After World War I, American ambitions to innovate, expand and control new markets led to increased international trade.
It is the practice of exerting control over foreign entities by direct or indirect economic or political intervention. This is the practice of expanding power, sovereignty or both by acquiring territory or gaining political or economic control over other areas. This essay will focus on the American Presidents McKinley, Wilson, and Roosevelt’s role in American imperialism. Roosevelt’s most important achievement was the Panama Canal. It embodied American Imperialism. Roosevelt needed to intervene in foreign affairs to establish order and stability in order to be able to continue to exist in the world. Roosevelt organized a national uprising by Panamanian separatists to force Columbia to recognize the independence of Panama after Columbia’s government was difficult to negotiate with. This made Columbia a quasi-puppet state under American control and allowed the canal’s regulation to be dominated. Roosevelt proposed the Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. In it, the USA was allowed to ‘exercise global police power’ in Latin America when there were flagrant cases or impotence. This was done in order to demonstrate that the USA is a powerful country. This was a significant shift in American foreign policy. Roosevelt literally amended the Monroe Doctrine in order to justify his interventionalist strategy of gaining control over Panama Canal. This also shows America’s power to control a country.
Roosevelt’s imperialism was further supported by his collaborations in naval base construction with Alfred Thayer Mahan. Roosevelt was a close friend and Mahan was an investor in China. Therefore, Roosevelt accepted Mahan’s arguments and would pursue a forward-looking foreign strategy based on modern naval power. America would appear more powerful to countries with large sea powers than it does now, which would allow it to defend itself against other power attacks, especially those from Europe, and be able join the world’s top powers.
President McKinley was also an imperialist, as was President Roosevelt. The US provided significant support to Cuban nationalists who rebelled against Spanish rule in 1895. Although the US government was not interested in intervening in Cuba, McKinley felt that he could not resist being criticised by McKinley and so he decided to go to war. Congress passed the Teller Amendment, which prevented Cuba from becoming a US colony. American forces invaded Cuba to win the war. The Teller Amendment was repealed and the Platt Amendment of 2001 replaced it. This allowed the USA’s intervention in Cuba to protect its independence and stability if the situation was deemed ‘threat’. This would have allowed America to determine what was and was not a threat Cuba’s ‘independence. His use of force against Cuba by President McKinley made American imperialism the defining point of America’s isolationist status and displaying their imperialism.
The example of Mexico could suggest that President Wilson might have been an imperialist. Wilson sent American Marines to Vera Cruz in 1914 to restore order and occupy the territory. But this helped the military dictator Victoriano Huerta to consolidate his position, not overthrow it. Roosevelt was critical of Wilson’s toughness, while being criticized by the anti-imperialist forces for intervening. Wilson again intervened and sent in a large force of military personnel in 1916. American intervention proved unsuccessful and the army was disbanded in 1917. He did not intend to send American marines into Mexico. However, Wilson was not an imperialist. After the events in Mexico, Wilson returned to his original isolationist views.
The Monroe Doctrine was amended by Roosevelt to allow him to pursue his imperialist ideologies. McKinley had a major role in American colonialism, as he used force to subdue Cuba. However, this was his first presidential action, which demonstrates how imperialist McKinley’s motivations. Although President Wilson tried to use imperialist tactics in order to intervene Mexico, this was rebuffed and he returned to American isolationism.
