essay on imperialism

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Course: US history   >   Unit 7

Introduction to the age of empire.

• The age of empire
• The Spanish-American War
• Imperialism
• The Progressives
• The Progressive Era
• The presidency of Theodore Roosevelt
• Progressivism

• In the late nineteenth century, the United States abandoned its century-long commitment to isolationism and became an imperial power.
• After the Spanish-American War , the United States exercised significant control over Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and claimed Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines as territories.
• Both a desire for new markets for its industrial products and a belief in the racial and cultural superiority of Americans motivated the United States' imperial mission.

The end of isolationism

The scramble for colonies, the united states becomes an empire, what do you think.

• See " Washington's Farewell Address ," courtesy Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University, 1796.
• See M.E. Chamberlain, The Scramble for Africa, 3rd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2013).
• See Frederick Jackson Turner, The Significance of the Frontier in American History , Proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1893.
• On the Anti-Imperialist League, see E. Berkeley Tompkins, Anti-Imperialism in the United States: The Great Debate, 1890–1920 , (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970).
• See Gretchen Murphy, Shadowing the White Man’s Burden: U.S. Imperialism and the Problem of the Color Line. (New York: NYU Press, 2010).

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From Imperialism to Postcolonialism: Key Concepts

An introduction to the histories of imperialism and the writings of those who grappled with its oppressions and legacies in the twentieth century.

Imperialism, the domination of one country over another country’s political, economic, and cultural systems, remains one of the most significant global phenomena of the last six centuries. Amongst historical topics, Western imperialism is unique because it spans two different broadly conceived temporal frames: “Old Imperialism,” dated between 1450 and 1650, and “New Imperialism,” dated between 1870 and 1919, although both periods were known for Western exploitation of Indigenous cultures and the extraction of natural resources to benefit imperial economies. Apart from India, which came under British influence through the rapacious actions of the East India Company , European conquest between 1650 and the 1870s remained (mostly) dormant. However, following the 1884–85 Berlin Conference, European powers began the “ Scramble for Africa ,” dividing the continent into new colonial territories. Thus, the age of New Imperialism is demarcated by establishment of vast colonies throughout Africa, as well as parts of Asia, by European nations.

These European colonizing efforts often came at the expense of other older, non-European imperial powers, such as the so-called gunpowder empires—the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires that flourished across South Asia and the Middle East. In the case of the Ottomans , their rise coincided with that of the Old Imperialism(s) of the West and lasted until after World War I. These were not the only imperial powers, however; Japan signaled its interest in creating a pan-Asian empire with the establishment of a colony in Korea in 1910 and expanded its colonial holdings rapidly during the interwar years. The United States, too, engaged in various forms of imperialism, from the conquest of the tribes of the First Nation Peoples, through filibustering in Central America during the mid-1800s, to accepting the imperialist call of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden,” which the poet wrote for President Theodore Roosevelt on the occasion of Philippine-American War. While claiming to reject naked imperialism, Roosevelt still embraced expansionism, promoting the creation of a strong US Navy and advocating for expansion into Alaska, Hawaiʻi, and the Philippines to exert American influence .

The Great War is often considered the end of the new age of imperialism, marked by the rise of decolonization movements throughout the various colonial holdings. The writings of these emergent Indigenous elites, and the often-violent repression they would face from the colonial elite, would not only profoundly shape the independence struggles on the ground but would contribute to new forms of political and philosophical thought. Scholarship from this period forces us to reckon not only with colonial legacies and the Eurocentric categories created by imperialism but also with the continuing exploitation of the former colonies via neo-colonial controls imposed on post-independence countries.

The non-exhaustive reading list below aims to provide readers with both histories of imperialism and introduces readers to the writings of those who grappled with colonialism in real time to show how their thinking created tools we still use to understand our world.

Eduardo Galeano, “ Introduction: 120 Million Children in the Eye of the Hurricane ,” Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent (NYU Press, 1997): 1 –8.

Taken from the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this classic text, Eduardo Galeano’s introduction argues that pillaging of Latin America continued for centuries past the Old Imperialism of the Spanish Crown. This work is highly readable and informative, with equal parts of impassioned activism and historical scholarship.

Nancy Rose Hunt, “ ‘Le Bebe En Brousse’: European Women, African Birth Spacing and Colonial Intervention in Breast Feeding in the Belgian Congo ,” The International Journal of African Historical Studies  21, no. 3 (1988): 401–32.

Colonialism affected every aspect of life for colonized peoples. This intrusion into the intimate lives of indigenous peoples is most evident in Nancy Rose Hunt’s examination of Belgian efforts to modify birthing processes in the Belgian Congo. To increase birth rates in the colony, Belgian officials initiated a mass network of health programs focused on both infant and maternal health. Hunt provides clear examples of the underlying scientific racism that underpinned these efforts and acknowledges the effects they had on European women’s conception of motherhood.

Chima J. Korieh, “ The Invisible Farmer? Women, Gender, and Colonial Agricultural Policy in the Igbo Region of Nigeria, c. 1913–1954 ,” African Economic History No. 29 (2001): 117– 62

In this consideration of Colonial Nigeria, Chima Korieh explains how British Colonial officials imposed British conceptions of gender norms on traditional Igbo society; in particular, a rigid notion of farming as a male occupation, an idea that clashed with the fluidity of agricultural production roles of the Igbo. This paper also shows how colonial officials encouraged palm oil production, an export product, at the expense of sustainable farming practices—leading to changes in the economy that further stressed gender relations.

Colin Walter Newbury & Alexander Sydney Kanya-Forstner, “ French Policy and the Origins of the Scramble for West Africa ,” The Journal of African History  10, no. 2 (1969): 253–76.

