American Imperialism

(noun)

A term that refers to the economic, military, and cultural influence of the United States on other countries.

Related Terms

Examples of American Imperialism in the following topics:

  • The Debate over American Imperialism

    • The "Age of Imperialism" was the height of American expansion overseas, but not everyone agreed with the imperialistic policies of the U.S.
    • A variety of factors may have coincided during the "Age of Imperialism" in the late nineteenth century, when the United States and the other major powers rapidly expanded their territorial possessions.
    • Some of these are explained, or used as examples for the various perceived forms of American imperialism .
    • There is also a conservative, anti-interventionist view as expressed by American journalist John T.
    • A strong vocal minority, the American Anti-Imperialist League, was an organization established in the United States on June 15, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area.

  • American Imperialism

    • Polk, the concept of an "American Empire" was made a reality throughout the latter half of the 1800s.
    • American imperialism is partly rooted in American exceptionalism, the idea that the United States is different from other countries due to its specific world mission to spread liberty and democracy.
    • Pinpointing the actual beginning of American imperialism is difficult.
    • During this "Age of Imperialism," the United States exerted political, social, and economic control over countries such as the Philippines, Cuba, Germany, Austria, Korea, and Japan.
    • The American Anti-Imperialist League was an organization established in the United States on June 15, 1898, to battle the American annexation of the Philippines as an insular area.

  • The United States and the World

    • This concept, and other causes, led to Imperialism, the practice of a nation increasing its sphere of influence.
    • In 1898, the American battleship USS Maine was destroyed by an explosion in the Cuban Harbor of Havana.
    • True to the letter of the Teller Amendment, American forces left Cuba in 1902.
    • On January 17, 1893, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, Queen Lili'uokalani, was deposed in a coup d'état led largely by American citizens who were opposed to Lili'uokalani's attempt to establish a new Constitution.
    • Dole reviewing American troops heading to Manila in 1898

  • Internment of Japanese Americans

    • Relocation and internment occurred in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
    • Of those interned, 62% were American citizens.
    • The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led military and political leaders to suspect that Imperial Japan was preparing a full-scale attack on the West Coast of the United States.
    • American public opinion initially stood by the large population of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. 
    • German American internment and Italian American internment camps also existed, sometimes sharing facilities with the Japanese Americans.

  • Coral Sea and Midway

    • The Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8, 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia.
    • In an attempt to defend their empire in the South Pacific, Imperial Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands.
    • The plan was handicapped by faulty Japanese assumptions of the American reaction and poor initial dispositions.
    • Most significantly, American code-breakers were able to determine the date and location of the attack, enabling the forewarned U.S.
    • Top Left: Two Mitsubishi A6M2a Zero of the Imperial Japanese Navy Aviation in China (26 May 1941).

  • Moral Imperialism

    • Many have approached the process of American entry into the World War I as a study in how public opinion changed radically in three years' time.
    • In 1914, most Americans called for neutrality, seeing the war as a dreadful mistake and determined to stay out of it.
    • The question then became whether Americans would fight for what they deeply believed in, and the answer turned out to be a resounding "YES".
    • Americans set a standard for German behavior in terms of human decency, political philosophy, international law, and American national interest.
    • Americans wanted a world of peace and democracy; in 1917, they realized that they must fight Germany to achieve it.

  • Indochina: The Background to War

    • The French continued to run affairs in Indochina, but ultimate power resided in the hands of the Imperial Japanese.
    • Nationalist Chinese troops entered the country to disarm Imperial Japanese troops north of the 16th parallel on September 14, 1945. 
    • In 1955, with American support, Diem used a referendum to remove the former Emperor and declare himself the president of the Republic of Vietnam.
    • The war gradually escalated into the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War in the West and the American War in Vietnam.
    • A dramatic shift occurred in American policy after the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist Party of China in the Chinese Civil War.

  • America's Early Role

    • American entry into World War I resulted in the American Expeditionary Force being engaged in 13 campaigns, during the period from 1917–1918.
    • During the United States campaigns in World War I, the AEF fought in France alongside French and British allied forces against Imperial German forces in the last year of the war.
    • He insisted that American soldiers be well-trained before going to Europe.
    • The first American troops, who were often called "Doughboys", landed in Europe in June 1917.
    • This photograph depicts officers in the American Expeditionary Forces.

  • Blue Water Imperialism

    • The American language of liberty is a concept deeply rooted in the Anglo-American colonial experience as well as the American Revolution.
    • Therefore, Anglo-American colonies were extensive communal cultures, centered on the civic and political sphere.
    • Such widespread participation in local community governments was characteristic solely of the Anglo-American colonies.
    • Despite the values inherent in the language of liberty, this language did not apply to slaves, and colonial culture safeguarded American slavery as a fundamental right of white men to their property.
    • As slavery flourished throughout the 18th century, many contemporaries remarked on the institution as a "necessary evil" or a "positive good" to American society and economy.

  • The War in France

    • The first AEF offensive action with British forces was conducted by 1,000 men serving with the Australian Imperial Forces during the Battle of Hamel on July 4, 1918.
    • Based on their success, European powers late in the war requested the aid of American units in Italy, as well as in Russia, where they were known as the American Expeditionary Force Siberia and the American Expeditionary Force North Russia.
    • The French did not display the same levels of disdain based on skin color as the American Army and for many African-Americans it was a far more tolerable experience.
    • This photograph depicts officers in the American Expeditionary Forces.
    • American Army field hospital inside ruins of a church (France 1918).