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What Is Imperialism?
The root word of imperialism is “empire.” To get an empire, a country takes over other countries. This could result in physically annexing, or adding, land adjacent to (next to) their own country, or taking over territory abroad. Thus, imperialism refers to a policy of a stronger country taking political, cultural, or economic control of other countries.
While imperialism has occurred throughout history, a new bout of imperialism began after the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. Industrialization had created demand in European countries for raw materials they couldn’t obtain at home. At the same time, it gave them the means to manufacture powerful weapons that increased their military power. By the time the United States became an imperial power, European countries had already claimed much of Africa and Asia.
The United States was “late to the party” because it was busy pursuing Manifest Destiny by increasing its territorial claims in North America instead of targeting potential acquisitions abroad. When the U.S. Census Bureau declared the frontier closed in 1890, however, some Americans began to wonder, “What next?”
Arguments For Imperialism
There were quite a few arguments to support American imperialism. A sea captain and naval admiral, Alfred Thayer Mahan, wrote a book called The Influence of Sea Power upon History in 1890. In this book, he asserted that, throughout history, all great nations had sea power. Therefore, to become a greater nation, the United States should increase its navy and acquire military bases.
Social Darwinists applied the idea of survival of the fittest to human societies. They argued that, if a country was successful, it was because that country was among the most “fit” for their environment. If a country or area was taken over by another country, it was because they were less “fit” for the environment. To a Social Darwinist, this was the natural order of things—that the same laws that governed nature were applied to politics and society. The very fact that imperialist nations were able to take over colonized nations was evidence of the imperialists’ “fitness.”
Some developments facilitated Americans’ change of attention to lands overseas, such as the perceived subjugation of Native Americans, which supposedly set a precedent for establishing control over foreign peoples. Other pro-imperialists worried about where American factories would get natural resources after the 1890 “closing of the frontier.” In addition to fears about natural resources, there were pro-imperialist arguments centered on markets for U.S. products. For example, due to advances in technology in the late 19th century, farms and factories were producing more than American citizens could consume, so pursuing imperialist policies could give the United States more people to buy the surplus products it had created or grown.
Arguments Against Imperialism
Members of the conveniently-named American Anti-Imperialist League argued that imperialism was immoral. The United States had itself been a colony that fought for liberty from an imperial nation, so league-members argued that it was hypocritical for the United States to go and acquire colonies.
Others who opposed imperialism put forth arguments that were a little more selfish. Some held racist views. They thought that people from a potentially annexed territory might be non-white and would “pollute” the American population. Still others were concerned about the economy: cheap labor from new colonies might unfairly compete with American workers.
