American Democracy - Essay Example

American Imperialism and American Democracy American Democracy has developed in lines remarkably similar to European Imperialism since the Spanish American War of 1898. The belief in the existence of an “American Empire” has been fuelled by its aggressive policies, its annexation of Pacific territories and its acceptance of many capitalist outlooks. Other colonies- turned- democracies shunned imperialism, which had controlled them for so long and embraced a government that was for the people, by the people and of the people. The United States of America followed this trend until 1898, when its victory against Spain allowed it to acquire an overseas empire in the Pacific, a naval base in Cuba and exclusive rights to one of the most important waterways in the world: The Panama Canal. The actions that were taken in the U.S.A, after 1898, proved that American Democracy had changed its stance from Isolationism, supported by the Monroe Doctrine, to Neo-Imperialism, supported by a new Foreign Policy, which allowed the country to garner political hegemony in the world. Imperialist ambitions took root even before the Spanish American War when the American Minister to Hawaii, John. L Stevens and his friend Lorrin Thurston sought to overthrow the existing monarchy under Queen Liliuokalani and bring Hawaii under American rule. They got their chance on January 14, 1893, the Queen declared her intention to allow only Hawaiian natives to vote. Americans in Hawaii were to have no say in who would be elected to the Queen’s government. This gave Thurston and Stevens the excuse they needed to overthrow Hawaii. When Thurston visited the White House and asked the Secretary of the Navy, Benjamin Tracy, what the President had said with regard to his annexation plans, Tracy replied: “the President does not think he should see you, but he authorizes me to say that, if conditions in Hawaii compel you people to act as you have indicated, and you come to Washington with an annexation proposition, you will find an extremely sympathetic administration here.” [Kinzer, 17]. It therefore appeared that Thurston had the support of the United States in his annexation efforts. The United States even offered to pay the Queen the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty thousand dollars as compensation for her surrendering Hawaii’s sovereignty (Kinzer 17). Thurston however, knew that the Queen would not accept the bribe and that her many loyal supporters in Hawaii would not allow the white minority to take Hawaii by force. So Stevens called in outside help, by stationing an American Warship near Hawaiian shores. Thurston and his comrades threatened to use it in battle if the Queen did not relinquish the island’s sovereignty to the United States. She gave in to Thurston’s demands and allowed Hawaii to be annexed. To this day, it is still unclear if Stevens even had Washington’s permission to use that impressive warship. Later, when the Americans won the Spanish American War, they annexed the Philippines and other small Pacific Islands into the United States. This was against the Monroe Doctrine, which had clearly stated that the United States of America was not subject to the whims of Imperialist nations and that isolationism was the best answer for American foreign policy. The annexations were condemned within America by an organization called the American Anti - Imperialist League; but supporters of the annexation claimed that there had been no distinct Filipino nation before U.S annexation, that it was America’s job to civilize the backward Filipinos and that possession of the archipelago would result in immense commercial and strategic advantages [Kinzer, 49]. This appeared to demonstrate the subtle shift in American policy away from isolationism towards the philosophy of imperialism. Prior to the Spanish American War of 1898, Americans had been staunch supporters of self-government and isolationism. The Monroe Doctrine was not just a warning to Imperialists to leave America alone; it was also a denunciation of colonial policies and actions. The American Revolution had served as a beacon of hope to other colonies in The Middle East, South Asia and Africa as it supported liberty and equality for all humankind. The expansion into the Pacific, during 1898, thus represented the great aberration on the part of the United States, since the annexations were against everything the United States stood for. But there was economic opportunity in these ventures, which was not missed by the elite foreign policy elements, i.e. the businessmen, intellectuals, politicians, bureaucrats and newspapermen, who thought that President Roosevelt’s new foreign policy was a decisive step to making America an economic powerhouse. Americans were influenced by Social Darwinism and Protestant trumpeting to believe that their country’s success was due to the fact that it was evolutionarily superior and chosen by God to be an invincible nation. This changed their viewpoint, allowing them to modify democratic ideals for commercial success. Although the United States never displayed such blatant imperial action after the 1898 annexations, it still continued to exert subtle economic domination, using the fact that it was a Democratic nation to find foreign markets in which it could trade its manufactured goods for cheap raw materials. This practice was later described as ‘Neo-Imperialism’. In my opinion, the lure of economic opportunity was the major reason for Americans rejecting their previously laid out foreign policy of isolationism and turning to Neo-Imperialism. Americans also felt superior after the victory of 1898 and according to the doctrine of Social Darwinism were probably not content with being just another nation as opposed to a leading world power like Britain or France. Also, the early 1900s was a time of major industrial expansion for America and they needed access to foreign markets because of overproduction. Early colonial nations wanted to completely control foreign shores and their markets, but the United States exerted indirect economic control by tilting world markets in its favor and gaining excess wealth in this manner. Capitalism also gained a strong foothold in America in later years and was another reason for the United States to continue down their path of informal colonialism rather than pure democratic principles. The United States was growing far too fast economically, politically and socially to revert to its original ideals and desires as a democratic society. It adopted this new method of indirect imperialism, which came to be known as ‘American Imperialism’. Works Cited: 1. Kinzer, Stephen. Overthrow: America’s Century of regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. U.S.A: Macmillan Publishers, 2006. Read More