Chapter 17 Section 1

The Pressure to Expand

Imperialism

• Nations attempt to create empires by dominating weaker nations– Economically– Politically– Culturally– Militarily

Why did imperialism grow in Europe at the end of the 1800s?

• Industrial growth: countries were looking for new markets to sell their products to

• Nationalism: The believed in the superiority of their nation

• Advances in military technology: bigger, better navies to protect their colonies

• Humanitarian or religious goals: Belief in social Darwinism or spread Christianity

What affect did the growth of European Imperialism have on United States attitudes

toward foreign policy and expansion?• It created a sense of

urgency for Americans• Many believed that the

U.S. had to claim overseas territories in order to become a great nation

Monroe Doctrine

• Declaration that the U.S. would oppose efforts by any outside power to control a nation in the Western Hemisphere

How did the United States apply the Monroe Doctrine to its foreign policy throughout the 1800s?

• To keep the Western Hemisphere free from intervention by European powers

• To justify Manifest destiny as well as acquisition of overseas territories

Nationalism

• Devotion to one’s nation– Led European nations to

compete for empires– Desired to expand to

prevent others from expanding

– Led nations to believe that their culture and ways of life were superior

Why did U.S. policymakers feel the need to secure new markets abroad?

• Foreign markets were seen as necessary to sell the nation’s extra products

• Unsold products could create surpluses that could lead to panics and depression in the U.S.

Annex

• To join a new territory to an existing territory– Supporters of expansion

denied that the U.S. sought to annex foreign lands• It happened anyway

Banana Republic

• Term used to describe a Central American nation dominated by United States business interests– Namely the United Fruit

company in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras

Why did some believe that U.S. expansion was needed to preserve the “American spirit”?

• They worried that the closing of the frontier would deplete the nation’s energy; a quest for an empire might restore America’s pioneer spirit

• As this 1901 political cartoon suggests, the U.S. relied on the principles of the Monroe Doctrine to block European involvement in Latin America. What is the cartoonist suggesting about the role of the U.S. in world affairs.