Origins Of The American Empire Essay

are still arguments on the origins of the American empire.
Many feel that America became an empire after the declaration of independence was signed. Others feel that America became an empire after its efforts to eliminate European colonies that were stationed in America. Little did they know that the American empire would colonize other parts of the world in which it would have exponential amounts of military dominance and economic power (Anne). A very few amount would suggest that America didn’t have an empire at all. Through out social developments and economic motivation, the roots of the American empire came into creation through its military power, which dominated any other empire that opposed it. To begin, “the United States originally was just a mere confederation of states”. The unions of these states were later strengthened by the upcoming war, causing them to claim territories not outside of the individual states …show more content…
“Originally Polk wanted to annex Mexico as a whole “(Treaty). Polk didn’t hesitate to threaten the use military force, if he found the rules of the treaty to be dissatisfying (Treaty). Soon Mexico offered Polk the came into a thorough agreement. Now a third of what was Mexico belonged to the American empire. This included California, New Mexico and boundaries of Texas (Treaty). The map below shows the aftermath of the Mexican American war. It shows the territories gained by the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Marshall was the man who first discovered gold in California (Marshall). “Suddenly his attention was… glittering yellow color” (Marshall)
The gold rush in California eventually led many to create new buildings, build homes and even shops. In the images below people who heard of this gold rush, rushed towards the west to California, in order to begin their search for gold