Newbury and Kanya-Foster explain why the French decided to engage in imperialism in Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. First, they point to mid-century French engagement with Africa—limited political commitment on the African coast between Senegal and Congo, with a plan for the creation of plantations within the Senegalese interior. This plan was emboldened by their military success in Algeria, which laid the foundation of a new conception of Empire that, despite complications (Britain’s expansion of their empire and revolt in Algeria, for instance) that forced the French to abandon their initial plans, would take hold later in the century.

Mark D. Van Ells, “ Assuming the White Man’s Burden: The Seizure of the Philippines, 1898–1902 ,” Philippine Studies 43, no. 4 (1995): 607–22.

Mark D. Van Ells’s work acts as an “exploratory and interpretive” rendering of American racial attitudes toward their colonial endeavors in the Philippines. Of particular use to those wishing to understand imperialism is Van Ells’s explication of American attempts to fit Filipinos into an already-constructed racist thought system regarding formerly enslaved individuals, Latinos, and First Nation Peoples. He also shows how these racial attitudes fueled the debate between American imperialists and anti-imperialists.

Aditya Mukherjee, “ Empire: How Colonial India Made Modern Britain,” Economic and Political Weekly  45, no. 50 (2010): 73–82. 

Aditya Mukherjee first provides an overview of early Indian intellectuals and Karl Marx’s thoughts on the subject to answer the question of how colonialism impacted the colonizer and the colonized. From there, he uses economic data to show the structural advantages that led to Great Britain’s ride through the “age of capitalism” through its relative decline after World War II.

Frederick Cooper, “ French Africa, 1947–48: Reform, Violence, and Uncertainty in a Colonial Situation ,” Critical Inquiry  40, no. 4 (2014): 466–78. 

It can be tempting to write the history of decolonization as a given. However, in the immediate aftermath of World War II, the colonial powers would not easily give up their territories. Nor is it safe to assume that every colonized person, especially those who had invested in the colonial bureaucratic systems, necessarily wanted complete independence from the colonial metropole. In this article, Frederick Cooper shows how conflicting interests navigated revolution and citizenship questions during this moment.

Hồ Chí Minh & Kareem James Abu-Zeid, “ Unpublished Letter by Hồ Chí Minh to a French Pastor ,” Journal of Vietnamese Studies  7, no. 2 (2012): 1–7.

Written by Nguyễn Ái Quốc (the future Hồ Chí Minh) while living in Paris, this letter to a pastor planning a pioneering mission to Vietnam not only shows the young revolutionary’s commitment to the struggle against colonialism, but also his willingness to work with colonial elites to solve the system’s inherent contradictions.

Aimé Césaire, “ Discurso sobre el Colonialismo ,” Guaraguao 9, no. 20, La negritud en America Latina (Summer 2005): 157–93; Available in English as “From Discourse on Colonialism (1955),” in  I Am Because We Are: Readings in Africana Philosophy , ed. by Fred Lee Hord, Mzee Lasana Okpara, and Jonathan Scott Lee, 2nd ed. (University of Massachusetts Press, 2016), 196–205.

This excerpt from Aimé Césaire’s essay directly challenges European claims of moral superiority and the concept of imperialism’s civilizing mission. He uses examples from the Spanish conquest of Latin America and ties them together with the horrors of Nazism within Europe. Césaire claims that through pursuing imperialism, Europeans had embraced the very savagery of which they accused their colonial subjects.

Frantz Fanon, “ The Wretched of the Earth ,” in Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts since Plato , ed. Mitchell Cohen, 2nd ed. (Princeton University Press, 2018), 614–20.

Having served as a psychiatrist in a French hospital in Algeria, Frantz Fanon experienced firsthand the violence of the Algerian War. As a result, he would ultimately resign and join the Algerian National Liberation Front. In this excerpt from his longer work, Fanon writes on the need for personal liberation as a precursor to the political awaking of oppressed peoples and advocates for worldwide revolution.

Quỳnh N. Phạm & María José Méndez, “ Decolonial Designs: José Martí, Hồ Chí Minh, and Global Entanglements ,” Alternatives: Global, Local, Political  40, no. 2 (2015): 156–73.

Phạm and Méndez examine the writing of José Martí and Hồ Chí Minh to show that both spoke of anticolonialism in their local contexts (Cuba and Vietnam, respectively). However, their language also reflected an awareness of a more significant global anticolonial movement. This is important as it shows that the connections were intellectual and practical.

Edward Said, “ Orientalism ,” The Georgia Review 31, no. 1 (Spring 1977): 162–206; and “ Orientalism Reconsidered ,” Cultural Critique no. 1 (Autumn 1985): 89–107.

As a Palestinian-born academic trained in British-run schools in Egypt and Jerusalem, Edward Said created a cultural theory that named the discourse nineteenth-century Europeans had about the peoples and places of the Greater Islamic World: Orientalism. The work of academics, colonial officials, and writers of various stripes contributed to a literary corpus that came to represent the “truth” of the Orient, a truth that Said argues reflects the imagination of the “West” more than it does the realities of the “Orient.” Said’s framework applies to many geographic and temporal lenses, often dispelling the false truths that centuries of Western interactions with the global South have encoded in popular culture.

Sara Danius, Stefan Jonsson, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “ An Interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak ,” boundary 20, No. 2 (Summer 1993), 24–50.

