American Imperialism: Late Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth Century

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American Imperialism In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, America began to expand its power through imperialism. Imperialism is when a strong nation takes control over a weak nation through military and political force. In this case, the weak nation does not have the ability to self-govern itself, which gives that strong nation an advantage to gain control. There were many reasons in the support of and opposition of American imperialism, such as: commercial supremacy, fear, and problems with its allied nations. One of the first many reason in the support of American imperialism was the expansion of commercial supremacy- superior of trade. Many citizens of America wanted their country not only to expand in territory, but economically. With America having a strong trade relationship with other nations, American’s government continued to grow more powerful. By America having commercial supremacy, it will be “…sovereign factor in the peace of the world. …And the golden rule of peace is impregnability of position and invincibility…show more content…
For instance, people believed that American imperialism caused fear in America. American citizens questioned that “If the Philippines are (were) annexed what is to prevent the Chinese, the Negritos and the Malays coming to our country?” (Gompers, Samuel). The reason why they questioned this theory, is because they feared that their country’s action would led to other nations would imperialize them. This fear made people stop and think about American imperialism. American citizens also feared the outcome of imperialism. The citizens came to questioned that “If we attempt to force upon the natives of the Philippines our rule…how many lives shall we (Americans) take?” (Gompers, Samuel). The reason why the Americans questioned this theory, is because they did not want to kill innocence people through the process of
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