Paper Topic:

American Imperialism

American Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century

It was not until the nineteenth century that embryonic philosophical underpinnings and more clearly defined political and economic objectives manifested themselves as practical national policies in America . This was likely the result of the fact that America was a new nation , busy consolidating its own nationhood earlier on , and more concerned about domestic affairs and local challenges than foreign entanglements . A shift away from these older sentiments , a shift away from the aversion to foreign entanglements , occurred in an extraordinary fashion during the nineteenth century

. American foreign-policy , despite protests from groups such as the Anti-Imperialist League , began to promote territorial expansion , the pursuit of American colonies at the expense of other foreign powers , and the American corporate elite was able to persuade the federal government to more vigorously pursue and defend economic interests abroad . This essay will discuss the rationale offered for what has become known as American imperialism , detail some of the major events , present domestic protests offered by groups such as the Anti-Imperialists League , and discuss the consequences for America in the early twentieth century

As an initial matter , it is important to remember that America 's shift toward territorial expansionism and imperialism was in contravention of older sentiments that discouraged foreign entanglements indeed adopting and rationalizing policies that initiated and sustained foreign entanglements in the nineteenth century demanded an evolutionary alteration of American philosophical precepts and a new sort of foreign-policy vocabulary . Americans began to tout the merits of such concepts...

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