"Our endeavors overseas are not for the purpose of empire, but rather salvation" -Theodore Roosevelt Evaluate Roosevelt's view on U.S. foreign policy by analyzing the quote. Include specific, historical examples from Chapter 27/28 and the primary sources we have looked at as a class. During the 19th century, the United States of America was a very isolationist country, but in the 1890s, due to rising exports, manufacturing capability, power, and wealth, it began to expand onto the world stage, using overseas markets to sell its goods. As a consequence, the “yellow press” took a hold onto American thought, romanticizing foreign ‘adventures’ and criticizing other world powers. Missionaries did their job of preaching that the savages of the world need to be civilized and Christianized.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Texas was a component of USA as per the Louisiana Purchase, however in 1819, Spain was granted the State during Florida negotiations. Mexico, together with Texas, gained independence by 1820 and the USA twice attempted in vain to have Mexico sell Texas to it. Texas was annexed by the USA after American immigrants settled in Texas prompting the outbreak of the May 1846 Mexican War. At annexation time, Mexico, after persuasion by Britain, had conceded to recognize Texas as an independent state provided that Texas would not join the USA. The USA therefore argued that it was not invading Mexican territory by annexing Texas since Texas had been independent nine years prior to the annexation.
Manifest Destiny was the belief widely held by Americans in the 19th century that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. Manifest destiny provided the dogma and tone for the largest acquisition of U.S. territory. It was used by Democrats in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico and it was also used to acquire portions of Oregon from the British Empire. But Manifest Destiny always limped along because of its internal limitations and the issue of slavery, says Merk, and never became a national priority. By 1843 John Quincy Adams, a major supporter, had changed his mind and repudiated Manifest Destiny because it meant the expansion of slavery in Texas.
Many Americans believe that God give them the power and duty to expand territory, strengthen the United States. The motivation of United States launched this war is a debatable subject. The origin and influence The term Manifest Destiny was popular in the 19th century, some Americans believed they had the destiny to expand American continent Territory, from the Atlantic coast to Pacific Ocean. The ideal of territory expansion is already had before the American Independence, but in 1845, The United States Magazine and Democratic Review editor John O'Sullivan published an essay “Annexation”. “…our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions”[2] This essay reveal John O'Sullivan claim United States had a destiny expansion .
The US was in a position where it had to preserve trade with foreign countries, especially China, and gain some territory before it was all conquered by other countries. The United States was not capable of keeping any sort of productive market for their goods. Another change from the initial expansionism was in the category of politics, in the justification for expansion. Before, they believed in Manifest Destiny, the right that god gave them to conquer foreign land, few had been against this. Now, they expanded on that notion to encompass the world, saying that it was their "duty" to help lower nations.
In reality, this was an extension of the United States’ imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th century. To substantiate this, the United States’ interests in Cuba, the invoking of the Platt Amendment and Cuba’s economic and political exploitation must be analysed. Nevertheless, one must first ask, “why would the United States have sought to establish an empire in the specified time period?” To answer this question, one must first examine the ideologies that surfaced during the 19th century in that country. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson asserted that Westward expansion “was the key to the nation’s health.” (History.com, 2009) Furthermore, John O’ Sullivan declared in 1845 that it was the United States’ “God-given right” (Browne & Carter, 2013) to “expand their civilizations and institutions across the breadth of North America” (Browne & Carter, 2013). The above resulted in the former Thirteen Colonies’ acquisition of the entire continent.
So, they immigrated to America to follow their ideals, which are expressed in Document A. They also tried to set up a democracy to show that religion was more important than money, as seen in Documents D and E. The colonists that settled in the Chesapeake region, however, were not as religious and lacked a similar aim. Document C describes the settlers of Virginia as older single men and a few older women. Based on this information, it can be concluded that the Virginian colonists were not planning on staying long in the New World and they were not there to create a democracy. Their main purpose was to dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold, and they would treat the other colonials as slaves to get it (document F).
Contrary to popular belief, the American Revolution did not bring about change, because the rights, class structure and government remained the status quo in the colonies. For the most part, the rights of the colonists did undergo a transformation because of the Revolutionary War. It is a widely held belief that the war was declared in defense of the natural rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, the war did little in protecting these rights. After the war, there was still no liberty for blacks; in fact, the colonists disliked the idea of granting freedom to Blacks that they refused their offer to fight on the side of the patriots.
Socially the war was not revolutionary because, there was still that one race that was not treated like they belonged and felt like they were taking up space. Politically the war was not revolutionary because, the imprisoned slaves were not allowed to be apart of the Declaration of Independence. Therefore Revolution was both revolutionary and not revolutionary because, of the three stated topics above. The American Revolution was the most important event in the history of the world since the birth of Christ,-stated by Richard Price. The Revolution was revolutionary based on economic factors because, as apart of the empire the colonies were protected from foreign invasion by the British military.
A). In April of 1846, President James K. Polk had an idea to expand the U.S from coast to coast and after Mexico denied selling land to Polk because they had Texas, Polk declared war on Mexico because they were weaker and would give more land. As a result of the Mexican War, the U.S acquired a lot of land. This acquisition of new land soon posed as a problem regarding slavery. The United States government did not know if slaves should or should not be allowed in the new land.