Gayatri Spivak’s 1988 essay, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” shifted the postcolonial discussion to a focus on agency and “the other.” Explicating Western discourse surrounding the practice of sati in India, Spivak asks if the oppressed and the marginalized can make themselves heard from within a colonial system. Can the subordinated, dispossessed indigenous subject be retrieved from the silence spaces of imperial history, or would that be yet another act of epistemological violence? Spivak argues that Western historians (i.e., white men speaking to white men about the colonized), in trying to squeeze out the subaltern voice, reproduce the hegemonic structures of colonialism and imperialism.

Antoinette Burton, “ Thinking beyond the Boundaries: Empire, Feminism and the Domains of History ,” Social History 26, no. 1 (January 2001): 60–71.

In this article, Antoinette Burton considers the controversies around using the social and cultural theory as a site of analysis within the field of imperial history; specifically, concerns of those who saw political and economic history as “outside the realm” of culture. Burton deftly merges the historiographies of anthropology and gender studies to argue for a more nuanced understanding of New Imperial history.

Michelle Moyd, “ Making the Household, Making the State: Colonial Military Communities and Labor in German East Africa ,” International Labor and Working-Class History , no. 80 (2011): 53–76.

Michelle Moyd’s work focuses on an often-overlooked part of the imperial machine, the indigenous soldiers who served the colonial powers. Using German East Africa as her case study, she discusses how these “violent intermediaries” negotiated new household and community structures within the context of colonialism.

Caroline Elkins, “ The Struggle for Mau Mau Rehabilitation in Late Colonial Kenya ,” The International Journal of African Historical Studies  33, no. 1 (2000): 25–57.

Caroline Elkins looks at the both the official rehabilitation policy enacted toward Mau Mau rebels and the realities of what took place “behind the wire.” She argues that in this late colonial period, the colonial government in Nairobi was never truly able to recover from the brutality it used to suppress the Mau Mau movement and maintain colonial control.

Jan C. Jansen and Jürgen Osterhammel, “Decolonization as Moment and Process,” in  Decolonization: A Short History , trans. Jeremiah Riemer (Princeton University Press, 2017): 1–34.

In this opening chapter of their book, Decolonization: A Short History , Jansen and Osterhammel lay out an ambitious plan for merging multiple perspectives on the phenomena of decolonization to explain how European colonial rule became de-legitimized. Their discussion of decolonization as both a structural and a normative process is of particular interest.

Cheikh Anta Babou, “ Decolonization or National Liberation: Debating the End of British Colonial Rule in Africa ,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science  632 (2010): 41–54.

Cheikh Anta Babou challenges decolonization narratives that focus on colonial policy-makers or Cold War competition, especially in Africa, where the consensus of colonial elites was that African colonial holdings would remain under dominion for the foreseeable future even if the empire might be rolled back in South Asia or the Middle East. Babou emphasizes the liberation efforts of colonized people in winning their independence while also noting the difficulties faced by newly independent countries due to years of imperialism that had depleted the economic and political viability of the new nation. This view supports Babou’s claim that continued study of imperialism and colonialism is essential.

Mahmood Mamdani, “ Settler Colonialism: Then and Now ,” Critical Inquiry  41, no. 3 (2015): 596–614.

Mahmood Mamdani begins with the premise that “Africa is the continent where settler colonialism has been defeated; America is where settler colonialism triumphed.” Then, he seeks to turn this paradigm on its head by looking at America from an African perspective. What emerges is an evaluation of American history as a settler colonial state—further placing the United States rightfully in the discourse on imperialism.

Antoinette Burton, “S Is for SCORPION,” in  Animalia: An Anti-Imperial Bestiary for Our Times , ed. Antoinette Burton and Renisa Mawani (Duke University Press, 2020): 163–70.

In their edited volume, Animalia, Antoinette Burton and Renisa Mawani use the form of a bestiary to critically examine British constructions of imperial knowledge that sought to classify animals in addition to their colonial human subjects. As they rightly point out, animals often “interrupted” imperial projects, thus impacting the physical and psychological realities of those living in the colonies. The selected chapter focuses on the scorpion, a “recurrent figure in the modern British imperial imagination” and the various ways it was used as a “biopolitical symbol,” especially in Afghanistan.

Editor’s Note: The details of Edward Said’s education have been corrected.

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Essay 1: imperialism and migration.

From the collections of the Library of Congress (http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b17366)

Part of a series of articles titled Finding a Path Forward: Asian American Pacific Islander National Historic Landmarks Theme Study .

Previous: Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans Revisited: An Introduction to the National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

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Last updated: April 9, 2019

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The conclusion summarizes the main findings of the study concerning the motives that drove British and American imperialism, their respective mechanisms of rule, and the impact of their global expansion, especially on the global periphery. The main motive that drove both the hegemonic powers of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries to expand overseas was to enhance their respective national prosperity. While Britain pursued both formal and informal empire, the United States settled mainly for the latter. Britain and the United States pursued formal empire when they could but accepted informal control when they met resistance. The impact of colonialism was more pernicious than that of informal empire. Colonies were exploited by metropolitan countries for their own advantage and seldom experienced economic growth. Countries under informal sway did experience more growth but failed to create diversified economies. Whether emerging China is also developing an informal empire is explored at the end.

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Essay on Imperialism

Students are often asked to write an essay on Imperialism in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Imperialism

What is imperialism.

Imperialism is when a country takes control over other lands, countries, or territories. It uses its power to take over and make those places part of its own country. This can happen through war, politics, or business.

History of Imperialism

Long ago, European countries like Britain, France, and Spain took over many parts of the world. They did this to get more resources, like gold and spices, and to have more power. This changed the lives of many people in those places.

Effects of Imperialism

Imperialism often changed the cultures and governments of the taken-over lands. The local people might lose their traditions and be forced to follow new rules. It also led to conflicts and wars.

