Spanish colonization in the Americas ended with the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War (1898). After sensationalist newspapers publicized the horrendous methods Spain used to stop the struggle for independence in Cuba, the American public felt sympathetic and public opinion inclined towards American intervention (“Grover Cleveland: American Interests In The Cuban Revolution”). The United States public sympathized with the Cuban rebels. The Treaty of Paris was signed Dec. 10, 1898, and Spain relinquished its hold on Cuba.
US’s involvement in global affairs heightened during the cold war. The cold war was a period of rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Barney). In his speech to the U.S Congress in 1947, President Truman outlined the need for America to provide economic and social assistance to countries that could easily be influenced by the Soviet Union (“Avalon Project - Truman Doctrine”). America and Great Britain were worried about the influence of Russia on the Eastern European states.
In both World Wars 1 and 2, American public opinion had greatly influenced the country’s involvement in the two wars. Efficient political will was important in ensuring America helped to maintain global peace. America’s economy had grown to be able to finance its global endeavors. The US, after the Spanish-American war, saw potential of influencing global affairs for the good of the global citizens. The United States Congress, after yielding to pressure from the public, accepted President Woodrow Wilson’s plea to enter World War 1. This was after the public was appalled by the sinking of American ships by the Germans. Wilson had argued that the country would not by and watch other nations interfere with its interests (“First World War.Com - President Woodrow Wilson's Inauguration Address, 4 March 1917”).
In the 1890s, European powers scrambled to colonize Africa. Back in the United States, public opinion shifted to pro-expansion. Americans feared losing out on territorial power and on raw materials that colonization availed to their closest economic rival, Great Britain. America went on to annex Hawaii and purchased Alaska from Russia. The need for a global footprint was plausibly one of the biggest reasons America took on a global role. Competing for global relevance, the US set out to bridge global alliances and strengthen economic ties with European countries.
The little-known Philippine-American war of 1899 through to 1902 claimed the lives of 250,000 people. A violent confrontation succeeded the Spanish-American War. By the end of that war, the United States had cemented its place as the dominant force in the Pacific sea (McSherry). The Pacific’s economic system was vibrant, and America’s control over it would later help in improving America’s maritime prowess (“William McKinley: The Acquisition Of The Philippines"). Having no hostile neighbors, America had concentrated more on merchant shipping than on strengthening its naval force.
America’s occupancy of the Philippines was unpopular with many Americans who opted to help the Philippines build their country (McSherry). The conflict was however used by some to justify America’s expansion into the world with the infamous term “white man’s burden.” As offensive as it was at the time, high-ranking American officials maintained that America, being part of the western world, had an obligation to spread civilization and western world values to the entire world. President McKinley also argued that it was the responsibility of U.S to educate Filipinos and uplift their living standards (“President William Mckinley On Annexation”).. American global role was gaining momentum after these successive wars and things were not showing any otherwise intention.
America would not sit by and watch wrong doings perpetrated against weaker nations, in accordance with Theodore Roosevelt’s stand of 1904 (“Our Documents - Transcript Of Theodore Roosevelt's Corollary To The Monroe Doctrine 1905”). Earlier that year, Germany demanded repayment of a defaulted loan (Colby). Germany demanded the now Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo) as reparation. President Roosevelt, in a show of force, warned the Germans against any excursions to the Western Hemisphere. According to Roosevelt, the US had to become the global police force in flagrant cases of wrongdoing. This was supposedly inevitable to Roosevelt; however, reluctant the public was towards this new ‘police power’ tag.
Roosevelt’s intentions had been quite possibly noble, but even then, pundits were quick to point out that maybe America had selectively chosen to police against their economic rivals (Colby). A sequence of developments had led Roosevelt to declare America a police force within the Caribbean and Central America. America had yet again inched towards becoming the cold war era global superpower. Roosevelt had tied America with the enduring image of a Nation that had to go the extra mile to help those oppressed by powerful entities.
