In Barbarian Virtues: The United States Encounters Foreign People at Home and Abroad, Matthew Frye Jacobson discusses America’s imperialism and immigration from 1876 until 1917. Jacobson analyzes the necessary dependence America has developed within the global consumer economy. He utilizes Roosevelt’s references to “barbarism” and “virtue” to examine American conceptions of people, citizenship, and national identity. The need for reliable foreign workers and markets transformed Americans into barbarians that, once in control of the markets, would become very powerful through imperialism. The chapter “Export Markets” in Barbarian Virtues examines foreign markets and foreigners in relation with American domestic markets, and how this relationship
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Jacobson organized his book into three parts; markets, images and politics; along with an introduction and conclusion. Each part consists of two chapters that each analyzes his main points through different lenses. Jacobson structures his work to explain why America has become the power that it is today. In the conclusion specifically, Jacobson quotes recent historians and Wilson explaining how the United States had became a world power unintentionally through the change of the global economy and the adjustment to the US foreign and domestic policies. Accepting immigrants at home and acting as “barbarians” abroad allowed America to spread its’ influence throughout the world. His argument of American dependence on immigrants at home and imperialism abroad is supported with many examples and reliable primary source quotes that are integrated throughout the chapters. The book flows more like a narrative, rather than chopped up with primary source quotes, which makes it more engaging for readers and easier to …show more content…
The integration “into the world economic system in this period of breathtaking industrialization exposed a…dependence upon foreign peoples as imported workers for American factories”. This brought more immigrants into the United States, which created more job competition within American companies. The increase in industrialization cultivated a fear of domestic “overproduction” where foreign markets would rely on the surplus of American-produced goods. In order to control the global economy, the American markets needed to use the “overproduction” of goods to their advantages. With the help of foreign workers, American domestic markets would create a surplus of commodities that other countries would quickly depend on, which would expand the international consumption of American products and generating more revenue. The national acceptance of the “overproduction” thesis implied that American domestic peace depended on the international trade environment, along with the “wants” of the people, which would be defined by the US market. Even though Americans were initially fearful of immigrant workers in American factories, they were necessary in order to keep up with the production rates that foreign consumers depended
Jacobson organized his book into three parts; markets, images and politics; along with an introduction and conclusion. Each part consists of two chapters that each analyzes his main points through different lenses. Jacobson structures his work to explain why America has become the power that it is today. In the conclusion specifically, Jacobson quotes recent historians and Wilson explaining how the United States had became a world power unintentionally through the change of the global economy and the adjustment to the US foreign and domestic policies. Accepting immigrants at home and acting as “barbarians” abroad allowed America to spread its’ influence throughout the world. His argument of American dependence on immigrants at home and imperialism abroad is supported with many examples and reliable primary source quotes that are integrated throughout the chapters. The book flows more like a narrative, rather than chopped up with primary source quotes, which makes it more engaging for readers and easier to …show more content…
The integration “into the world economic system in this period of breathtaking industrialization exposed a…dependence upon foreign peoples as imported workers for American factories”. This brought more immigrants into the United States, which created more job competition within American companies. The increase in industrialization cultivated a fear of domestic “overproduction” where foreign markets would rely on the surplus of American-produced goods. In order to control the global economy, the American markets needed to use the “overproduction” of goods to their advantages. With the help of foreign workers, American domestic markets would create a surplus of commodities that other countries would quickly depend on, which would expand the international consumption of American products and generating more revenue. The national acceptance of the “overproduction” thesis implied that American domestic peace depended on the international trade environment, along with the “wants” of the people, which would be defined by the US market. Even though Americans were initially fearful of immigrant workers in American factories, they were necessary in order to keep up with the production rates that foreign consumers depended