Question

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, new U.S. territorial ambitions and acquisitions in the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific accompanied heightened public debates over America's role in the world.1. Imperialists cited economic opportunities, racial theories, competition with European empires, and the perception in the 1890s that the western frontier was "closed" to argue that Americans were destined to expand their culture and institutions to peoples around the globe.

2. Anti-imperialists cited principles of self-determination and invoked both racial theories and the U.S. foreign policy tradition of isolationism to argue that the U.S. should not extend its territory overseas.3. The American victory in the Spanish-American War led to the U.S. acquisition of island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific, an increase in involvement in Asia, and the suppression of a nationalist movement in the Philippines.

Answer 1

1. (a) the Alfred Thayer Maltan’s Influence of Sea Power Upon History- this gives an importance of a strong navy.

(b) the Crisis of 1890 and the “closure of the frontier”-this implies that in order to justify imperialism, we claimed the west was “full” and therefore closed to further expansion

(c) the frederick Jackson Turner’s Significance of the Frontier in American History-this is an essay on a study of expansion and settlement of a succession of “Wests”

(d)an finally the yellow Journalists- such as William R. Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer pushed agendas for newspaper sales; they were one of the reasons we entered into the Spanish-American War and it led to the death of alot of people.

2.

(a) the Anti-Imperialist League-organized to protest annexation of the Philippine Islands

(b) the Issue of imperialism in the Election of 1900- McKinley and William J. Bryant ran against one another. McKinley was pro-imperialism while Bryant was anti-imperialism.

3.

(a) the treaty of paris ended the Spanish american war, they gained puerto rico, guarm and the philippines.

(b) emilio aguidaldo and the US Philippines war- actually the Philippines wanted to be independent after Spain gave the islands to america, aguidaldo led insurgency group against america for three years.