Then, after McKinley declared war upon the Spanish in 1889, America could use imperialism to gain land and power in the world. America declared war on Spain in April 1889, not to gain land, but to assist Cuba in gaining its independence. Only later into the war, it realized how it can benefit through imperialism. The newly acquired land increased America’s resources and gave them new countries to trade with and worked as an advantage for the U.S. military as well. Turner believed that the idea of the frontier shaped the American being and their characteristics.
As a lot of Americans call it, the Spanish-American war was a splendid little war. The war caused America to gain a lot and lose very little. Even though there has been a few negative effects as the result of the war, the United States changed history by acquiring more ports, territories and by building bigger navies. American imperialism was what Americans wanted the most. They wanted to extend their political, military and economic control all over the world.
became a super power was that after WW2, the American government saw a need to keep a vigilant watch on countries that wanted to harm U.S. interests. After the World Wars, enemy countries saw how rich the U.S. was in resources and wanted to capitalize on those resources. Also, they saw the threat of democracy on their own way of life in which those countries' saw the spread of democracy spread further into Europe soon after WW2. (2011, Lagon, M.P.) The differences between foreign policy before and after WW2 were very different.
On the other hand the Philippines lacked supplies and proper equipment and training. This forced then to surrender within the first few months of the war. The US was also driven by their geo political powers which included establishment of a strong navy to safeguard the property and citizen. The ideas of Roosevelt Theodore, captain Mohan, canon Charles, and Cabot Henry Lodge remained the key for all wanted to make the US have the greatest power projecting power overseas. The efforts resulted to the capture of new markets like Cuba, Guan, Rico and Puerto.
The U.S is not justified in annexing the Philippines and fighting a war to keep it because it was just a chance to exploit people and land to earn power and prestige. On April 25, the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor sent by President McKinley to protect U.S citizens. Cuba was the first to initiate its own struggle for independence. Spain used ruthless brutal tactics to bring down the revolt where the U.S intervened due to sympathy for Cuban rebels.
Panama Crisis * Theodore Roosevelt, who became president of the United States in 1901, believed that a U.S.-controlled canal across Central America was a vital strategic interest to the U.S. * The Panama Canal would shorten the distance that ships had to travel to pass between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal would permit shippers of commercial goods, ranging from automobiles to grain, to save time and money by transporting cargo more quickly. * Failed negotiations with Colombia, which owned Panama, led to the U.S. providing funds and a naval blockade in support of Panama's revolution. In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence.
The USA was influenced to war heavily by Cuba, which was still part of Spain’s American empire, In 1895 Cuba wanted to become independent however it was still under the Spanish control which made it hard to become free. When Cuban nationalists, led by Jose Marti, began a revolt against Spanish rule they were backed by America however they were quickly dealt with by the Spanish army. The president at the time William McKinley also believed in the moral perspective of the Whiteman’s burden so they supported the Cuban population. The harsh methods of the Spanish (to stop the Cuban revolt) were criticised by the Americans, where there was a strong support for American intervention in Cuba. In February 1989 those who were seeking intervention got a big opportunity as the warship, the USS Maine, was blown up whilst stationed on the harbour of Havana.
The Spanish-American War, 1898 The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power. U.S. victory in the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims on Cuba, and to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The United States also annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war enabled the United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region and to pursue its strategic and economic interests in Asia. The war that erupted in 1898 between the United States and Spain was preceded by three years of fighting by Cuban revolutionaries to gain independence from Spanish colonial rule.
The war had created the division of two superpowers; The Soviet Union and The United States. After 1945, the United States had become the leading power due to it’s military strength and economic advantages after the war and Soviet Union play it’s role to challenge the state’s power (Young & Kent: 2) due to it’s ideology of communism and wanted to expand their influence globally, in which the United States wanted to prevent this from happening because their idea was absolutely conflicted with the Soviet Union; capitalism (Young & Kent: 6). These two countries reshaped Europe and the world. In contrast, World War II also weakened Britain’s and France’s powers because both of these countries faced a devastated loss by the war especially Britain. Likewise, both of the powers had to dismantle their colonies and ended their overseas and territorial empire.
When the French and Indian War broke out between the British and the French, Britain hoped to use the colonies as an extra source of wealth to fight the war. As the area for war expanded from India to North America, the cost of the war increased dramatically. This lead Britain to impose new forms of taxes such as the stamp act which put a tax on legal documents and the sugar act which put a tax on sugar (which at the time was a commonly used product used in the colonies), and new regulations like the navigation acts, to prevent the colonies from trading with foreign nations. The colonies did not agree with Britain’s imposition of the new laws as they were not fighting the war. The colonists believed that they should have separate laws from Britain because they are not directly represented in parliament.