Imperialism Today

Nowadays, imperialism is less about taking over lands and more about influence. Big countries might use money, business, or media to control smaller countries without fighting wars.

Imperialism has shaped our world’s history. It has caused both growth and suffering. Understanding it helps us see how countries interact and influence each other even today.

250 Words Essay on Imperialism

Imperialism is when a country takes control over other places, making them part of their empire. This usually happens because the stronger country wants to gain more power, wealth, or resources. Think of it like a big fish in the sea that wants to control all the smaller fish.

The Age of Imperialism

The most famous time for imperialism was from the 1800s to the early 1900s. European countries like Britain, France, and Spain took over large parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. They did this to get raw materials for their factories and new markets to sell their goods.

Effects on Countries

The places that were taken over were changed a lot. The people living there were often forced to work for the invaders and follow new laws. Their cultures were sometimes pushed aside, and many faced hard lives under foreign rule. On the other hand, some areas did get better schools, hospitals, and roads because of imperialism.

Even though the old empires are gone, some forms of imperialism still exist. Powerful countries can influence or control weaker ones through money, trade, or by giving loans that are hard to pay back. This can lead to the weaker countries depending on the stronger ones, which is a bit like the old empires but without the direct rule.

In short, imperialism has shaped our world in many ways. It has a big history and even today, it affects how countries interact with each other.

500 Words Essay on Imperialism

Imperialism is when one country takes control over another country or region. This can happen through military force or by influencing the economy and politics of the weaker country. The powerful country, often called an empire, wants to expand its power and wealth. This practice was very common in the past, especially during the 1800s and early 1900s.

Reasons Behind Imperialism

Countries engage in imperialism for various reasons. One key reason is to get natural resources, like oil or minerals, which they don’t have in their own land. Another reason is to find new markets to sell their products. By controlling other lands, they can make those people buy their goods. Sometimes, a country might also want to show its power and prestige by owning more land.

Types of Imperialism

There are different types of imperialism. Colonies are one type, where the controlling country sends its own people to live and rule in the new land. Another type is protectorates, where the local rulers stay in charge, but they follow the advice of the foreign power. There’s also spheres of influence, where the imperialist country has special rights for trade and investment.

Effects on the Controlled Regions

Imperialism can change the countries that are taken over in many ways. The local people might lose their land and have to work for the new rulers. Their traditional ways of life can be disrupted, and they are often forced to follow new laws and practices. Sometimes, the imperialist countries build schools, hospitals, and roads, which can help the local people. But often, these changes are more for the benefit of the rulers, not the ruled.

Resistance to Imperialism

Not everyone agrees with imperialism. The people in the controlled regions often don’t like being ruled by outsiders. They can lose their independence and culture. Many times, they fight back. This can lead to wars and conflicts. Even in the controlling countries, some people think imperialism is wrong because it treats other people unfairly.

The End of Imperialism

After a long time, many countries that were controlled by empires became independent. This happened a lot after World War II. Countries fought for and won their freedom. Today, imperialism is not as common as it used to be. The world now sees that controlling other nations by force is not a good way to behave.

Imperialism has played a big part in world history. It has led to countries becoming powerful but has also caused suffering and conflicts. Nowadays, we understand that every country has the right to rule itself and that taking over other lands by force is not acceptable. Learning about imperialism helps us remember the importance of treating all countries and people with respect.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Against American Imperialism

• Foreign Policy
• January 4, 1899

No related resources

Introduction

For many Americans, Carl Schurz (1829–1906) personified the American dream. Schurz immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1852 and eventually settled in Wisconsin, where he practiced law. An avowed opponent of slavery, Schurz became active in the newly created Republican Party and campaigned throughout the Midwest on behalf of presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln in 1860. The newly elected president rewarded Schurz with an appointment as the American ambassador to Spain, where he played a role in keeping that nation from recognizing the Confederacy. He returned home to the United States and in 1862 was appointed a general in the Union army, thanks once again to the intervention of President Lincoln. Schurz settled in Missouri after the war and was elected to the Senate in 1868, becoming the first German-American U.S. senator. In that capacity, Schurz was one of the more outspoken opponents of President Ulysses S. Grant’s proposal to annex Santo Domingo and became a target of Grant’s wrath for his role in defeating the annexation treaty. President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him secretary of the interior in 1877; following that service Schurz settled permanently in New York, where he became a newspaper editor and a prominent opponent of imperialism. Schurz opposed the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, claiming that it was “an act of selfish ambition and conquest.” He was outspoken in his opposition to the Spanish-American War, in part fearing the acquisition of territory in the Caribbean and the Pacific would lead to “the moral ruin of the Anglo-Saxon republic.” Schurz correctly predicted that the United States would never give the newly acquired territories the full voice given to American states. “This means government without the consent of the governed. It means taxation without representation. It means the very things against which the Declaration of Independence remonstrated, and against which the Fathers rose in revolution.” This address, delivered at the convocation for the University of Chicago in January 1899, captures the essence of anti-imperialist sentiment on the verge of the twentieth century, “the American century.”

Carl Schurz, “Against American Imperialism,” January 4, 1899, Speeches, Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz, vol. 6, ed. Frederic Bancroft (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1913), 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 14–15, 26, 27, 29, 30–31, 35–36, available at https://www.google.com/books/edition/Speeches_correspondence_and_political_pa/8R37AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 .

It is proposed to embark this republic in a course of imperialistic policy by permanently annexing to it certain islands taken, or partly taken, from Spain in the late war. The matter is near its decision, but not yet ratified by the Senate; but even if it were, the question whether those islands, although ceded by Spain, shall be permanently incorporated in the territory of the United States would still be open for final determination by Congress. As an open question therefore I shall discuss it.

