American Expansionism

Between the period of the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, expansionism was a major part of the United States. Since there were many advances in technology and knowledge of the world many different countries tried to expand there countries as much as possible. Between this period there was a lot of continuation of expansionism plus there was also a lot of departure of expansionism in the country. Many things contributed to this expansionism such as the American Diplomacy in China and the Gentleman's Agreement in Japan all contributed to the expansion of the United States.

Since there seemed to be a abundance of territory that was not claimed by any country, expansionism was a great option for lots of countries around the world. In a cartoon by Thomas Nast there is a great illustration of different countries expanding there territories. It is a picture of a world with three men around it and one is from Germany, one from Britain, and the last one is from Russia. They all have grab bags and they are picking from the world which shows how countries around the world were trying to gain as much territory as they could while it was available without fighting for it. This will play a big part in the lead to World War I. In an article about the interest of America in sea power, Alfred T. Mahan states a lot of things having to do with the territory of the US and its control over the ocean. He says, "America must now look outward. The growing production of the country demands it." He states that we should not allow all of our ports on both the Atlantic and the Pacific to be controlled by other countries because the United States is going to expand and we need all of our relations and ports on both oceans so that we can stay in control of our country. At the end he states three things that we should defiantly do to protect the country's expansionism. First he says that the chief harbors should be protected and the shore lines should also be protected. Second, he says that the naval force should be projected outward more to expand the water territory of the United States. Third, he says that no foreign force should acquire a coaling position within three thousand miles of San Francisco. Senator Albert J. Beveridge makes a statement to the 56th Congress starting out by saying, "The Philippines are ours foreverÐ'...And just beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets. We will not retreat from either." He is saying that the country should not give up the economical position of the United States because Asia is a great source for trade and expansion and if the country gives up the Philippines then the connection to China and Asia would be weak. He states, "Our largest trade henceforth must be with Asia. The Pacific is our oceanÐ'...And the Pacific is the ocean of the commerce of the future." He is saying that if the country moves more towards the Pacific ocean then there will be a greater commerce advantage therefore making the country bigger and stronger. A cartoon from 1900 of American Diplomacy shows how America is really interested in China. The picture illustrates Abe Lincoln in front of an open door to China. He is leaning up against a key titled American Diplomacy. In the Downes v. Bidwell the Supreme Court Decision shows the concern for expansion in the United States and that no matter how different culture is that if it is annexed to be part of the United States then it is still part. It talks about how treaty making can help to improve the expansion of the country.

There also are some signs of departure of expansionism in the United States mostly because as the early twentieth century approaches less and less land was available to take over and obviously the only other way to obtain land is war or treaties. Josiah Strong thinks that the expansionism will end with the less amount of land available and will eventually lead to war.