APUSH Paper

The oversea expansion of the late 19th and early 20th centuries lead a split of views about the subject on hand. Citizens, along with the United States government, either supported the thought of imperialism or not. Whether it was the thought of militarism, bringing races together, or experiences from US history brought forth the discussion.

The country's government had the urge to expand, as shown in during the Spanish-American War. After the war, McKinley had realized that the Philippines were dropped in the country's laps, he thought that the Filipino people were unfit for self-government and that the United States needed to intervene them. McKinley wanted to gain attention from the American public for justification of the Philippines. Theodore Roosevelt thought the same thing as McKinley and thinks that they Philippines are unfit to govern themselves, and he even criticizes the opponents of acquisition of the Philippines by calling them fearful and "unwillingly to play the part of men". Despite self-government, E. E Cooper thought that imperialism brought races together, and he sought to seek support from African Americans to support the African American military service by putting in a good name for imperialism.

Even though some citizens in the United States supported imperialism, there were some citizens who didn't support it. Jane Addams compared the Spanish-American War as the streets in Chicago and said that the war did the opposite of peace, but instead encouraged for more violence. William Graham Sumner criticized imperialism by saying it was against the doctrines that we have made in the past. William Jennings Bryan, seeking election from the voters, thought what's best for the country—although it may not be the best decision for the country.

There have been examples of the growing need to expand during this time period and from America's past. A good example of the growing need to expand during this time period was Alfred Thayer Mahan's "Sea Upon History", which he expressed that countries with sea power were powerful in history. A good example of America's need to expand in the past was the Manifest Destiny, which was the "God given" westward expansion that started in 1845.

The need for oversea to some was necessary, some even say that it was American tradition for us to imperialize other nations. While some are opposed to imperialization of other nations and think that they are fit to rule themselves.