Sample Imperialism DBQ

Early American Imperialism, marked by American intervention into Latin America, created an environment in which the influence of the United States over other countries could flourish. As a result of the Spanish-American War, the United States was able to establish military control over new territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In Central America, the construction of the Panama canal reinforced Theodore Roosevelt's corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, establishing a strong military and commercial presence in the region. These early experiments in American imperialism created conflict within the United States as Americans debated the positive and negative effects these actions would have on the development of the United States. Overall, America's intervention into the Caribbean and Latin America created opportunity for the United States to become a major player on the world stage.

Vital to the establishment of an American empire, the Spanish-American War resulted in the addition of four territories to the holdings of the United States. An outgrowth of a Cuban Revolution against Spanish rule, the four month conflict was fueled by media speculation and sensationalism. Explosions aboard the U.S.S. Maine, depicted in an 1898 drawing published in The World (Document 1), allowed the media to trump up charges against the Spanish and to inspire the American public to call for war. Brief and successful, the conflict glorified American Imperialism and created war heroes, like Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, memorialized in Frederic Remington's piece, "The Charge up San Juan Hill" in 1901 (Document 2). At the close of the war with Spain, the United States took possession of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam; and American influence spread swiftly throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. A cartoon in the Minneapolis Journal of July 4, 1896 (Document 3) depicts this process as akin to a fuse, lighting explosives in many parts of the world. Emboldened by her successes, the United States reached even more deeply into Latin American commerce and politics.

Theodore Roosevelt sought to realize the long-held dream of easing international trade by constructing a canal through a thin strip of land separating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Using the American military, Roosevelt assisted in the Panamanian Revolution, securing access to the land necessary to construct the canal. A remarkable feat of engineering, the canal required a system of locks, shown in Document Set 4, to move ships between the disparate elevation of the two oceans. This process was costly in money and lives, a fact reflected in the cartoon published in the "Ohio State Journal on March 1903 (document 5). Depicting a proud Uncle Sam straddling the isthmus of Panama, the cartoon laments huge payments to the Colombians and the forcefulness of the treaty required to secure the Panama Route. Trade between Europe and the West Coast of the United States was tremendously eased by the completion of the canal, and the United States was able to establish a permanent military presence to protect its interests in Central America. Brooks Adams, in The New Empire, explained, "With the completion of the Panama Canal, all Central America will become part of our system (Document 6)." American experiences with intervention into foreign affairs brought swift benefits for the growth of both the American economy and American military power; but these successes cost dearly.

Imperialism, for the America of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was a double-edges sword. Territorial expansion allowed for American influence to reach other continents while improved trade brought wealth to growing American markets. Militarily, the power of the United States was enhanced by its physical and economic expansion, and countries that had struggled for years under oppressive governments were exposed to American democratic concepts. Echoing the sentiment of the American public, Brooks Adams wrote in 1902, "The United States will outweigh any single empire, if not all empires combined. The whole world will pay her tribute. Commerce will flow to her from both East and West, and the order which has existed from the dawn of time will be reversed (Document 6)." However, in building an empire and controlling the politics of foreign peoples, the United States turned its back on its own founding principles, especially those of equality and self-determination. Senator Albert Beveridge reinvigorated the British imperialist claim that it was the White Man's Burden to civilize the people of the world (Document 7). Burdens of managing the newly established empire included the cost of maintaining a large and well-equipped Navy, the danger of creating enemies abroad, and the ideological inconsistencies of subjugating foreign peoples while attempting to uphold Liberal values. Overall, the period of American imperialism, though costly, established the United States as a political, economic, and cultural powerhouse in the international community.

When the American public pushed for intervention into the Cuban Revolution in 1898, it could not have known the far reaching impact of that decision. Like a butterfly reaching out of its cocoon for the first time, the United States stretched its wings over Latin America and the Pacific. Expanding into island territories, easing and protecting trade routes, and influencing the politics of other nations allowed turn-of-the century America to compete with the powers of Europe.

Thoughts and Questions for Those Posting on October 28

1. What are the costs and benefits of living in a city? Is city living worth all of the hassle?

2. The United States has one of the most mobile populations in the Western world. People move from city to city, state to state, and region to region easily when motivated by economic factors. Americans move when they have lost their jobs, gotten better jobs, or when industries shift. Is this positive or negative for the United States in the long run?

3. The late nineteenth century marked the United States government's first foray into the regulation of industries with the Interstate Commerce Act. Since then, the government has regulated labor laws, food and drugs, environmental conditions, and a bevy of other economic issues. Should the United States government take over healthcare in the United States? To what extent should the US government regulate healthcare? Should it set rules and guidelines for employers, healthcare providers, and insurance companies? Should it provide Americans a "public option" in which the US government becomes a health insurer for some Americans who lack quality insurance? Should it take over all helath insurance and cover care for all Americans using tax dollars? (This is a big debate in Congress right now, so look at some news and take a stance. :) Then you can watch CSPAN!!)

4. One of the biggest problems of the turn of the century was the huge divide between rich and poor. There was no such thing as a national welfare program and state programs were corrupt and inadequate. What, if anything, do the wealthy owe to the poor? What, if anything, should the government do to help equalize differences between the rich and poor? How effective have programs in the United States been in equalizing these differences?

5. One of the innovations of the turn of the century was the introduction of free public education, provided by tax dollars and available to all children. How has this innovation helped the United States? What are the successes and failures of public education? How could public education be improved?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/21

1. Should immigration into the United States be limited? Why or why not?

2. Why have Americans always been afraid of certain groups of immigrants? Are there legitimate economic, social, or political reasons to fear people from outside the United States?