. . .It behooves the American people to think and act with calm deliberation, for the character and future of the republic and the welfare of its people now living and yet to be born are in unprecedented jeopardy. . . .

. . . According to the solemn proclamation of our government, [the Spanish-American War] had been undertaken solely for the liberation of Cuba, as a war of humanity and not of conquest. 1 But our easy victories had put conquest within our reach, and when our arms occupied foreign territory, a loud demand arose that, pledge or no pledge to the contrary, the conquests should be kept, even the Philippines on the other side of the globe, and that as to Cuba herself, independence would only be a provisional formality. Why not? was the cry. Has not the career of the republic almost from its very beginning been one of territorial expansion? . . .

Compare now with our old acquisitions as to all these important points those at present in view. They are not continental, not contiguous to our present domain, but beyond seas, the Philippines many thousand miles distant from our coast. They are all situated in the tropics, where people of the northern races, such as Anglo-Saxons, or generally speaking, people of Germanic blood, have never migrated in mass to stay; and they are more or less densely populated, parts of them as densely as Massachusetts—their populations consisting almost exclusively of races to whom the tropical climate is congenial—Spanish creoles mixed with negroes in the West Indies, and Malays, Tagals, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Negritos, and various more or less barbarous tribes in the Philippines. . . .

. . . Whatever we may do for their improvement the people of the Spanish Antilles will remain in overwhelming numerical predominance . . .some of them quite clever in their way, but the vast majority utterly alien to us not only in origin and language, but in habits, traditional ways of thinking, principles, ambitions—in short, in most things that are of the greatest importance in human intercourse and especially in political cooperation. And under the influences of their tropical climate they will prove incapable of becoming assimilated to the Anglo-Saxon. They would, therefore, remain in the population of this republic a hopelessly heterogeneous element—in some respects more hopeless even than the colored people now living among us. . . .

If we [adopt a colonial system], we shall transform the government of the people, for the people, and by the people, for which Abraham Lincoln lived, into a government of one part of the people, the strong, over another part, the weak. Such an abandonment of a fundamental principle as a permanent policy may at first seem to bear only upon more or less distant dependencies, but it can hardly fail in its ultimate effects to disturb the rule of the same principle in the conduct of democratic government at home. And I warn the American people that a democracy cannot so deny its faith as to the vital conditions of its being—it cannot long play the king over subject populations without creating within itself ways of thinking and habits of action most dangerous to its own vitality. . . .

. . .Conservative citizens will tell [the American people] that thus the homogeneousness 2 of the people of the republic, so essential to the working of our democratic institutions, will be irretrievably lost; that our race troubles, already dangerous, will be infinitely aggravated, and that the government of, by, and for the people will be in imminent danger of fatal demoralization. . . .The American people will be driven on and on by the force of events as Napoleon was when he started on his career of limitless conquest. This is imperialism as now advocated. Do we wish to prevent its excesses? Then we must stop at the beginning, before taking Puerto Rico. If we take that island, not even to speak of the Philippines, we shall have placed ourselves on the inclined plane, and roll on and on, no longer masters of our own will, until we have reached the bottom. And where will that bottom be? Who knows? . . .

What can there be to justify a change of policy fraught with such direful consequences? Let us pass the arguments of the advocates of such imperialism candidly in review.

The cry suddenly raised that this great country has become too small for us is too ridiculous to demand an answer, in view of the fact that our present population may be tripled and still have ample elbow room, with resources to support many more. But we are told that our industries are gasping for breath; that we are suffering from overproduction; that our products must have new outlets, and that we need colonies and dependencies the world over to give us more markets. More markets? Certainly. But do we, civilized beings, indulge in the absurd and barbarous notion that we must own the countries with which we wish to trade? . . .

“But the Pacific Ocean,” we are mysteriously told, “will be the great commercial battlefield of the future, and we must quickly use the present opportunity to secure our position on it. The visible presence of great power is necessary for us to get our share of the trade of China. Therefore, we must have the Philippines.” Well, the China trade is worth having, although for a time out of sight the Atlantic Ocean will be an infinitely more important battlefield of commerce.

. . . But does the trade of China really require that we should have the Philippines and make a great display of power to get our share? . . .

“But we must have coaling stations for our navy!” Well, can we not get as many coaling stations as we need without owning populous countries behind them that would entangle us in dangerous political responsibilities and complications? Must Great Britain own the whole of Spain in order to hold Gibraltar? 3

“But we must civilize those poor people!” Are we not ingenious and charitable enough to do much for their civilization without subjugating and ruling them by criminal aggression?

The rest of the pleas for imperialism consist mostly of those high-sounding catchwords of which a free people when about to decide a great question should be especially suspicious. We are admonished that it is time for us to become a “world power.” Well, we are a world power now, and have been for many years. What is a world power? A power strong enough to make its voice listened to with deference by the world whenever it chooses to speak. Is it necessary for a world power, in order to be such, to have its finger in every pie? Must we have the Philippines in order to become a world power? To ask the question is to answer it.

The American flag, we are told, whenever once raised, must never be hauled down. Certainly, every patriotic citizen will always be ready, if need be, to fight and to die under his flag wherever it may wave in justice and for the best interests of the country. But I say to you, woe to the republic if it should ever be without citizens patriotic and brave enough to defy the demagogues’ cry and to haul down the flag wherever it may be raised not in justice and not for the best interests of the country. Such a republic would not last long. . . .

