The Embargo Act of 1807 is perhaps the most contradictory decision Jefferson has made in his presidency. Due to impressments of America sailors into the British Army, as well as Great Britain and France both trying to hinder American trade with the other side, Jefferson passed the act which prohibited all foreign trade, to and from the United States. This obliterated any views he was believed to have of a weak central government. The
Starting with the much-revered English Constitution, Paine presents it as outdated and convoluted. Paine’s largest grievance, however, is with the entire concept of an absolute monarchy, claiming it to be against both nature and scripture. In quoting the scriptures, Paine is able to justify pursuing American Independence and the struggle for a Republic by presenting monarchical rule as ungodly. The exaltation and ‘worship’ of one man above others is, in Paine’s opinion, an ‘idolatrous custom of the Heathens’ and in contradiction to the Bible. Paine also states that hereditary succession inevitably opens the door to the foolish and the wicked and so must be oppressive in its
The speech Against Imperialism, was delivered by George Frisbie Hoar in May of 1902, four years after Spain had turned over all claim of Cuba as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, over to the United States after their defeat in the Spanish-American War. Hoar was a republican senator from Massachusetts who was opposed to the imperialism that many believed that America would soon begin to partake in. Hoar argued against the absorption of the Philippines, but lost the fight when President McKinley, also a republican, said that it would be within the duty of the United States to annex the Philippines. Hoar begins his speech by discussing the two different types of sentimentalities that were a part of the debate between 1898 and 1902
“I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.” - Alexis de Tocqueville. After the horrific and devastating World War II, independence was in high demand. Many independence movements along with revolutions, stopped colonization and imperialism and shaped the present world. These movements and revolutions needed strong leaders to create change. Many were against Nationalism such as Communists, causing rises for independence and unification.
However, despite Wilson's efforts, Congress rejected multilateralism because Great Britain, one of the US's strongest allies, disapproved. To protect its colonial interests, Britain created the Sterling Bloc – or the Commonwealth – which reduced tariffs on British colonies 2 1 Freeland, Richard M., The Truman Doctrine and the Origins of McCarthyism, New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1970, Print. 2 Ibid., p. 15-17. 3
Although the author was working as a police officer for the British Emperor, he strongly opposed the idea of Imperialism. His opposition is expressed throughout the story. I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I checked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically- and secretly, of course- I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.
The Problem James A. Field Jr. suggests that the “worst chapter” in American history texts deals with the end of the 19th century, largely because he believes the personalities and events from the 1860s to the early 1890s did not constitute “a preseason warm-up for imperialism and the projection of national power” by the United States. [Field, p. 660] However, Walter LaFeber in The New Empire argues precisely the opposite: that key American personalities and events did constitute a considered, even well-integrated, plan for the projection of U.S. national power into the Caribbean, the South Atlantic, and even into the Pacific and Asia in the 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s. Question: Which historian, Field or LaFeber, gets it right, and
This leads me to wonder why the U.S. decided to intervene in the Spanish War. I may never know the real reason but I would like to know. Ries and Weber stated; “The year 1898 was a landmark in the transition of the United States from a republic to an imperial power.” They no longer felt the need to acknowledge economic as being the motive for interest it is now talk of Democracy. Americans are still declaring they have values and standards and are the model for the rest of the world. How true that is yet to be seen as far as I am concerned.
October 2012 “Guarding the Golden Door” by Roger Daniels is an exquisite explanation of the American immigration system through history and in recent policies. Since 1882, the United States has claimed that their immigration goal was to prevent it from happening, while ironically enabling just the opposite. Consequently, the only true policy that has been applied to American immigration is that it is on a continuous loop of inconsistent policies, which are altered based on the current disposition of cheap labor for American industry demands. Most of the United States immigration policy has been created by individuals who failed to understand the effects of the plans they desperately tried to create, and who have created open door policies only to shut them. Perhaps one of the biggest flaws in the U.S. immigration policies over the past two centuries has been the fact that it is expensive to enforce immigration laws.
For decades, scholars have insisted that what most of us know instinctively to be true -- is false. Mocking the belief that individuals such as Julius Caesar, Adolf Hitler or Winston Churchill make history, experts focus on social forces. They explain the past with statistical studies and abstract theories, dismissing stories about individual initiative or heroism. While powerful economic, social and ideological movements dwarfing any individual do shape history, be it the high-tech boom, feminism or the rise of conservatism, we cannot underestimate the way a leader's action and inaction can change the world. Especially when assessing the American presidency and modern America, individual character -- and contingency -- count.