decisions have long term. For instance, the brazen occupation within the Middle East and our lasting presence there have left significant cultural ramifications within the region. Within a predominant Muslim territory with strict traditional methods, our ignorance to the long term effects of our actions have caused cultural indifferences between us. Almost as if we have totally and completely lost any and all respect for their ways. These are just a few examples of how the United States and other super power’s decisions and imperialistic aspirations have long lasting effects even
Julio R. Firpo, M.A.
AMH2020-US History, 1877 to Present
2 February 2016
Reflection Paper 1- Manifest Destiny
Within the following are my analysis of both McKinley’s Philippines speech and Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden”. I have provided my interpretations of both sources as well as my opinions of their meanings and effect on us as a nation and society. Both sources provided for this assignment provided an insight to the social and political agenda’s to capitalize the imperialistic aspirations and stamp the label of an “Empire” to the rest of the world. Late 1800 American’s were sharply divided whether to be annexationists or anti-annexationists, but also acknowledged the equally powerful forces of racism, nationalism, …show more content…
Even though most aspirations to improve and industrialize developing worlds unfit to progress themselves have costs involved, culturally speaking, the end results are much more beneficial for both interested parties. Without the imperialist mindset that most super power nations exhibit, majority if not all aspects of our society and life would have been altered due to the events that commenced after the Spanish-American War. Our troops would have been without the resources and means to fight in wars that followed. Our economic expansion would have failed in comparison to our commercial rivals in France and Germany thus disabling future opportunities to expand international trade ourselves. The way I see it, if not for the imperialistic mindset and aspirations of the United States and other empowering nations, the possibility of the Nazi regime that occupied and eliminated majority of eastern Europe during the 1940’s would have expanded even further east and eventually ended up washing up on our Pacific coast. Therefore, the American imperialistic mindset is not only necessary but much more valuable long term when it comes to national …show more content…
The United States has even taken advantage of the September 11th events and attacks to intervene militarily not just in the Middle East but also around the globe. I believe that our intentions are sound but the means in which we execute are faulty. We seize opportunities to progress our resources in other nations, we deploy mass numbers of military to prevent further threats, but we don’t fully examine the total spectrum of the causes and effects our decisions have long term. For instance, the brazen occupation within the Middle East and our lasting presence there have left significant cultural ramifications within the region. Within a predominant Muslim territory with strict traditional methods, our ignorance to the long term effects of our actions have caused cultural indifferences between us. Almost as if we have totally and completely lost any and all respect for their ways. These are just a few examples of how the United States and other super power’s decisions and imperialistic aspirations have long lasting effects even