Essay On American Expansionism

Arguably, during the era of confederation, the United States focused on extending its borders and territory westwards. Perhaps, this era took place in the year 1864 to 1890, whereby United States created its various states of which some was from Canada. As a matter of fact, the end of Civil war in America saw various investments and new issues in land, construction of the railway, as well as exploitation of resources. The American expansionism fear led to the Great Britain to favor Canada’s purchase of the Northwest Territory and Rupert’s Land. In the 19th century, American expansionism focused on the bordering regions that its acquisition would broaden the economic base and enhance security. The terms used in this topic includes Cuba, Seward, Ostend Manifesto, Buchanan, as well as the Gadsden Purchase.
Seward is one of the famous was one of the American politician from New York. Perhaps, he served as a governor, senator, as well as secretary of state during Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln era. In fact, he opposed the issue of slavery in the region, which leads to the arising of civil war. Seward played a crucial role in American expansion because he was a strong support of expansion. Perhaps, he made a crucial move in 1867, because he arranged the purchase of Alaska. This move did not go well with many people. Seward also convinced the United States officials have an empire in Asia. It is not noting that Seward was an influential figure in the annexing of Hawaii because he made a deciding vote.
Cuba, which is currently known to be the Republic of Cuba, is a country in the Caribbean. It is part of the main Cuban Island. The countries surrounding Cuba include United States, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, as well as Cayman Islands. It is the well known and largest island in the Caribbean region. During the American expansionism, Cuba was one of the countries that were annexed. The Spanish-American war played a key role in the American Expansionism process. America had to go to war with Spain in order to acquire Cuba in the 19th century. The country had tremendous plantations of tobacco and sugar cane, which attracted many countries. In 1890s, the U.S foreign relations and policy began to be focused outward. People of United States wanted to be part of the outside world.
The Ostend Manifesto refers to a document that was written in 1854 to describe the reasons behind the purchase of Cuba by the United States from Spain. The document in one way or another implied that if Spain refuses United States will declare war against them. The Document was a clear introduction of a shift of issues of foreign policy. In fact, this is linked to American Expansion because it was an attempt by the United States to take away Cuba from Spain. According to those who drafted the document, Spain controlled Cuba in an unnatural way, and Cuba belonged to the United States.
Buchanan was one of the politicians in United States. He was perhaps the 15th president of United States from the year 1857 to 1861. One of the unique thing about him is that he was a bachelor for his lifetime. He was the secretary of state during the presidency of Polk in 1845. James Buchanan is one of the people who are recognized in the American expansionism. This is because he was one of those people who drafted and authored the Ostend manifesto that was to be a directive towards the purchase of Cuba. Buchanan also made various orders that were focused in expanding United States of America. His decisions influenced the foreign policy of United States with other nations.
Gadsden Purchase took place in the year 1853 to 1854. Ti refers to the agreement or treaty between Mexico and United States, and it was finalized in 1854. The United States went into agreement with United States to pay some amount to Mexico for a certain portion of Mexico. This is one of the real and realistic treaties that were finalized during the American expansionism. After the agreement, a fresh tension emerges over the payment process, and the agreement later failed to resolve the financial issues that have been focused on. The agreement leads to change of policy making and foreign policy of United States.