After World War 1, the world had changed into a diplomatic meshwork of ties and connections. America opted to spend the 1920s focused mainly on further economic expansion within its borders. This would be difficult because it had created international relationships with many of its allies, so seclusion was not on the table. These global ties paved more the road towards American global influence. Among its allies, the US was doing much better economically (Sullivan). The British economy was about half that of America by the mid-1920s, and that was America’s closest global rival. It is understood that America then held a larger stake at the table of foreign diplomacy. Amongst peers, America had been given an unspoken Authority to get involved, and they did (Abramovitz).
With economic growth came investment power to the American public. Before the First World War, foreigners’ investments inside America outweighed Americans investment in foreign countries. By early 1920, estimates put it that Americans had three billion dollars more invested in overseas than foreigners had invested in America (Abramovitz). This validated American involvement in global affairs because that was a means of protecting their foreign economic interests. Foreign investment only shot up within the next decade, making sure that American citizens themselves influenced trade in other far-flung regions of the world (Sullivan).
America’s growth in itself can be attributed to the innovative nature of its populace. Innovators like Edison, Bell, and the Wright brothers helped America catch the world’s eye. After World War 1, President Coolidge would not write off Europe’s debt to America for loans that they wanted in rebuilding Europe. This debt went a long way in keeping European powers at bay economically. In the 1930’s America had more money than England, France, Germany, China and Canada put together. Money provided political leverage used by America in international influence expansion.
After World War 2 broke out in 1939, the consensus in America was that no American soul would be lost fighting a foreign war (Godfrey). America was provoked into the war after the Japanese bombed an American fleet in the Pearl Harbor incident of 1941. The US public finally was in favor of military expansion that had long been advocated for by sections in the government. This incident was the beginning of American understanding that a military threat could come from not just neighbors or prominent traditional antagonists (Winkler). The US quickly grew to global military dominance and in particular, became by far, the strongest naval force the world had ever seen. Protection of American lives quickly grew to become the number one reason for their international reach. Every major threat after this period gave the US a reason to get into the fray of things. It is this reason that saw America lock horns with the USSR in a protracted cold war.
American citizenry felt the impact of their nation’s newfound global dominance. Economic power did not necessarily trickle down to all Americans. Wealth was owned by institutions either privately or publicly by the government. To the American public, economic power was still not quite relatable. What did economic power mean exactly, who had the power and to do what with it? Social amenities were truly civilized, but wealth being a reserve of the upper class.
Americans who had vested economic interests in foreign countries supported their government’s involvement in the affairs of those countries. Having a government that watched over their investments was an added incentive to invest further abroad (Sullivan). The American public was exposed to a bigger market space on which to do business. American leading brands turned into conglomerates with many international branches. This was a win for the government as they could provide more cash flow into America to help ease unemployment.
Immigration was one of the major consequences of American globalization. Immigrants shipped in mainly from Europe and Pacific Asia. The impact of this immigration on the society was the deep diversification that followed suite. It was not always rosy for immigrants trying to settle in America as many were faced with racism from the American locals (Reimers). Unemployment followed suit, causing immigrants to establish their employment opportunities. They altered the American society by the introduction of foreign cultural beliefs, religion, and values. Immigrants came with their contributing talents into America, and many of them ended up being market leaders and top innovators. However, many attempts were also made to restrict immigration (“Immigration Restriction Act”).
Global exploits came at a steep price to America and its citizens. Countless American lives had been lost in the foreign wars and struggles they helped douse. Many women were widowed, and many children grew fatherless. The American public had to shoulder the burden of helping less powerful nations because in its place was the guilt of knowing only they could do something against an atrocity. Economically, many young women found employment during the two major wars, which helped in the feminist push for gender equality (Winkler). Since many young men had shipped out for war, women had a chance at gainful employment in wartime jobs.
With a global role, America had become hated as much as it was loved. This trickled down to the citizenry, who sometimes fell victim to anti-American idealists. Being an American could gain you either favor or prejudice and in some ways, this limited the reach of American citizenry itself. By the start of the cold war, the world had been split into the first world (The US and its allies), second world (USSR and allies) and third world countries (neutrals).
Works Cited
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