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American Imperialism
Around the nineteenth century America was considering national expansion and imperialism. European global expansion had actually begun in the fifteenth century, but theprocess greatly accelerated in the nineteenth century. Latin America and the seaports of Asia and Africa were the first to be colonized by Europeans. Native Americans were conquered and subjugated toEuropean rule. It was in the best in best interest for American to consider national expansion and imperialism due to global competition. Americans were exploring the possibilities of natural expansionand imperialism because they desired military strength, they had a thirst for new markets and many Americans had a belief of cultural superiority.
Americans considered imperialism because ofmilitary strength. Alfred T. Mahan an Admiral of the U.S. Navy urged government officials to build up American naval power in order to compete with other powerful nations. “Captain A. T. Mahan of the U.S.navy, a popular propagandist for expansion, greatly influenced Theodore Roosevelt and other American leaders. The countries with the biggest navies would inherit the earth he said.” (Zinn, p.2) TheUnited States began building nine steel-hulled cruisers. There was constructions of modern battleship such as the U.S.S Maine that made the United States into the world’s third largest militarystrength. This benefited the United States because it allowed them to be more prepared to go conquer other lands and help them imperialize and become a more powerful country. Hawaii was a key island that weacquired, “[...] supremacy in the Pacific we should control the Hawaiian islands [...]” (Zinn, p.2). Hawaii was an important island located in the pacific ocean where many American merchants oftenstopped before continuing their way to China and East India. Hawaii allowed the United States to build a naval base at Pearl Harbor, which is one of the best ports. Pearl Harbors’ base became a...