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American Imperialism In The Late 19th Century

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In the late 1800’s, Western Imperialism expanded aggressively. Imperialism is the domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region. Although the Europeans had established colonies earlier, they previously had little direct influence over people in China, Africa, or India. Expansion takes place when one territory is deemed more powerful than other territories or people. Geographical, physical, and or technological obstacles may assist or impede in the expansion process. At the end of the 19th century the United States became a colonial power after moving across the North American continent to the Pacific Ocean. American colonies in the Philippines, Caribbean, and Hawaiian Islands were …show more content…
Larger nations economized the smaller colonies by building roads, railroads, canals, establishing schools, and giving the blessing of their civilization. The length of living increased because sanitation was redesigned and new farming methods caused increased crop production which then led to a greater source of food.
During the late 19th and early 20th century Imperialism also had some negative affects on the modern world. Small colonies were considered cheap labor and were put to work doing whatever the larger country demanded. This exhibited their lack of freedom. When the whites invaded Africa, the Bible and Christianity were forced upon the citizens and their land was taken out from under their feet. The African’s were also put to work as slaves and forced to do hard labor resulting in death and corrupted minds.
A sense of racial superiority was also behind the west’s civilizing mission. Darwin’s theory of natural selection to societies was applied by the Social Darwinist’s. Imperialism was seen as nature’s way of improving the human race. Many people lost their cultural heritage as a result. National pride and aggressive foreign policy became known as jingoism. A driving force behind Imperialism was the desire for new

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