Dbq Us Expansionism

DBQ US Expansionism

It is extremely evident that the United State's expansionism in the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century was a continuation of past United States expansionism; however, the newer methods and reasons for expansion differed slightly from the older ones. One similarity in past and newer expansionism is that nationalistic feelings inside the US often had a tendency to lead to expansion. A major difference between new and old expansionism was that the US people developed a concept in the late 1800s that whoever had command of the sea, had command of the world. That impacted newer expansionism greatly.

First of all, whenever the United States underwent an intense feeling of nationalism, this would almost indefinitely lead them to expansion: The War of 1812. The War of 1812 unleashed a huge wave of nationalism and this lead up to the Era of Good Feelings. This would undoubtedly lead up to the Democratic belief established in the 1840s, Manifest Destiny. This was the idea that it was the Anglo-Saxon destiny to expand across the northern continent (Doc A and B). The Manifest Destiny established frontier life as Americans moved westward from the East as they believed it was their destiny to do so (they also sought financial gains). The intense nationalistic feelings lead to the inevitable expansion of the United States.

Furthermore, one major difference between old and new expansion was that new expansion ideas differed. The major reason for old expansion was to acquire land and to distribute population. However, the new expansion idea was that other countries needed aid from the United States and that it was our duty to help them. Such as when the US acquired lands after the Treaty of Paris was signed. Or when the United States believed they had to use intervention in all of the lands in the western hemisphere due to the Monroe Doctrine. The US became enveloped in the concept that