We are told that, having grown so great and strong, we must at last cast off our childish reverence for the teachings of Washington’s Farewell Address 4 — those “nursery rhymes that were sung around the cradle of the Republic.” I apprehend that many of those who now so flippantly scoff at the heritage the Father of his Country left us in his last words of admonition have never read that venerable document. I challenge those who have, to show me a single sentence of general import in it that would not as a wise rule of national conduct apply to the circumstances of today! What is it that has given to Washington’s Farewell Address an authority that was revered by all until our recent victories made so many of us drunk with wild ambitions? Not only the prestige of Washington’s name, great as that was and should ever remain. No, it was the fact that under a respectful observance of those teachings this republic has grown from the most modest beginnings into a union spanning this vast continent; our people have multiplied from a handful to seventy-five million; we have risen from poverty to a wealth the sum of which the imagination can hardly grasp; this American nation has become one of the greatest and most powerful on earth, and continuing in the same course will surely become the greatest and most powerful of all. Not Washington’s name alone gave his teachings their dignity and weight. It was the practical results of his policy that secured to it, until now, the intelligent approbation of the American people. And unless we have completely lost our senses, we shall never despise and reject as mere “nursery rhymes” the words of wisdom left us by the greatest of Americans, following which the American people have achieved a splendor of development without parallel in the history of mankind. . . .

Thus [if the United States abandons imperialism] we shall be their best friends without being their foreign rulers. We shall have done our duty to them, to ourselves, and to the world. However imperfect their governments

may still remain, they will at least be their own, and they will not with their disorders and corruptions contaminate our institutions, the integrity of which is not only to ourselves, but to liberty-loving mankind, the most important concern of all. We may then await the result with generous patience—with the same patience with which for many years we witnessed the revolutionary disorders of Mexico on our very borders, without any thought of taking her government into our own hands.

Ask yourselves whether a policy like this will not raise the American people to a level of moral greatness never before attained! If this democracy, after all the intoxication of triumph in war, conscientiously remembers its professions and pledges, and soberly reflects on its duties to itself and others, and then deliberately resists the temptation of conquest, it will achieve the grandest triumph of the democratic idea that history knows of. It will give the government of, for, and by the people a prestige it never before possessed. It will render the cause of civilization throughout the world a service without parallel. It will put its detractors to shame, and its voice will be heard in the council of nations with more sincere respect and more deference than ever. The American people, having given proof of their strength and also of their honesty and wisdom, will stand infinitely mightier before the world than any number of subjugated vassals could make them. Are not here our best interests moral and material? Is not this genuine glory? Is not this true patriotism?

I call upon all who so believe never to lose heart in the struggle for this great cause, whatever odds may seem to be against us. Let there be no pusillanimous yielding while the final decision is still in the balance. Let us relax no effort in this, the greatest crisis the republic has ever seen. Let us never cease to invoke the good sense, the honesty, and the patriotic pride of the people. Let us raise high the flag of our country—not as an emblem of reckless adventure and greedy conquest, of betrayed professions and broken pledges, of criminal aggression and arbitrary rule over subject populations—but the old, the true flag, the flag of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln; the flag of the government of, for, and by the people; the flag of national faith held sacred and of national honor unsullied; the flag of human rights and of good example to all nations; the flag of true civilization, peace and good-will to all men. Under it let us stand to the last. . . .

• 1. See Requesting A Declaration of War with Spain.
• 2. Having a similar nature or shared characteristics. Schurz viewed the U.S. population as overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon, and he considered that a hallmark of the nation’s strength. A lack of shared cultural, religious, and racial backgrounds, Schurz believed, would ultimately destroy the nation.
• 3. A British fortress and naval base located at the southern tip of Spain.
• 4. George Washington's Farewell Address.

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Home — Essay Samples — History — Imperialism — Unpacking American Imperialism: A Critical Analysis

Unpacking American Imperialism: a Critical Analysis

• Categories: Imperialism

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Words: 633 |

Published: Dec 3, 2020

Words: 633 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Bibliography

• httlis://kctcs.bnedcourseware.com/#/classes/01dd624a-873b-4eb5-b575-d0037949d87a
• httlis://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war
• httlis://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/liid-25722364-dt-content-rid-175378337_2/courses/SMC_4176_HIS_109_E0Z1_87941/03%20The%20Age%20of%20Imlierialism%20liictures.lidf
• httlis://elearning.kctcs.edu/bbcswebdav/liid-25722364-dt-content-rid-175378336_2/courses/SMC_4176_HIS_109_E0Z1_87941/03%20The%20Age%20of%20Imlierialism.lidf httlis://www.imb.org/who-was-lottie-moon

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American imperialism, a historical phenomenon, has evolved and adapted to the changing dynamics of the modern world. In contemporary times, the United States continues to exert its influence globally, albeit through different [...]

Imperialism is defined as one country’s domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. In the late 1800s, Europeans colonized countries, traded slaves, gold, and many other various resources. One of [...]

Colonialism is a consistent theme within the history of Africa. It laces through the formative tapestry of the majority of African states today including Nigeria. Lagos was invaded by British forces in 1851 and formally annexed [...]

Imperialism, defined as the policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, conquest, or domination of other territories, has had both positive and negative effects throughout history. While imperialism [...]

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How Imperialism Set the Stage for World War I

By: Becky Little

Updated: May 10, 2024 | Original: March 7, 2022

World War I wasn’t just a conflict between nations—it was a war between empires. Western European empires like Great Britain and France had overseas colonies around the world, while eastern empires like Austria-Hungary and Russia ruled European and North Asian territories connected by land. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on July 28, 1914 , was itself an anti-imperialist murder, planned by members of Young Bosnia angry over Austria-Hungary’s annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

European competition for imperial territories helped set the stage for the rivalries that played out during the First World War, and the war in turn had a major effect on the balance of imperial power. The Russian, German, Austria-Hungarian and Ottoman empires all collapsed during or shortly after the war, which ended with a treaty that ceded Germany’s overseas colonies to the victors.

