The first example of American Imperialism is the conflict between Britain and Venezuela over land off the coast of Venezuela. America really did little, but the minute they were involved Britain backed off so as not to upset America. This showed America what kind of power they had, among the other countries. This is where the U.S. began to gain it’s ego, where it decided to increase it’s external influence, specifically in the Southern Americas.
The biggest show of American Imperialism during this time period, was the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine was a document whose purpose was to protect the countries of South America. It said that any attempt to colonize or invade a South American country would be taken as a direct threat against the U.S. Basically trying to assert it’s dominance over the region, using it’s newfound power and influence over the other countries of the world. The Monroe Doctrine eventually led to a large, direct conflict with Spain in Cuba. Spain controlled Cuba, and continued to raise revenues. At a certain point, Cuban citizens had enough and there was an open revolt against Spain. The Spanish militarily put down the rebellion, and dominated them, much like Stalin tried to do in Eastern Europe. When the American public was made aware of what was going on in Cuba, there were rallies, with the people telling the Government to help. Eventually, the government decided to, and a battleship was ordered their, to help with the chaos. When the ship was sunk, the U.S. blamed Spain, and the order for war was given by President McKinley April, 1898. The U.S. rolled over the Spanish in less than two months, with Theodore Roosevelt leading his infamous cavalry and George Dewey’s superior naval commanding skills. After this, the U.S. remained until a new government had been established. This shows the U.S. exerting it’s power in South America, using the Monroe Doctrine to it’s full capacity.
The final example of American Imperialism in the late 1800s is Hawaii. The incident started with Pearl Harbor. The U.S. negotiated a treaty with Hawaii, which allowed them to build the Pearl Harbor Naval Base. The U.S. soon began to control sugar plantations. When Queen Liliuokalani opposed U.S. control, the U.S. replaced the tariffs that it had lifted. As the Hawaiian economy began to fail, the plantation owners began to take power and were able to remove the Queen from power. Hawaii applied for annexation and was approved in 1898.
From these things we can see how and why the U.S. was viewed as imperialistic during the late 1800s. It all started with the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine led to the conflict with Spain over Cuba, and the Spanish-American War. This resulted in the domination and annexation of Hawaii. Thus, Roosevelt’s quote is shown to be exemplified by the late 19th century United States.