3. How have the problems of the city led to political reform? Has this political reform been positive or negative in the long run?

4. Should the United States government regulate economic activity? What are the benefits of this regulation? What are the costs?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/14

1. What factors pushed people out of other countries and into American cities at the turn of the century? Were these problems solved by relocation to the cities?

2. What are the benefits of living in a city? What are the costs or dangers associated with living in a city? How have these changed over time? In your opinion, is it more beneficial to live in a city, s suburb, or a rural area?

3. What factors pushed people off of farms and into American cities at the turn of the century? Were these problems solved by relocation to the cities?

4. How did technology change the lives of average Americans at the turn of the century? Has technology done more to change your life or the lives of those who lived at the turn of the century?

5. How did working together in trusts, unions, or political parties change the American economy at the turn of the century? Which changes were positive and which were negative? Should American businesses be prohibited from forming a trust? Should workers be prohibited from forming a union?

Thoughts and Questions for those posting on 10/07

1. How did technology change the way of life for Americans at the turn of the century? In what ways did these technological advancements improve the quality of life in the U.S.? In what ways did these technological changes create problems?

2. What was the most important or impressive invention of the turn of the century? Why has this invention had the greatest impact over time?

3. Who was the most important or impressive inventor of the turn of the century? Why has this inventor had the greatest impact over time?

4. Over time, technology has often focused on improving transportation and communication. Why have so many scientists focused on these goals? How have improvements in these areas made life both easier and more complicated?

Enjoy! :)

Questions and thoughts for those posting on 09/30

1. Westerners are a strange breed. I say that as a person born and raised in the Great American Southwest. We are libertarian. We have a disdain for federal government intervention, a love of states' rights, and a unique way of viewing property and gun rights. Westerners tend to place individual liberties over the value of group responsibilities. Is there a connection between the history of the American West and this unique culture? Were the people who went West simply the type to hold these values or were these values shaped by the Western landscape?

2. Some of the greatest obstacles to Westward migration and settlement were geographic in nature. Western settlers had to overcome the utter lack of water, dust storms, unforgiving mountainous terrain, frigid winters, and sweltering summers. How did Western settlers deal with these challenges? Are the settlers' responses to these challenges sustainable in the long run or is the West headed for ecological disaster?

3. Native Americans attempted to resist American expansion into the West and failed, relegated to reservation lands the United States government deemed less desirable for Merican settlement. The Cherokee, who had been removed from Georgia and Tennessee and relocated to Oklahoma by the Jackson administration, were further constrained to make room for Homesteaders. Plains natives like the Sioux saw their entire way of life destroyed as the buffalo slipped toward extinction, overhunted by profit-seeking skinners and the US army's attempts to force the Sioux to negotiate. They were forced to give up their migratory lifestyle and confined to reservations. The government attempted, through reservation schools, to "civilize" the tribes. Were these things necessary for the expansion and development of the American nation? Was conflict inevitable or was there a better way to deal with the tribes effectively?

4. The modernization of farming, conversion of plains and desert land to farmland, and federal government assistance in irrigation led to huge increases in farm production in the late 19th century. Railroads, barbed wire fences, and the conversions of the plains led to sweeping changes in the cattle industry around the same time. Rather than graze cattle over wide areas and drive them on foot to packing plants in Chicago, ranchers raised cattle on small plots of land, feeding them grain, and shipping them by rail to the packers. These cattle, sold by the pound, were quickly fattened and the changes in ranching greatly increased the supply of beef in the United States in the late 19th century. What effects did these changes have on the availability and cost of food in the United States? What were the economic effects on ranchers and farmers? Why did ranchers and farmers attempt to collaborate with each other to improve their situations?

5. What were the economic effects of the US government's switch to the gold standard in the latter half of the 19th century? Who was positively affected? Who was negatively affected? What were some of the competing plans for changing the money supply? Which do you think was the most promising and why?

Have fun :)

Questions and Thoughts for Those Blogging on 09/23

1. Many people believe that the Civil War is solely about slavery, yet close inspection of the issues surrounding the beginning of the war show a much more complex set of problems that slowly ripped the country apart. Why do Americans seem to believe that the Civil War was about slavery alone? How did the events of the war help to create this historical myth? How have race relations in the United States been shaped by this widespread belief?

2. One of the most important issues of the Civil War was the division of powers between state governments and the federal government. Has this issue been successfully resolved? Could this issue lead to further conflict in the future? Has the power of the federal government become so great that states have been made into powerless administrative units at the whim of federal control?

3. When George Washington left office, he gave a speech warning that sectionalism would tear the country apart. 63 years later, he was proven right. Are there any issues in the United States right now that, while seemingly small now, may grow to the point of causing another Civil War in the UNited States?

4. At Vicksburg, General Grant disregarded the norms of warfare by pursuing a policy of total war against the city of Vicksburg, endangering civilians. General Sherman's march through Georgia and South Carolina left an unimaginable path of destruction through the South. Could the North have won without violating norms of war or causing so much destruction of private property? Would the peace and subsequent Reconstruction have been made easier by avoiding these tactics?

5. In what ways have the North and South remained economically, politically, and socially different from one another? Why have the divisions between North and South persisted? Is there any hope for unity between these two sections of the country in the future?

6. Some countries faced with Civil War undertake the prospect of rewriting their constitution. For example, when faced with rioting and possible Civil War in 1954, the French President rewrote that countries constitution. Also, when blacks finally wrested power away from the ruling white elite in South Africa, a new constitutional convention was held. Is this the path the United States should have taken after the Civil War? Was the Constitution flexible enough to withstand the division and reunification of the country or is the document inherently and permanently flawed?