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The Scramble for Africa

By the time World War I began, almost all of the African continent was under some form of colonial rule by Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain or Portugal. Most of this colonization happened after 1880, during a period known as the Scramble for Africa or the Partition of Africa, in which European empires competed with each other for control of African territories.

In the centuries before the Scramble for Africa, European empires had invaded African coastal nations to capture and enslave people but mostly hadn’t managed to invade farther inland due to navigational difficulties and the threat of diseases like malaria. After the legal abolition of slavery, new technologies like steamboats and quinine allowed Europeans to invade much more of the continent.

The European empires that invaded Africa saw colonization as a way to exploit forced labor, extract resources and become more powerful in relation to other European empires. Although colonialism in Africa wasn’t a direct cause of World War I, it helped create an environment in which European empires thought of themselves as rivals who could only succeed at the expense of other empires. For example, France and Germany, two main rivals during World War I, competed with each other for control of Morocco in the decade before the war.

“France and Germany did not go to war over Morocco,” says Richard Fogarty , a history professor at the University at Albany and co-editor of Empires in World War I: Shifting Frontiers and Imperial Dynamics in a Global Conflict .

“What happened, though, was that they were conditioned to think of each other as competitors,” he says, “and to think of the world as this zero-sum game in which the French pursuit of empire could only come at the expense of the German pursuit of empire.”

Great Britain was also concerned about Germany’s attempt to build a navy that might challenge its own. Although Germany was nowhere close to achieving this, Fogarty says, “the British couldn’t even tolerate the idea of a threat to their naval supremacy, because they had an empire to secure. And so that made them hypersensitive to any competition.”

French and British fears about Germany’s empire-building are part of what drove European nations to form alliances and informal agreements in the decades leading up to World War I , dividing Europe into roughly two opposing camps.

Imperialism in Europe

In contrast to most of the Western European empires, the Austria-Hungarian, Russian and the Ottoman empires were contiguous, with territories connected to each other by land. On the eve of World War I, the three empires’ borders converged at the Balkans—a region in southeastern Europe that the empires viewed as strategically valuable, and played a major role in the start of the Great War.

The Ottoman Empire had previously controlled much of the Balkans but lost most of its territory there in the 19th century. Austria-Hungary took advantage of the Ottoman Empire’s retreat by occupying Bosnia-Herzegovina, a region in the Balkans that the empire annexed in 1908.

It was this occupation and annexation that the revolutionary group Young Bosnia was protesting when it assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne. After the assassination, Austria-Hungary accused neighboring Serbia, another nation in the Balkans, of assisting Young Bosnia and declared war on Serbia.

Russia ostensibly agreed to back Serbia against Austria-Hungary because it was a fellow Slavic state; but Andrew Jarboe , a history professor at Berklee College of Music who co-edited Empires in World War I with Fogarty, suggests Russia was also motivated by imperial interests in the Balkans.

“I really think Russia’s calculus is: if they don’t respond militarily, they render themselves obsolete in this region,” he says.

Empires Dismantled in the Wake of World War I

Russia fought World War I on the side of the Allies, which included Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, but left the Great War in 1917 when revolution and civil war broke out in its own empire. This led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the establishment of the Soviet Union .

The opposing side, the Central Powers, is where most of the other imperial collapses happened. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles dismantled the Austria-Hungarian Empire in Europe and the German Empire both in Europe and abroad. Great Britain, France and Belgium divided most of Germany’s African colonies among themselves, while Japan took over Germany’s colonies in China and the North Pacific. In addition, the treaty imposed measures on the Ottoman Empire that led to its dissolution in 1922.

When Adolf Hitler rose to power, he deliberately used the existence of a previous German Empire to justify his “Third Reich," or “Third Empire,” which he imagined would take control of Europe (in his mind, the Holy Roman Empire was the “First Reich”). When he invaded Poland in 1939, sparking World War II , part of his rationale that he was conquering territory that rightly belonged to Germany—an excuse that many imperialists had used before and would use again.

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Analyzing the Root Causes of World War i

This essay about World War I explores the complex origins and factors leading to the outbreak of the conflict. It examines the alliance systems, imperial ambitions, the arms race, and the roles of nationalism and militarism, emphasizing how these interconnected elements created a precarious global situation. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand is highlighted as the immediate trigger that ignited the war, underscoring the broader implications of diplomatic, economic, and ideological tensions that had been building for decades. The essay concludes by reflecting on the lasting impact of these dynamics on the 20th century.

How it works

World War I, often dubbed the “Great War,” looms large in the pages of history, an epochal event that reshaped the geopolitical canvas of the 20th century. Its origins are a labyrinthine saga, woven from myriad threads that intersected to ignite a conflagration of unprecedented scale and intensity.

As the 20th century unfurled its first rays, Europe stood on the brink of uncertainty, a continent poised on the edge of tumult. The intricate ballet of alliances, epitomized by the Triple Entente and the Central Powers, crafted a fragile equilibrium masking the simmering tensions beneath.

These alliances, intended to ensure security, instead bred an atmosphere of distrust and brinkmanship, where a single spark could kindle the flames of conflict.

Imperial ambitions further complicated matters, as European powers vied for supremacy on the global stage. The scramble for colonies and spheres of influence precipitated diplomatic crises and territorial disputes, threatening eruption at any juncture. Nowhere was this tension more palpable than in the Balkans, a tinderbox where nationalist fervor clashed with imperial designs, setting the stage for the impending cataclysm.

