DEBATES About AMERICAN IMPERIALISM [APUSH Unit 7 Topic 2] Period 7: 1898-1945

Debates About American Imperialism

The video explains competing views of the United States’ role in the world as the country moved toward overseas expansion. Imperialism is the extension of one country’s political, economic, and military influence over another.

Background

• The United States had already expanded beyond the contiguous mainland through the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, proposed by Secretary of State William Seward.
• The purchase was mocked as “Seward’s Folly,” but the discovery of gold in Alaska in 1898 made its value more apparent.
• A long history of westward expansion, along with concerns about the closing frontier, contributed to interest in overseas expansion.

Arguments for Imperialism

Imperialists favored expanding U.S. influence for several reasons:

• Economic interests: Overseas territories could provide access to raw materials and new markets for American manufactured and agricultural goods.
• National status: They worried the United States would seem like a second-rate power if it did not compete with European empires.
• Social Darwinism and racial ideas: Some used Social Darwinism to argue that powerful nations were entitled to dominate weaker ones. Others claimed that white Anglo-Saxons were superior and had a duty to spread Christianity and Western civilization.
• Naval power: Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that great powers needed strong navies. Imperialists reasoned that a large fleet required overseas bases where ships could refuel and obtain supplies. This helped drive efforts to secure strategic locations in the Pacific and Caribbean.

Arguments Against Imperialism

Anti-imperialists opposed expansion on several grounds:

• Self-determination: They argued that peoples should decide who governs them and what laws they live under—principles Americans had invoked in resisting British rule.
• Isolationism and entanglements: Drawing on George Washington’s warning against foreign entanglements, they feared that overseas possessions could pull the United States into wars and economic disputes.
• The Constitution and race: The debate over whether “the Constitution followed the flag” asked whether people in newly acquired territories would receive U.S. citizenship and constitutional rights. Anti-imperialists argued that taking control of such places raised this question, while the debate also exposed racial opposition to granting full rights to nonwhite populations.

Central Takeaway

The debate over imperialism involved arguments about economics, national power, self-government, and the United States’ international responsibilities. Both supporters and opponents sometimes relied on racial ideas, though they used them to support different conclusions.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Speaker: Heimler, the video’s narrator.
• Historical figures and sources discussed:
  • William Seward, who proposed the purchase of Alaska.
  • Frederick Jackson Turner, whose argument about the closing frontier is referenced.
  • Josiah Strong, author of Our Country: Its Possible Future and Present Crisis.
  • Alfred Thayer Mahan, author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History.
  • George Washington, whose warning against foreign entanglements is cited.