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Between the period of the late nineteenth century and the early
twentieth century, expansionism was a major part of the United States.
Since there were many advances in technology and knowledge of the world
many different countries tried to expand there countries as much as
possible. Between this period there was a lot of continuation of
expansionism plus there was also a lot of departure of expansionism in
the country. Many things contributed to this expansionism such as the
American Diplomacy in China and the Gentleman’s Agreement in Japan all
contributed to the expansion of the United States.
Since there seemed to be a abundance of territory that was not
claimed by any country, expansionism was a great option for lots of
countries around the world. In a cartoon by Thomas Nast there is a
great illustration of different countries expanding there territories.
It is a picture of a world with three men around it and one is from
Germany, one from Britain, and the last one is from Russia. They all
have grab bags and they are picking from the world which shows how
countries around the world were trying to gain as much territory as
they could while it was available without fighting for it. This will
play a big part in the lead to World War I. In an article about the
interest of America in sea power, Alfred T. Mahan states a lot of
things having to do with the territory of the US and its control over
the ocean. He says, “America must now look outward. The growing
production of the country demands it.” He states that we should not
allow all of our ports on both the Atlantic and the Pacific to be
controlled by other countries because the United States is going to
expand and we need all of our relations and ports on both oceans so
that we can stay in control of our country. At the end he states three
things that we should defiantly do to protect the country’s
expansionism. First he says that the chief harbors should be protected
and the shore lines should also be protected. Second, he says that the
naval force should be projected outward more to expand the water
territory of the United States. Third, he says that no foreign force
should acquire a coaling position within three thousand miles of San
Francisco. Senator Albert J. Beveridge makes a statement to the 56th
Congress starting out by saying, “The Philippines are ours forever…And
just beyond the Philippines are China’s illimitable markets. We will
not retreat from either.” He is saying that the country should not give
up the economical position of the United States because Asia is a great
source for trade and expansion and if the country gives up the
Philippines then the connection to China and Asia would be weak. He
states, “Our largest trade henceforth must be with Asia. The Pacific is
our ocean…And the Pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future.”
He is saying that if the country moves more towards the Pacific ocean
then there will be a greater commerce advantage therefore making the
country bigger and stronger. A cartoon from 1900 of American Diplomacy
shows how America is really interested in China. The picture
illustrates Abe Lincoln in front of an open door to China. He is
leaning up against a key titled American Diplomacy. In the Downes v.
Bidwell the Supreme Court Decision shows the concern for expansion in
the United States and that no matter how different culture is that if
it is annexed to be part of the United States then it is still part. It
talks about how treaty making can help to improve the expansion of the
country.
There also are some signs of departure of expansionism in the United
States mostly because as the early twentieth century approaches less
and less land was available to take over and obviously the only other
way to obtain land is war or treaties. Josiah Strong thinks that the
expansionism will end with the less amount of land available and will
eventually lead to war. He says, “The unoccupied arable lands of the
earth are limited, and will soon be taken.” He goes on to talk about
after all the land is taken war will break out, this foreshadows WWI.
The platform of the Anti-Imperialism League in 1899 talks a lot about
how the country does not need to take over the Philippines and shed
more blood, instead the country should focus instituting the country
and move away from expanding the country’s territory. They say, “The
aspiration for liberty of a vast immigration are forces that will hurl
aside those who in the delirium of conquest seek to destroy the
character of our institutions.” This basically says that all the people
who are abandoning our country to try to expand the country and destroy
other countries should be cast aside. Theodore Roosevelt sends an
annual message to Congress on December 6, 1904. It basically says that
any country that has established itself as a successful country and can
make it without any support will be a friend to the United States
because the country has no meaning to try to take over a country if
they are already a well established country. In fact, according
Roosevelt if the country makes friendly relations with these countries
then the well being of the United States will be higher because the
country has better relations. The message states, “All that this
country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly,
and prosperous.” He goes on to say that sometimes if a country such as
Cuba is falling and has a loose civilization then sometimes it is
necessary for the other countries to take control. After the United
States got Cuba back on its feet the interference was over and the US
evacuated Cuba.
All of these supporting articles show that there was a lot of
tension between people wanting to expand the US and also a lot of
people who wanted to just secure the US in its position and leave other
countries to do there own things. While Senator Beveridge says that we
should expand to Pacific countries such as Asia, Roosevelt states that
the US should just be friends with neighboring countries that are
already well established. Overall however it seemed that there was a
lot more push towards continuing the expansionism of the US rather then
departing it which is a perfect example of one of the main causes of
World War I. Because of all the country opportunities there was a
tension that grew between many European countries which resulted the
start of the war. Continuation of expansionism defiantly over powered
the departure of expansionism during the late nineteenth century and
early twentieth century.
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