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

Heimler's History2021-01-22

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💫 Short Summary

The video explores American imperialism from 1898 to 1945, detailing the expansion of the US's political, economic, and military influence. It discusses the purchase of Alaska, the debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists, and the motivations behind imperialism, including economic interests and the desire for new markets. The anti-imperialist perspective is also examined, focusing on the principles of self-determination for nations and the potential negative consequences of foreign entanglement.

✨ Highlights

📊 Transcript

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The video introduces Unit 7 of the AP US History curriculum, focusing on American imperialism from 1898 to 1945.

00:00

Imperialism is the expansion of one country's political, economic, and military influence over another country.

The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked America's entry into imperialist expansion.

There was a fierce debate between imperialists and anti-imperialists regarding the proper role of the US in the world.

Imperialists sought to justify expansion by securing new markets, raw materials, and promoting the idea of American cultural and racial superiority.

The anti-imperialists argued for the principle of self-determination for nations and warned against the negative consequences of foreign entanglement.

✦

Imperialists believed in the expansion of empires to secure new markets and raw materials, using the justification of social Darwinism and the need to compete with other global powers.

02:40

Imperialists wanted to promote American goods and believed in the superiority of the American way of life.

The idea of expanding American empire was also driven by the need to secure new markets for industrial and agricultural products.

Social Darwinism was used to argue that the strong nations have the right to expand and dominate others.

The desire to prevent America from being seen as a second-class nation also motivated imperialist expansion.

✦

The main arguments for the anti-imperialist camp focused on the principle of self-determination for nations and the potential negative consequences of foreign entanglement.

04:02

Anti-imperialists believed that by taking over less powerful countries, America would deny them the right to self-determination.

They cited George Washington's warning against foreign entanglement in their arguments.

There was a debate about whether the Constitution should apply to the people of territories where the American flag was planted.

Some anti-imperialists argued that this debate was a disguise for the real concern about the rights of people in the conquered territories.

