Imperialism
This commonly used phrase "the white man's burden" was a running factor during the time of Imperialism. Americans believed that it was the white man's burden to bring these 3rd world countries into the light of democracy and change them, just as we did in the progressivism unit.
Political
1.)In 1898, the Spanish-American war took place. McKinley was in office during this war and it was between Spain and the U.S. with Cuba. This war started because of the naval boat, the U.S.S. Maine exploding, the spark for a Cuban Revolution and jingoism, which was attitude or aggression toward nationalism. This was a "splendid little war" because it only took place for about six months, not many people were wounded or killed and the United States gained many new territories, such as the Phillipines, Alaska, Cuba, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal.
2.)The three presidents in office during the imperialist era, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Woodrow Wilson, each came up with different plans and had different standpoints on the U.S. For instance, Roosevelt had what was known as the "Big Stick" diplomacy plan. In other words, the United States would use force to maintain stability in Latin America, and would send in the Marines otherwise. Taft came up with the "Dollar" diplomacy. With this, U.S. would pay the Latin American debts for them, and if the U.S. citizens were not reimbursed, the Marines would be sent in. Finally, Wilson wanted "Moral" diplomacy. He was anti-imperialistic, and this moral diplomacy meant focusing on the morals of the citizens, and the rights and freedoms of everyone.
Economic
1.)Foreign investments were increased during this because of the Spanish-American War. International trade went up due to the further expansion of our government and way of life (imperialism).
2.) Open Door Policy.Since 1843, China had been struggling to control trade between themselves and other countries. Then in 1895, Japan took control of China's government. While China became weaker, the European powers of Great Britain, France, Russia, and Germany, took their chance to pressure China into separating their country into different spheres of influence. The U.S. had a fear of being excluded from Chinese trade. What did they do about it? In 1899, Secretary of State John Hay created the Open Door Policy, which called for ALL countries to have equal trade as well as investment in China.
Social
1.)The "White Man's Burden", a phrase used commonly to describe the mentality of those during the imperialism movement. Americans believed that by moving outside its boarders, democracy could flourish, struggling countries would become great ones by simply imperializing them. This was the "burden" put on the Americans, or white men, to improve the world one struggling country at a time.
2.)The Boxer Rebellion was made to drive all foreigners out of China. A group during the Boxer Rebellion called the Fists of Righteous Harmony, was actually a secret society that attracted thousands of followers and were called "Boxers", because they could perform martial arts. They believed they had magical powers and that foreign bullets could not harm them whatsoever. The point of this group was to overthrow the imperial Ch'ing government and expel all "foreign devils" from China.
Progress?
Imperialism was a time of progress within America, but regress within the rest of the world. America's army, especially the Navy (Perry's trip to Japan displayed that), American politics were all able to grow and flourish. But through our conquests of smaller, independent nations, we yet again trampled over rights and liberties that that countries' people had enjoyed throughout the course of history. One great example is the Philippians, a place where we had no business to be in, revolted against Americans attempting to "aid" the country (revolting came when we tried to annex them). Through imperialism, we saw just how "liked" we were throughout the world, America became known as slightly the bad guy in the world. During imperialism, America became, and still is known today, as the police of the world. A title many disapprove of.
How Imperialism leads to WWI
Nearly every country began imperializing, taking up all of the extra land that was either inhabited, or that was a lesser country. What's the next place to go for more land when there isn't any extra left? The answer came to Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Britain, etc. when WWI broke out. Tensions between countries on the imperialistic level pushed until the brink of war. One example was the common tension between America and Japan, which began when Matthew Perry paid an unexpected visit to Japan with his fleet of Naval battleships and destroyers. This tension and thirst for more land, due to low recourses (especially for the landlocked Germany), sparked the first World War, the Great War.