Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Imperialism - Essay Example

The paper "Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Imperialism" is an outstanding example of a history essay. He is certainly one of the greatest American presidents that ever lived, Theodore Roosevelt; the twenty-sixth president of the United States of America recorded several landmarks during his reign as the president and wrote his name in gold in the annals of the American history.

Roosevelt made ground-breaking policies locally and internationally. In carrying out his domestic policies, President Roosevelt reassured the average citizen of the USA that they would get a just treatment in his government and his foreign policies were targeted at promoting the integrity of America and improving the lives of the citizens of other countries. He was known for using this statement ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick’, which could be simply explained as little and meaningful actions, would definitely yield good results and this happened as Roosevelt recorded tremendous success during his eight-year reign as the president (Roosevelt).
Locally, he promoted the health of American citizens by signing The Pure Food and Drug Act and The Meat Inspection Act of 1906 into law. These laws helped ban the sales and manufacture of Food, Drug and Meat products that had deceptive labels and poisonous preservatives.
One of Roosevelt’s foreign policies led to the construction of the Panama Canal as he negotiated with the United States Congress over the decision to build the canal in Panama instead of Nicaragua. Roosevelt issued an addendum to the Monroe Doctrine; a policy that made the US come to the aid of smaller countries in solving their financial problems. He also helped to bring an end to the Russo-Japanese war and won a Nobel Laureate for Peace for his efforts (Roosevelt).
After losing a reelection campaign in 1912, Roosevelt traveled to South America and was infected with malaria on the trip and he died as a result of the disease in 1919 at the of 60.
Imperial states in Europe tried to expand their frontiers as they sought to be in command of the trade of their colonies. In the late 19th century, Europe increased its imperialism by annexing overseas territories and this extended into Asia, Africa and the Pacific (Hobson).
The European powers started this wave of expansion mainly for economic gains in order to export the excess capital of the capitalist economies of these countries. The rise of Imperialism also was also driven by political and ideological motives.
The main reason the United States of America was also involved in imperialism during the late 19th century was also due to the fact that they wanted to have an economic and political influence on the world. The US joined the imperialism frenzy in reaction to the impact the European imperialism already had on the world. They wanted to ensure that their futures were secured politically and economically, hence their decision to join the league of imperialists. Read More