For many American students, their understanding of the past is formed by their high school history class. While not the case for all, for some students, the content in their history textbooks is the only exposure to history they will ever have. Because of this, textbooks must properly depict the past, as they shape how students understand the world. But how past events are understood is constantly being critiqued and revised. This can be seen through how textbooks have changed to reflect our understanding of what caused the Spanish American War. Through examination of current and past textbooks, and comparing how they describe what caused America’s involvement in Cuba, one can be seen how America has slowly come to terms with its imperialistic past. Shortly following the Spanish American War, Americans chose to overlook the mistakes their country had made during the war. They insistently held on to their belief that America was the heroic force of the war, freeing defenseless Cubans from the oppressive rule of Spain. …show more content…
While the 1942 textbook addresses the economic causes of imperialism, it fails to identify the social aspects that also responsible for it. Authors of the 2013 published textbook, America: A Narrative History, Volume 2, claimed the reasoning behind America’s imperialism “[was] a mixture of moral and religious idealism, …popular assumptions of racial superiority, and naked greed” . This discriminatory cause of both the war and imperialism itself was not addressed by either of the other textbooks. It has taken time for Americans to fully acknowledge all the social biases that lead to America’s involvement in Cuba. The authors of America: A Narrative History, Volume 2 also point out how supporters of American imperialism “used the arguments of social Darwinism to justify economic exploitation and territorial conquest”
Even though, during war the United States rather argued it’s nobleness in world matters, protecting Cubans and Filipinos from Spaniards. An exemplar of this is America issuing the Teller Amendment; which declared that Americans had no interest in taking political control in Cuba. But, later the Teller Amendment was proved wrong by the Platt Amendment, which stated that; Cuba would never sign a treaty with foreign power, impairing it’s independence, let America maintain independence and order in the country, and the United States maintain Guantanamo Bay a permanent base. Therefore, the U.S. controlling Cuba’s policies. The Filipinos as well are another exemplar of it, during the Spanish-American war they were offered independence but, later on were taken as United States territory until, the Filipino Revolution led to independence.
Imperialism was a big impact on the late 1800’s leading into the early 1900’s with counties like the British, Spanish, Russia, and Germany pushing to gain more land in different counties. This would lead to an arms race and the buildup which would lead into World War 1. Many different alliance were made if another country would attack another other countries would help with the fight. This would keep peace till the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
Republican? Democrat? During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it didn’t matter what political platform you were on, all that mattered was the U.S. expansion to new territories and whether or not the U.S. should have stayed within its boundaries. After the U.S. won the Spanish-American War, attention was placed on new countries, such as the Philippines, and the benefits, or downfalls, of American Imperialism. Imperialism is the policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force.
The Spanish American war was a product of Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis and the urbanization of America. In 1895, a rebellion broke out in Cuba, as Cuban patriots wanted independences from Spain. Through the yellow journalism, reports of Spain’s cruel military tactics lead to a public uproar in the U.S. However, most of these stories were exaggerated as a form to promote war. After an American battleship, the USS Maine, was destroyed, America was “forced” to start war and stop Spanish occupation.
The imperialistic mentality of the American government after the Civil War, led to some degree to the Spanish-American war that would render a great acquisition of land for the United States. However, imperialism would not be the sole factor that led to the war against Spain, but also the sympathy felt by the American government towards Cuba’s efforts in fighting for their independence; additionally, the United States would seek to protect its commercial interests (sugar) in the island. Therefore, after invoking the Spanish to secede from their brutal practices towards Cuban rebels and attain a peaceful end to the situation, the United States arbitrarily sent a navy ship, “The USS Maine” to monitor the area.
To what extent was late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century United States expansionism a continuation of past United States expansionism and to what extent was it a departure? It was in the late 19th century that the United States entered an era of imperialism. Expansionism was very popular during this time period and the United States was not excluded from its rising trend. The country joined the other world powers in expanding their influential grip over the smaller and less developed nations of the world.
Imperialism is not a new concept by any means to the human race. This form of movement has not only made many great empires rise to greatness, but have also made many fall (Roman). At many points in history the drive for imperialism was the only aspect some nations had in common (Cohen). Imperialism is simply the expanding of one’s power and influence by the complete taking over of other’s financial markets, industry, and abilities to be themselves.
Americans learned more about what happened during the Spanish American War through articles that exposed the violent tensions in Cuba. The Americans then felt the need that we should help Cuba against Spain. The Americans in power wanted to remain neutral, while the public wanted to go to war. The U.S. Maine was a battleship that was sent to Cuba to spy on them and understand the situation in person. While the ship was there, it mysteriously blew up, the blame was put on Spain for the explosion.
Imperialism actually means ‘to command land’ Around 600,000 people died from all of these different events No person or nation likes to be controlled, and that is what America was doing We took away people’s freedom Many people were shipped to America and used as slaves without their consent
Imagine waking up one day and being forced to drop every custom and tradition you’ve ever known. This is what many countries had to endure when Americans decided it would be okay to imperialize them. Imperialism is the act of extending a country 's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. By the late 1800’s America started imperializing weaker countries. Americans were not justified in barging into weaker countries, and taking over for their own selfish gain.
Before the 20th century the United States was an isolationist nation but around the late 19th century America decided to convert into an imperialist power. They had numerous reasons to shift into being an imperialist nation. America didn’t want to begin imperializing to settle and live in the nations they were taking over, they already had America for that reason, they wanted to adopt these nations for what they had to offer, which was many things. America saw an opportunity to improving their nation and took it. Even if there were many causes for America to imperialize, three of them stood out the most.
In this part in particular, De La Fuente utilizes figures and solid facts to prove his claims, especially with his effective use of census records to show black flight from Cuba due to lack of opportunity (pg. 104). Speaking to social mobility and education, De La Fuente identifies the mediocrity of Cuban and American efforts to create a literate population. Although the government made significant strides to educate the populations, imperialist motivations fueled the system, which lacked secondary systems of support and training for Afro-Cubans. It is essential that De La Fuente identifies lack of labor opportunities and education in Cuba because both Afro-Cubans and white Cubans could eventually find solidarity in combatting these issues. Upon reading this chapter, De La Fuente’s revelation of a cyclical nature in Cuba with revolution and racism is uncovered.
Essay One: Imperialism Flies circle great black lumps as the moist air ravages the corpses. Dried blood soaked into the ground after faceless soldiers brutally destroyed its owners’ lives. These were the stories in the newspapers, the movies, and the films. Horrified by these crimes against humanity, the American public was spurred into action against the Spanish oppressors. the United States invaded Cuba in 1898 to pursue humanitarian efforts.
Colonialism and Imperialism affected our world both positively and negatively. On one hand, Imperialism has often been linked with racial segregation, manipulation, and hardship. On the other, it has been said that many colonial powers contributed much in terms of schools, roads, railways, and much more. Whether this time period was constructive or harmful, it has played a large part in shaping our lives today. European Imperialism started long before the 1800’s.
This is evident in Editha through the characterization of George and Editha, both representing an opposing view on imperialism. Americans had sympathies for the Cubans, they struggled under Spanish rule. But American sympathy was not the sole reason for America getting involved in the Cuban revolution. American business had about $50 million invested in Cuba and these investments were at risk because of the revolution taking place in Cuba (Kennedy-Cohen 610). The Teller Amendment also proves that America went to war with Spain for the wrong reasons.