Civil War: The Role Of Imperialism In The United States

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America seemed to find itself in the center of conflict often. America had just recently gotten out of a Civil War and was experiencing many problems. At this time there were a lot of different beliefs in the country on how it should be run and what to do with the growing country. Many of the issues in the country surrounded war and how and when America should enter wars. War should be considered a viable option when another country or foreign force attacks first, or when they are believed to be in danger because of information intercepted.

There have been many times in history when a country has been attacked by another without the first country having prompted the attack. One of the best examples of this …show more content…
Imperialism is when a country extends its political, economic, social beliefs, and power in other countries. This is done by use of military, money, or in a variety of other ways. America has been known to do this in the past, in Venezuela, Hawaii, and also in Panama. Cohen Morgenthau stated “Imperialism is simply a manifestation of the balance of power and is the process by which nations try to achieve a favorable change in the status quo.” Understandably many countries may feel threatened when other countries “ try to achieve a favorable change in the status quo,” which might not always be favorable to everyone. Similarly to Imperialism, Militarism can also be used as a sort of intimidation tactic. Militarism can frighten surrounding countries. When one country starts to build up a large military it can cause other countries to believe that something is about to happen or cause them to then see a need to also build up their military. Countries then can see a need to form new alliances to protect themselves. For instance one example of an alliance system was the alliance system in World War One which was one of the main causes of world war one, it created two sides and highlighted how different they were. Many times throughout history countries have gone to war only for the fact that they were part of an alliance that was attacked. Many people feel nationalism in their …show more content…
In many cases where countries have gone to war one or more of the countries involved have felt threatened, were threatened, or had reason to believe they might be threatened. When citizens of countries start to threaten other countries citizens with their beliefs or ideas then military action should become an option. There is and will always be room for debate as to when another country can go to war and is justified in their action. However when prompted or threatened a country has the right to use military action against