Meeting Of The Minds-American Expansionism: William Howard Taft

The foreign policies of William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Harry Truman differed greatly between 1897 and 1953. Firstly, McKinley passed the McKinley Tariff to encourage American manufacturing and lower the interests for loans. He was also harassed by the media to enter the war with Spain, and therefore he gave up his ideas of neutrality. Most of his foreign policies were due to the need to please his imperialism-loving voters. Teddy Roosevelt’s foreign policy was called big stick diplomacy and advocated for peaceful negotiations with the possible need for force.

This allowed the Filipino people to have a voice in their government. Taft was the Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt; later on when Theodore Roosevelt’s second term was drawing to a close, Roosevelt practically hand-picked Taft to succeed

Those who favored colonial expansion and the foundation of foreign colonies had different justifications for believing so. There were those who believed their race to be the superior race, and that because God had given them the gifts of knowledge and land, it was their mission to educate and govern the inferior races. Albert Beveridge, a former Uniter States Senator in the late 18th century, was a strong supporter and defender of imperialism. Using religion and divine right to justify the taking over of other nations, Beveridge claimed that God had given them the means and power to reach out to inferior nations and spread the ideals of Christianity. He even went so far as to state that it would be immoral and selfish of the American people to rise to this call of expansion.

He was big government because he made a law that made it so owners of stores couldn’t choose their prices. Alfonso Taft “ William Howard Taft’s father” thought he should be big government but passed away before William was president. He also fallowed in Theodor Roosevelt's footsteps and was big government. Taft worked for Roosevelt before he became president. Next are some facts about William Howard Taft.

What were Beveridge's economic motives for imperialism? Beveridge’s economic motives for imperialism derived from industrialization and the current economic growth America was already witnessing. This was the period where industrialization was growing at a rapid pace not only in the United States but worldwide. He made the case that the opposition was correct in resisting imperialism in the past because there was no need for new land back then.

Grover Cleveland stated, "...it has been the settled policy of the United States to concede to people of foreign countries the same freedom and independence in the management of their domestic affairs that we have always claimed for ourselves." (Document D) President Grover Cleveland believed that the United States should not be expanding and acknowledged that America did not have the right to control how other nations were governed. Independence was once given to the United States, therefore, other annexed nations should receive that same independence. A reason for the American-Philippine war occurring is the absence of independence for Filipinos which does not reflect the United States principle of independence.

In 1896, the imperialists of America got their chance to shine when William McKinley became president. The imperialists wanted to expand U.S. trade into other countries in hopes of soon acquiring the countries as colonies.

Gail Bederman from the university of Notre Dame claims that Theodore Roosevelt, who was the greatest supporter of the attack on Spain and Philippines, had it engineered by both race and gender. These two concepts made him perceive imperialism as being the next stage of growth in a healthy republic. To him, expansion and domination were necessary if America was to civilize the world. For people like Theodore Roosevelt, as the United States advanced, the democratic vision was also progressing (Bederman, 1996). Theodore Roosevelt, just elected to office in 1882, felt that he was very important and had many ambitions.

He wanted to have an understanding of the Constitution as an Anti Federalist. Anti Federalists were the group of people who opposed to ratifying the Constitution. He used the Anti Federalists views while making some decisions,like supporting the public education. He put work in to education, and he told the

Hoganson’s approach of the annexation purely for cultural reasons rather Painter’s, which is more agricultural. She saw America taking over The Philippines as a way for The Philippines to mature. Even though both authors have two different perspectives on the annexation, they both still are complementary to each other. They both provide valid arguments for there reasoning of the takeover of The

He believes that only the strenuous life can play great role in the prosperity and welfare of the individuals and nation as well. Practically, Roosevelt was an ardent supporter of imperialism and wanted America to play integral role in world affairs and politics. This speech also depicts his policy of interventionism and imperialism. Roosevelt defends American imperialism by taking America’s national interests into consideration. However, his imperialist approach in foreign policies raises many questions for the audience sitting outside the borders of America.

As a Commander-in-Chief, Taft made several wise decisions to benefit the military involvement in foreign territory. He created a program known as “Dollar diplomacy” to encourage U.S. investments in South and Central America as well as the West Indies. As part of this program, Taft

The U.S. also purchased the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. The war made way the emergence of the United States as a colonial empire (“World of 1898: Introduction”). When Roosevelt came back from the war, he ran for governor of New York. As governor, he fought for more sanitation, economic regulation, crime control, and relief for the hungry. He had caused enough change in the state of New York that Thomas Platt, leader of New York Republicans, considered him a threat, so he pulled strings to make Roosevelt a candidate for vice-president to get him away from New York (“Theodore (Teddy)

Beveridge believe that we should just be able to do what other country can do, while Obama focuses on what would be best for the country; basically staying out of wars when they can be avoidable. Beveridge’s response to why we should imperialize other countries is not necessarily how it’s beneficial to our country, but more of its “fair” and we’d be more “equal” to other countries since their governing foreign countries as well. He believes that since we can do it, we should just expand our territory. He thinks that Americans should continue with the march toward commercial supremacy of the World, not even considering any of the outcomes. His strong nationalism is only focusing about the power America can get by doing what every other country may be doing, imperializing.

Wilson 's “Moral” diplomacy, was to help the nation whose ideas and ideologies fell align with that of the nation, but damage those who didn’t. Taft 's “Dollar” diplomacy, was diplomacy through use of its economic power by guaranteeing loans made to foreign countries. Roosevelt 's “Big Stick” diplomacy, was referred to as “speak softly, and carry a big stick.” He himself described his diplomacy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis.” One of President Roosevelt 's most noticeable accomplishments, was the building of the panama canal.