Imperialism In The Late 19th And Early 20th Century

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the rise of a striking change in American foreign policy. In its quest to emerge as a world power, the United States of America started to become significantly more involved in world affairs, which eventually led to the controlling and imperializing of other foreign countries. The United States used a new form of imperialism, in which countries were not directly conquered - instead, American businesses and government established control over others through economic power and threat of military force. The advantage to an approach like this was that it was a significantly less blatant form of control. For decades, historians did not even recognize the increase of American power during this period as …show more content…
Threatening the entirety of Europe with war, should they meddle with Southern American countries, shows that the United States valued the area extremely highly. If the country was willing to defend South America from the world powers, it stands to reason they would act if one of the countries was in danger. The publishing date of the Monroe Doctrine is of interest as well, as it was released in 1823, exactly seventy-five years prior to the events of the Spanish-American War. This means that the United States had been strongly invested in South America as a whole for almost an entire century before the war, which counters the idea that the United States acted in a rush without any personal reason other than defending poor, innocent Cubans. Rather, it was a protection of resources the US had claimed for its own ages earlier. Although one could argue that such an old document would be outdated, and not a strong display of American foreign policy of the time, legislature of the time not only reflected it, but reinforced it, as well. The Roosevelt Corollary, released in 1904, furthered the United States’ use of South America for personal gain by confiscating the …show more content…
It is reasonable to assume that, if a law was passed expressly forbidding the annexation of Cuba, the lawmakers of the time had no interest in imperializing the country. What this argument overlooks is the evolving definition of imperialism in the late 19th century. In this period, official sovereignty over a nation was no longer required - instead, governments could manipulate others through military intimidation and by controlling their economy. The United States had invested more than $50,000,000 in Cuba before the war, which soon became one of the largest sources of the capital flowing in and out of the country. Having the majority of Cuba’s economy in the US’s hands was very dangerous for Cuba, as the United States could simply pull out their investments at any time, and leave Cuba with next to nothing. This gave the US enormous sway in the political realm of the country. The power of the United States didn’t come from its official domination over Cuba, but it still had just as much control through its massive investments. The practice of unofficial imperialism could be seen in the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary, as well. The United States claimed the entirety of South America as under its jurisdiction, and then proceeded to assume control of the countries’ economies whenever it felt it was necessary to pay back a national loan. The US