American Foreign Policy in the 1890s An Essay, American


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American Foreign Policy in the 1890s An Essay

American Foreign Policy in the 1890s An Essay American foreign policy during the 1890s was based on many factors that each acted as an individual justification for our country’s behavior as a whole. Racism, nationalism, commercialism, and humanitarianism each had its own role in the actions Most Americans were extremely racist during this time period. The predominant culture in the country was white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestants, aka WASPs. They scorned the now free black people and all European immigrants that came to our nation. They gave anyone with the slightest differences a very hard time, whether they were citizens of America or not. If they did such things to their fellow countrymen, their reactions to foreigners was considerably magnified. They criticized Europeans on their foreign practices, especially when it came to Imperialism. But when they caught on to the European’s ideas, they twisted the concept to adjust it to their own needs. That’s when the other major justifications to their foreign policy come in. Humanitarianism was the major justification that Americans used when they established their territories. Americans may have shunned the Europeans’ actions to gain colonies solely for power and prestige, but they certainly weren’t going to let the Europeans be the only ones who practiced what they considered to be a pretty good idea. That’s when Americans twisted their racism around to suit their needs. They felt, as the white race, that they were superior to all other races, and that it was their duty to provide a good life for all those inferior to them. That’s where the humanitarianism applied. Americans figured that when they entered the smaller, weaker, foreign nations and practically took them over, that they were doing that nation’s people a favor, regardless of whether or not those people were content with their current lifestyle and government. This practice was basically the Americans’ way of rationalizing the fact that they were now becoming what they had been opposed to most, the Europeans. Nationalism also had a part. Much like racism, Americans felt their country was superior to all other countries. Maybe not in power or economy, but in morals. Americans had a very strong sense of pride in their country. They had defeated the British, one of the biggest world powers, to gain their independence, and they also proved to the world that they could thrive and live on. That gave them a very arrogant attitude, especially towards any type of action made by the Europeans. It directed their conduct to seem superior to all others. Americans were also driven by greed. Commercialism was a major factor in their foreign policy. Americans knew that by engaging in the same practices that the successful Europeans had, they could also gain money and prestige. Keeping in mind that they wanted to seem superior to the Europeans, they conjured up these fake rationalizations as to why they chose to take over these small island countries. The truth was, many Americans had invested in these countries, and the only way they could avoid the high McKinley Tariff was to somehow get these countries to become a part of the United States. Thus, Americans really didn’t care about the welfare of these people, they just wanted to make more money. As harsh as these actions and motivations were, they were also quite successful. Not only did America succeed in gaining money, power, and prestige through these territories, they also proved themselves to be just as powerful as their opposition, the Europeans. The sense of American pride grew, the economy strengthened, and America eventually emerged as one of the most powerful countries in the world. America’s blustery bravado helped them to intimidate other countries into leaving them to control not only themselves, but the entire western hemisphere as well. It was even successful in getting the Spanish to back out of Cuba. The resulting Spanish-American War was the mere pitfall of our nation’s excessive pride. But we persevered, and gained a number of territories in return. Which only furthered our ambitions. It is clear that these motivations of American Imperialism steered us down a somewhat crude, yet prosperous foreign policy that helped to shape our nation into what it is today. Bibliography:

Word Count: 686