Spanish American Imperialism

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the United States emerged as victors of the Spanish American war. As a result, they received territorial concession on behalf of the Spanish. These territorial gains were the start of an era of American imperialism and expansion. This expansion was both a continuation and a departure from previous foreign policy and expansion.
American imperialism demonstrated the same cultural and social justification of previous expansionism. Manifest destiny emerged in the 1840s and advocated a belief that America was destined by God to expand its borders across the continent in order to spread the blessings of liberty. As Senator Albert J. Beveridge explains in his 1900 speech to 56th Congress, this belief was
Past expansion had involved annexing nearby territory, such as land next to existing states that enabled the spread of American settlement; it helped to encourage the spread of agriculture and the American population, and the new territories were intended to become states. However, in the age of imperialism, new territory was acquired with the economic intent of use as a colony. It would provide raw materials and markets for the products of American factories. By denying citizenship to the inhabitants of the territory of the Philippines in the Insular Case Downes v. Bidwell the Supreme Court demonstrated that the Constitution did not “follow the flag”, therefore proving that the United States had no intention of granting new territories equal status to states. They would instead become colonies serving American economic interests that differed with the settlement-based expansion of past
In The Interest of America in Sea Power, Alfred T. Mahan expressed the need for America to prevent foreign acquisition of ideal territories that would serve American economic interests. He further mentioned the pressure that other expanding empires were putting upon the United States to acquire crucial territories before other world powers did. This pressure was also illustrated in Thomas Nast’s cartoon, “The World’s Plunderers.” It shows how world powers such as Germany, Britain, and Russia chose the countries they wanted to colonize at will. Theodore Roosevelt answered this demand by supporting the entering into the Spanish-American war, to acquire new territory. As president of the United States, Roosevelt would also be an advocate of America as a world power. He expressed in his Annual Message to Congress the responsibility of the United States to keep social and political stability of all nations in the Western Hemisphere. He compared his nation to an international police force that will dominate the affairs of all Latin American nations. This idea is also expressed in a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt, “speak softly and carry a big stick.” This political motivation was new to American imperialism, since past expansionism had only extended the country’s borders and maintained its policy of isolationism, as all