History Discussion ch22 - Assignment Example

First of all, I do not agree to the assertion of General Leonard Wood that the Cubans fully believed and considered the U.S. as their liberator that time. One reason is that many of the Cubans during that time were doing protest and resistance movement for their real freedom. The U.S. do not really gave independence to the Cubans from the Spaniards that time. Instead, Cuba became a new territory of U.S. by the very systematic manner of annexation. Also, the Cubans might not agree with Wood’s notion of U.S. as a “their faithful friend” for it has a different agenda behind its actions towards Cuba. The U.S.

said that the reason for their action towards Cuba is primarily for humanitarian purposes and to help the country improve and develop their welfare from their liberation from Spain. However, it is also inevitable to consider that the U.S. sees a big economic potential from the country and they want to use it for their own benefit. Through this, they will not only gain economic power but also supports their notion of expansionism. 2. The factors that shaped the American foreign policy in the late 19th century were based on the different rationales for imperialism.

It includes the racism and social Darwinism, righteousness, Mahanism and economics. For racism and social Darwinism, they believed that the Anglo-Saxon race is superior to any other race and their influence must be imposed to other countries for these countries to develop and ascertain national stability. For righteousness, they see to it that their religion, with American influence, should be propagated to other countries as well. Mahanism refers to the belief that the national security of the U.S. needed a substantial military, economic and territorial expansion.

And lastly for economics, the policies to be made should provide outright access for the U.S. to foreign markets, raw material and investment opportunities. The factors are interrelated because the entire factor should be taken into consideration before the American foreign policy can be made. In general, the several American foreign policies that time were primarily based on the notion of expansionism and U.S.’s goal for gaining international power. 3. The American politicians and diplomats are actually divided regarding the American foreign policies imposed that time.

The political and diplomatic system of the U.S. is separated to whether they are Republican or Democratic. The Republicans are actually very supportive of the policies because it favors their stand on expansionism. They believe that the U.S. can gain international power by expansionism and that it would greatly influence the world. However, the Democrats were not so supportive of the policies for they do not fully approve the concept of expansionism. In relation to this conflict, the U.S. also became segregated on which party to support.

Several private groups and government institution supported either parties and even the national elections that time are also affected by this issue. Depending on the winning party, the manner of imposing and implementing foreign policy is varied. However, in general, the concept of expansionism was greatly implied in any American foreign policy. 4. I think that it is very obvious today on whether to what extent was the U.S. emergence as an imperial power. Today, the U.S. influence on the world is very remarkable and potent.

From a supposedly developing country after their liberation from European influences, America has now grown into an imperial superpower. They are very good in making policies and even very efficient in implementing it. Its earlier policies and national development were primarily done to improve its own welfare. However, their big steps into implementing foreign policies and extending its welfare with the concept of expansionism have given great benefits to the country. It has now gained its place in the world and is recognized in almost all countries.

The country is even considered as having a great and important part in every decision for international welfare. 5. The U.S. is very effective in their interventions in the Latin America. Their primary objective is to help the countries (Cuba, Panama, etc) in their development from the Spaniard colonization. Using American foreign policies, their goal was to keep the Latin American countries as part of their territory and spread their influence to these countries. Another objective of conquering the Latin America countries is for their own benefit as well.

They see a great economic advantage by making these countries their territory. The U.S. can have the resources they needed without spending too much on production and labor. They have also gained some political control with these countries and even have influenced their national policies. 6. The policies of other nations have greatly shaped the development of the American foreign policy. The well known policy which has great impact on American foreign policy is the Open Door policy of China. This has the greatest impact since this policy have greatly boosted the development of the U.S. welfare.

Since this policy has taken great interest from other countries, like Japan and Russia, as well, the U.S. has greatly improved its foreign policy so that the greatest benefit will be towards them. They have modified their relations with China and imposed policies that would give the China an impression that the U.S. wants both countries to benefit from these provisions. The U.S. greatly took advantage of this policy and they are very successful with it. Reference: LaFeber, Walter. The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860-1898.

American Historical Association. USA: Cornell University Press. 1963