00:00 hey there and welcome back to heimler's

00:01 history and further welcome to unit

00:03 seven of the ap us history curriculum

00:05 which covers the time period 1898 to

00:07 1945. this period kicks off with the

00:09 american foray into imperial expansion

00:11 so if you're ready to get them brain

00:12 cows milked imperial style then let's

00:14 get to it now as we consider american

00:16 empire in this video we're basically

00:17 trying to do one thing to explain the

00:19 similarities and differences and

00:20 attitudes about the nation's proper role

00:22 in the world so imperialism what is it

00:25 well imperialism is a term that

00:26 describes the expansion of one country's

00:28 political economic and military

00:30 influence over another country in other

00:32 words it's the expansion of empire and

00:34 you might be like america ain't no

00:36 empire but you would be wrong america

00:39 went ahead and dipped its toes into the

00:40 imperialist waters with the purchase of

00:42 alaska in 1867. you might recall that

00:44 both russia and great britain laid

00:46 competing claims to this territory and

00:48 so william seward who is lincoln and

00:50 then johnson's secretary of state

00:52 proposed a purchase of the territory for

00:54 7.2 million the act was branded seward's

00:56 folly because the territory was viewed

00:58 as a polar icebox with no particular

01:00 value that is until 1898 when gold was

01:03 discovered there and seward was like

01:06 so with this territory in the bag a

01:08 territory with no connection to the main

01:10 territory of the united states and

01:12 furthermore a territory with butt loads

01:14 of gold buried in it imperialistic

01:16 expansion all of a sudden felt a lot

01:18 more desirable not to mention the

01:19 territorial expansion was basically in

01:21 the dna of americans like the whole 19th

01:24 century is basically the story of

01:25 further westward expansion across the

01:27 continent and when frederick jackson

01:29 turner shed a single tear and told every

01:31 one of the dangers of the closing of the

01:33 frontier everyone else shed a single

01:35 tear with him and then realized hey

01:36 there's a lot of land in this world we

01:38 could just go take that thus began the

01:40 push for american empire we're gonna get

01:42 more fully into that in the next video

01:43 when we talk about the spanish-american

01:45 war but for now it's going to be

01:46 important for you to know that there was

01:48 a fierce debate concerning imperial

01:50 expansion between two groups the

01:52 imperialists and the anti-imperialists

01:53 the imperialists looked to the goal

01:55 discovered in alaska and concluded you

01:57 know if there's gold here and valuable

01:59 raw materials in alaska maybe there are

02:01 valuable raw materials in other places

02:03 as well so we could just take those in

02:05 addition to the desire for expanded

02:06 access to raw materials imperialist also

02:08 wanted to secure new markets for

02:10 american-made goods including both

02:12 manufactured items and agricultural

02:14 goods additionally imperialists took up

02:16 that janky pseudo-scientific theory of

02:18 social darwinism to justify expansion

02:20 remember social darwinism said that if

02:22 the natural order of things is that the

02:24 strong eat the weak and only the fittest

02:25 survive then why shouldn't that also be

02:27 the case with politics and economics so

02:30 to many imperialists american expansion

02:32 was the means by which america could get

02:33 on the international stage and flex its

02:35 giant pectorals of liberty after all

02:37 european nations have been expanding

02:39 their empires for centuries and if

02:40 america didn't join the game they might

02:42 be seen as a second class nation in that

02:44 case maybe your pectorals aren't as

02:46 juicy as you think additionally there

02:47 were racial motivations for expansion

02:49 case in point the reverend josiah

02:51 strong's book our country its possible

02:53 future and present crisis which was

02:55 published in 1895 but really found

02:57 purchased in this period essentially

02:59 strong argued that the white anglo-saxon

03:01 race was the pinnacle of human evolution

03:03 and therefore was the fittest to survive

03:05 and as a christian minister he added a

03:06 gloss of religiosity to the mix as well

03:09 like he argued that it was the christian

03:11 duty of the white race to expand itself

03:13 abroad and bring the glories of

03:14 christianity and western civilization to

03:16 the dark and backward lands of the world

03:18 which as it turned out was indeed

03:20 christian duty let's see what you did

03:21 there also influencing imperialist was a

03:23 book published in 1890 by alfred thayer

03:26 mahan called the influence of sea power

03:28 on history mahan argued that any country

03:30 that was strong on the world stage got

03:32 that way because they had a robust navy

03:34 and this he argued was the only way to

03:36 truly secure the foreign markets that

03:38 the industrialists were lusting after

03:40 and so persuaded by mahan's argument

03:42 congress approved the construction of a

03:43 massive new steel fleet of ships now it

03:45 may seem to you that that has nothing to

03:47 do with imperial expansion so let me

03:49 show you how it does if you're going to

03:51 rule the world through a navy then

03:52 you're going to need many strategic

03:54 pieces of land throughout the world

03:55 where you can land that navy and refill

03:57 it with coal and supply and so under

03:59 mahan's influence a great race began to

04:01 secure many pacific and caribbean

04:02 territories that could facilitate

04:04 american naval dominance okay so those

04:06 are the main arguments coming out of the

04:08 imperialist camp and now we're going to

04:09 consider the main arguments coming out

04:10 of the anti-imperialist camp the main

04:12 arguments for this group began with the

04:14 principle of self-determination for

04:16 nations self-determination was the idea

04:17 that a nation should be able to decide

04:19 for itself who ruled it and what laws

04:21 were passed maybe that sounds familiar

04:23 because those are the exact same

04:24 arguments colonial americans use to

04:26 reject british rule so the

04:27 anti-imperialists argued that if america

04:28 began taking over less powerful

04:30 countries they would be robbed of the

04:31 right to self-determination add to that

04:33 anti-imperialists argued that america

04:35 had a long history of isolationism from

04:37 foreign affairs and they invoked george

04:39 washington himself who in his farewell

04:41 speech warned against foreign

04:42 entanglement they said that if we go and

04:44 mesh ourselves in territories and people

04:46 around the globe it's going to have

04:47 consequences that are beyond our control

04:49 like we'll be drawn into wars and

04:51 economic disputes that we have no

04:52 business participating in but the

04:54 anti-imperialist also argued against

04:56 expansion with racial arguments just

04:58 like the imperialists did one of the

04:59 main debates between these two groups

05:01 was this did the constitution follow the

05:04 flag in other words if america goes and

05:05 plants a flag in the philippines for

05:07 example do those people become american

05:09 citizens endowed with american rights

05:11 and privileges now anti-imperialists

05:13 argued that the constitution should

05:15 follow the flag but that was not because

05:17 they in general thought other nations

05:19 should be granted constitutional rights

05:21 for anti-imperialists this was kind of a

05:23 ruse to hide what their true argument

05:25 against imperialism was namely what

05:27 happens when we take over a country full

05:29 of brown people like are they going to

05:31 become citizens with full rights

05:34 of course not so might as well not

05:36 expand at all okay that's what you need

05:38 to know about unit 7 topic 2 of the ap

05:40 u.s history curriculum if you need more

05:41 help on unit 7 and check this playlist

05:43 right here i've also got an ultimate

05:45 review packet that's going to help you

05:46 get an a in your class and a 5 on your

05:48 exam in may so if you're into that kind

05:49 of thing click away and finally if you

05:51 want me to keep making these videos then

05:52 you can let me know by subscribing

05:54 heimler out

💫 FAQs about This YouTube Video

1. What is imperialism in the context of American history?

Imperialism in American history refers to the expansion of the United States' political, economic, and military influence over other countries. It describes the nation's pursuit of overseas territories and influence, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

2. What were the main drivers of American imperialism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

The main drivers of American imperialism during this period were economic interests, the desire for territorial expansion, belief in the cultural and racial superiority of the United States, and the aspiration to compete with other global powers.

3. How did the acquisition of Alaska and the discovery of gold contribute to a shift in the perception of imperialist expansion?

The purchase of Alaska and the discovery of gold in the territory contributed to a shift in the perception of imperialist expansion by demonstrating the potential economic value of acquiring new territories. This event increased the desire for further overseas expansion and shaped attitudes towards imperialist policies.

4. What were the key arguments and attitudes of the imperialists and anti-imperialists during the debate on American imperial expansion?

The imperialists supported American imperial expansion, citing the benefits of economic growth, the spread of American values, and the idea of manifest destiny. On the other hand, the anti-imperialists opposed expansion, emphasizing the importance of self-determination for other nations and expressing concerns about the potential negative consequences of imperialist policies.

5. How did the concept of American imperialism during this period impact international relations and the global perception of the United States?

The concept of American imperialism during this period significantly impacted international relations and the global perception of the United States. It led to the acquisition of overseas territories and involvement in international conflicts, shaping the U.S.'s role as a major world power and influencing its interactions with other nations.

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