erican nation be able to back up it’s bark? At the time Great Britain was the supreme naval power in the world, and it promised to aid America in enforcing the Monroe Doctrine. America could now act on Latin America unchallenged by Europe. However, the Monroe Doctrine did not play an important part in American imperialism until after the Civil War. This was one of America’s early moves at imperialism. The staunch expansionist Commodore Matthew C. Perry was one of the first American’s to take “active measures” to open up new markets for America. In 1852 Great Britain took control over Hong Kong and Singapore. Perry warned President Fillamore that soon, Great Britain would control all of the Pacific. In 1853 he ordered Perry to take measures to secure ports in Japan. This began the yearlong diplomatic dance in which the United States would bring Japan out of isolation, opening it up to the global market 1854. This is another move the United States made in it’s early imperialistic stages.The beginnings of the drive for U.S. overseas expansion started under the Lincoln administration. One of the first proponents of expansion in was Secretary of State, William Seward. Seward wanted the U.S. to forge a vast empire, including Canada, the Caribbean especially Cuba, Hawaii and other Pacific Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Mexico. His first expansionistic movement was the expelling of the French from Mexico, as it was a direct violation of the Monroe Doctrine. In 1864 Mexico asked for the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor, Maximilian to rule as emperor of Mexico. This move was supported by Napoleon III of France, and so in order to legitimize the new ruler, Napoleon sent French troops to Mexico, into the Western Hemisphere. Seward saw this as a direct offense to U.S. security according to the Monroe Doctrine. So in 1866, Seward sent 50,000 Federal Troops to the Rio Grande. Upon the sigh...
