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American Imperialism Negative Effects

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During the 19th and 20th centuries United States imperialism caused both positive and negative impacts on the world. Positive effects were seen in the imperialization of Hawaii and Alaska. On the other hand, negative effects were seen in the imperialization of Philippines. In the end, I believe the United States made the right choice when choosing to imperialize other countries. The imperialization of Hawaii and Alaska gave the US two major military bases and a multitude of resources. Hawaii was originally imperialized due to the fact that sugarcane grew extraordinarily well on the island. The US them signed a treaty that stated Hawaii was exempt from tariffs. This helped Hawaii since they were in the middle of a recession and this also prevented Hawaii from looking to Britain and Spain for help. Later, the US wanted to add to the treaty that Pearl Harbor would be a US military base. The island of Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific ocean, making it a halfway point between the US and Japan. Alaska was also used as a military base for similar reasons. The purchase of Alaska gave America the ability to keep an eye on the Russians since Alaska is only 2,936 miles away from Russia. Also, Alaska is home to a plethora of natural …show more content…
The people of the Philippines wished to claim independence after the end of the Spanish-American war. However, the Philippines was used in the Treaty of Paris at the end of the war. The US gained the Philippines from Spain, filipinos went from one governing power to another and even fought the Americans for a short time. The United States believed they were saving filipinos from Spain but, they were giving filipinos more of the same. In the end, the Philippines eventually became independent from the United States. Imperializing other countries does not always have a positive

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