Justifications for Imperialism American imperialism is the economic, military, and cultural influence of the United States on other countries. Although some might say the US wasn't justified in becoming an imperial power because of Social Darwinist Thinking, world power, and religion, overall, they were justified because of military strategy, business interests, and the closing of the American frontier. America was justified in becoming an imperial power because of military strategy, business interests, and the closing of the American frontier. Alfred T. Mahan believed the key to success was a strong navy. A strong navy could do many things such as protect trade routes, and imperialism over other countries could lead to naval bases that could help protect these trade routes and help resupply ships. Also, America was justified in becoming an imperial power because of their business interests. America could use their obtained countries for an extractive economy. This means that the US would obtain raw materials from a country, send it home to be processed, and sell it for a profit. An example of this would be America colonizing Hawaii for their sugarcane. "Today we are raising more than we can consume. Today we are making more than we can use. Today our industrial society is congested; there are more workers than work, more capital than there is investment. Therefore, we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital, new work for our labor" (Albert Beveridge's Senatorial (IN) campaign speech 1898). He is saying that another reason for America to imperialize is to have a larger market for our goods. Another reason America was justified in becoming an imperial power was because of the closing of the American frontier. During this time, there were so many people in the west and their was no more room to farm, so the colonization of other countries could lead to more work for the American people. Some might say the US wasn't justified in becoming an imperial power because of Social Darwinist thinking, world power, and religion. Social Darwinist thinking was accompanied by White Mans Burden. White Mans Burden was the idea that America gets the raw materials and the other country gets civilization. There is no problem with America getting raw materials, but some people might think its wrong to force your way of life on someone else. Mark Twain said "Shall we? That is, shall we go on conferring our Civilization upon the peoples that sit in darkness, or shall we give those poor things a rest?" He is saying that we should leave others alone even if we think our way of life is superior. Another reason America wasn't justified in becoming an imperial power is because of the idea of world power. Many thought the US was just colonizing to be strong and well respected like the other countries, and to some people, this was the wrong reason to become an imperial power. Some people thought this because the US "saved" the Philippines from Spain when they had already won their independence from Spain. The last reason America wasn't justified in becoming an imperial power is because of religion. People believed that it was wrong for Americans to travel to other countries and try and convert them to Christianity. An example of this is when Christians went into China and tried to convert them. This resulted in The Boxer Rebellion in which Americans opened fire on Cinese who refused to convert. Their are many different reasons as to why America was justified in becoming an imperial power. Some of these reasons are military strategy, business interests, and the closing of the American frontier. Their are very few reasons as to why America wasn't justified in becoming an imperial power. Some of these scarce reasons are Social Darwinist thinking, world power, and religion. The reasons why America was justified in becoming an imperial power greatly outweigh the reasons as to why they were not because if America didn't imperialize then we wouldn't be the strong, powerful nation we are today.
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