American Imperialism - Essay Example

The term imperialism is almost exclusively associated with colonial exploits of major European powers such as Britain, France and Germany in the West; and China and Japan in the East. Although a late joiner of the imperial club, the United States is by far the most dominant in this group. With the entity called the United States of America having emerged only toward the end of the eighteenth century, it was only in the subsequent centuries it meaningfully expressed its imperial goals. The perception of the United States as an imperialist state was first mooted in the early part of the nineteenth century and the outbreak of the Spanish-American war in 1898 confirmed this fact.

Indeed, the final years of the 19th century saw the peaking of American imperialist aggression as it occupied Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippine Islands – the latter two eventually becoming American colonies. (Lens & Zinn, 2003) The early indicators of imperialist tendency can be found in the founding documents of the country. Even luminaries such as Thomas Jefferson have articulated an imperialist vision for the United States in no unclear terms. The annexation of Louisiana in the eighteenth century is seen as the first act of this vision. . Empire expansion was also projected as benign and compassionate, for Christian missionary work was invariably associated with it.

Propaganda also had it that the standards of living of subjects of the empire will eventually rise. On the whole, imperialist enterprise was promoted using these vapid and empty slogans and motives. (Lens & Zinn, 2003) Recognizing the duplicity and dubiousness of these claims, intellectuals both within and outside the country started expressing their discontent. The ruthlessness and gruesomeness with which Filipino uprising was crushed evoked shock and anger among some of America's illustrious citizens including Andrew Carnegie and William James.

It is in this context that they founded American Anti-Imperialist League in 1899. “We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends toward militarism, an evil from which it has been our glory to be free. We regret that it has become necessary in the land of Washington and Lincoln to reaffirm that all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We maintain that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

We insist that the subjugation of any people is "criminal aggression" and open disloyalty to the distinctive principles of our Government.” ( Platform of the American Anti-imperialist League, 1913, p.77) The League might have been promoted by well-known leaders of the American cultural landscape, but it had the backing of numerous lesser-known liberals. The identification of American foreign policy as imperialist might seem politically radical for a modern reader, but during the 19th century there was a vibrant Left-Liberal tradition in American political discourse.

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