19th Century American Imperialism

The Imperial Age lasted from 1800 to 1914. It was the time of the practice of imperialism buy mainly European nations. Imperialism is the domination of political, social, and economic life of another country. Most of these countries were considered third world countries and the people who inhabited it were seen as savages by the rest of the world. The United States became involved in imperialism towards the end of the Imperial Age. Two of the first places the United States acquired was Alaska and Hawaii. The fever of imperialism in the US escalated after the Spanish-American War. The US continued to acquire Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and others. There were many different opinions on imperialism in the US. Some people thought imperialism …show more content…
Social Darwinism was the idea that because a person had better stuff than another that meant that they were superior. Many people on islands in the Pacific didn’t have electricity or skyscrapers like many countries in Europe and the US. The Europeans and Americans thought that social darwinism applied to the different human races. Josiah Strong wrote Our Country, an influential book towards imperialism. He wrote, “this powerful race will move down upon Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond. And can any one doubt that the result of this competition of races will be the “survival of the fittest?”” Many Anglo-Saxon people believed that God had chosen them to be the dominant human beings on earth. They saw imperialism as a mission to Christianize the rest of the world. Albert Beveridge also stated in his speech, “And we will move forward to our work...with gratitude...to Almighty God that He has marked us as his chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world.” In the US during the Imperial Age Jingoism was a common ideology. Jingoism is extreme patriotism and many people in the US thought that America was the best country on the planet. They thought that the US should grow an empire to become a powerful country. Henry Cabot Lodge, another Republican senator, made a speech in reference to the Philippines, “and who in a few years will be as unwilling to leave the shelter of the American flag as those of any other territory we ever brought beneath its folds.” Many people thought that imperialism was a good thing because it was a way to spread modern technology to places that didn’t have it, to give everyone a good education, and to give the colonials a better life. Lodge also said, “The taking of the