Yet, attributing the onset of war solely to geopolitical maneuvers would oversimplify a far more intricate narrative. Beneath the surface, deeper currents surged.

Foremost among these was the arms race, an arms frenzy among nations striving to outmatch one another in military prowess. Technological advancements, such as the dreadnought battleship and the machine gun, transformed warfare into a deadly calculus of brinkmanship, where each side sought advantage through sheer might.

Furthermore, a crisis of leadership and diplomatic miscalculations compounded the situation, as statesmen navigated the treacherous seas of international relations with a blend of arrogance and ignorance. The labyrinthine network of alliances often led policymakers to underestimate the gravity of their decisions, nurturing a false sense of security that proved fatal.

Economic factors also exerted a significant influence, as nations jostled for primacy in an increasingly interconnected global economy. Trade disputes, protectionist policies, and competition for markets exacerbated tensions, laying the groundwork for a global conflagration.

Cultural and ideological undercurrents further stoked the fires of war, as nationalism and militarism swept across Europe. Belief in national superiority, coupled with the romanticization of war as a noble pursuit, fostered an environment where conflict appeared not only inevitable but righteous.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 acted as the spark that ignited the powder keg of European tensions, setting off a chain reaction of events that plunged the world into chaos.

In summation, the root causes of World War I are manifold and intricate, reflecting the tangled web of human ambition and folly. The alliance system, imperialism, militarism, diplomatic blunders, economic rivalries, and ideological fervor all contributed to the tinderbox of war. While the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have provided the catalyst, it was the culmination of deeper tensions simmering for decades. World War I stands as a poignant reminder of the catastrophic consequences of unchecked ambition and the fragility of peace in a world teetering on the edge of uncertainty.

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Imperialism: A Study by John A. Hobson Essay

Analysis & interpretation.

The author of this literature was found to be George Allen & Unwin, eminent economists, who appealed to the economists in the country against the school of imperialism opted by Great Britain in the early ages. This article is written by a famous English economist, John A. Hobson renowned as one of the famous critique of the economic stand of imperialism in 1902.

It can be presumed that this extract is from a letter written by an eminent Democratic Party Parliamentarian placed before the British Parliament criticizing the school of imperialism upheld by the republicans, in Great Britain. According to J. A Hobson, other than encouraging imperialism and thereby dominating foreign markets, it’s better to develop the market in our own country and look for an indefinite market expansion in the home country. Most likely, the author’s purpose for writing the primary source was to establish that there was no need to push full imperialism and instead a well-planned social reform in its place would have won its greatest victory in Great Britain. He has upheld that imperialism was the fruit of a false economy and suggested social reform instead, as its remedy. Probably, this letter might have been published during the second half of the 20th century.

The author was trying to convince that the imperial expansion of Great Britain was not at all necessary to the continued existence and progress of the nation. The author rebutted the argument that imperialism was seemed to be not a choice, but a necessity of the age. He has quoted the history of the United States to establish that a nation could flourish very well with its own resources aimed at the most productive manufacturing economy without opting for imperialism. The capital investment of manufacturers in the United States is at its peak and cannot absorb any more at the end of the century. But they still increased their business by using their savings regulating the product manufactured and prices that is affordable for the home market to accommodate. Priced surplus gifts were transported to foreign countries that will not save up a profitable guarantee of their market within the country. Dominators could thus repay the capital already borrowed from the marketed countries thereby becoming a creditor class to those. The United States has made it clear that one need not own a country in order to do trade with it or to invest capital in it. They could successfully do business with China and other countries around the Pacific.

Manufacturers adopted the process of goods production at a higher rate for selling at good profit made the current economic affairs the root of imperialism. The excess of goods produced in the country should be in an equal run with the public product consumption rate. In such a developed system never comes trouble in exporting and trading products and raw materials even if imperialism exists.

The author thus interprets that home markets themselves are proficient for indefinite market expansion than opening new foreign markets which are unnecessary. It was urged that Great Britain can choose to promote agriculture and public awareness on technical and general science instead of formulating imperialism. The country can also adopt the various method of science in the manufacturing industries thereby supporting a group of population in the country.

The author has successfully rebutted the probable arguments that could be leveled in support of the school of imperialism. According to him, instead of adopting a reform mainly in the agricultural sector and the home trade and small-scale home industries, the authorities have concentrated all their attention on developing foreign trade and also Large-scale industrialization, which ultimately leads the nation to chaos and poverty. He has made it very clear that the expansion of the territorial limits of a nation has only very little to do with its expansion of trade and commerce. The practice of imperialism has also weakened the social and moral concept of the nation as well as its people. Comparing the immense growth otherwise achieved by the United States was pointed out as an example by the author, to substantiate his arguments. The author has successfully evaluated the dark side of imperialism and its bad impact on the nation. It reminds us of the various atrocities committed by Great Britain as unavoidable evils, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, while practicing imperialism. This piece of criticism might have certainly helped eminent parliamentarians to re-view their lenient attitude towards imperialism.

J. A. Hobson, 1858-1940. Primary Source: “Imperialism – A Study.” Great Britain: 1902.

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Essay on Imperialism

Imperialism is often excused as a way of liberating people from tyrannical rule or by introducing the policies of a “better” way of life. It is based on the ground of a variety of causes running the gamut of economic pressures, greed, security, power, prestige, religion, and many other effective measures that can be taken given the circumstances. Arguments about the roots and virtue of imperialism can be put into four basic groups. The first is whether or not imperialism is economically beneficial. The second relates to the social aspect of imperialism and the natural desire to rule others. The third is protection and security, building up military powers around the world in order to help the main country when trouble erupts. Finally, the …show more content…

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