American Imperialism In The Late 19th Century

Initially, the Americans took interest in imperializing other countries after their previous mindset from the 1700s to the late 18th century where the United States claimed that they did not have the desire to extend their influence towards foreign territories. Thus, in order to keep themselves true to their word, George Washington published his Farewell Address that claim that the United States would stay completely out of European affairs if they were given the same treatment in return. At first, the statement was especially relevant for the American citizens because during that time, it was in the United States’ best interest to protect as much of their land as possible from invasion because of the fact that the country was not a whole …show more content…
Although all of these motives were factors in pushing the Americans forward to claim more territory and spread influence from their country, in particular, the idea of being able to bring the United States economic prosperity was the main contributing factor towards the American’s desire to expand overseas. By the end of the 19th century, as the United States began moving away from the Monroe Doctrine, the Americans were eager to expand their territory and create a stronger navy and army because of the political aspect of imperialism that . Thus, the United States chose to capture the Philippines because of where the location was located that made it easy for the US Army to attack or strike back in case of any potential threats or attacks. However, even though the United States’ initial purpose of gaining so much land was so they could expand the area in which their military could fight in and spread their government elsewhere, the main reason the Americans were so eager to take the Philippines was because by doing so, the United …show more content…
When the United States successfully to took over areas such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico , Albert Beveridge claimed during his campaign speech that as the United States’ “commerce spreads, the flags of liberty will circle the globe and … [the] benighted peoples will know … that civilization is dawning, at last, for them” (page 8). The speech served as motivation for the Americans to try to get more people to join the United States to claim more land and civilize the people. However, ultimately, the people stayed in the captured lands not to educate those that they considered inferior to them but because of the economic opportunities. Due to this, many people took advantage of the resources presented in each land and abandoned their original intentions to help the natives. Additionally, when the United State successfully captured the Philippines, Albert Beveridge made a similar statement that claimed that “... Almighty God … has marked [them] as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world” (page 11) and that “there was nothing left for [them] to do but to take them all and educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them” (page 21). Even though the