Exactly when did America commit to imperialism?

[Soup Bean]

Have we always been an empire? Was it the Spanish-American War? The railroads, J.P. Morgan and westward expansion? Post World War II? The death of JFK?

How long do real republics last, anyway?

[RummyTheDummy]

1. January 20, 2001

The day Shit For Brains took office.

[coloradodem2005]

2. There were shades of imperialism before that.

Manifest Destiny among other things. The Spanish American War had a lot of imperialistic qualities to it.

[jay-3d]

7. after WWII

WWII was a fight for a new empire to secede the British empire. We won.

[fdr_hst_fan]

6. Amen, brother!

[lectrobyte]

3. Have we always been an empire? I'd say, yes, probably since

the mid 1800's. Maybe sooner. Smallpox blankets and all that.

[geek tragedy]

4. America never did

Who knows when aWol did.

America has a chance to reject imperialism in November.

[bemildred]

5. Spanish American War is about right.

There were earlier cases, but less enthusiastic and
confined to the Americas. The ambition to be a global
dick-waver started with McKinley, who noticed how it could
be exploited for political advantage. It was not until after
WWI that the domestic isolationists were well squelched, and
it was WWII that really put paid to the idea that we ought
to mind our own business.

Edit: "The Politics of War" by Walter Karp is an interesting
read on the subject.

[coloradodem2005]

8. Manifest destiny.

I have read things in my college history classes that are on par with the Nazis, in terms of how we treated the Native Americans. It is beyond disturbing. All because we believed that we needed to extend to the Pacific.

[bemildred]

10. You can look at it that way.

We kept it to encroachment on the neighbors until McKinley, mostly.
Going off to strange places and getting involved in fights to save
democracy and such was a new idea with McKinley. Prior to that is
was just stealing land because we could.

[SoCalDem]

9. Ever hear of the Panama Canal??

The US started a war with Colombia, so that Panama would break away.. We "owned" part of Panama for 99 years..and probably still pull some strings regarding the canal..:eyes:..

and then there was the Philippines...and Hawaii...and Cuba for a long time....and all the Pacific islands that we "claimed" after WWII..

oh.. and Central America, where we have "meddled" since the United Fruit Co days..

We are slick imperialists.. we meddle and change the govt, but stay iin the shadows, so that we can blame anything bad on the puppet governments we install..


At least the British, French, and Spaniards were up front enough to move lots of their own citizens to places they colonized, and they set up educational facilities for the locals, and integrated lots of them into the actual running of the countries they "invaded". and they admitted that they were colonizers

[Soup Bean]

12. Depressing.

Context and perception are everything. I wonder what would happen if this point of view was taught in schools? At what point should children (or adults, depending on the answer) be taught that American Foreign Policy isn't all Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet?

I wouldn't want to poison young minds against America, and the truth about smallpox blankets and the Native Americans would sure do a lot of poisoning. There has to be a balance somewhere, so that America can move into a more moral direction with respect to the third world.

When should we come to grips with other views of our history? At what point should we tell the truth over the myth?

America is a wonderful place, and the ideals of freedom and democracry for all are absolutely right on. Now, how do we begin to practice what we preach to the rest of the world? Can we?

I wonder about this a great deal. In some ways, I miss thinking that all presidents were champions of truth and justice, and that America could do no wrong.

[Bridget Burke]

11. The Mexican War

[Joy Anne]

Mexican War

my opinion, too.

[madrchsod]

13. "the shores of tripoli"

that`s when we started defending our global reach..

[amber dog democrat]

14. 1898

When we went after coaling stations for the Pacific and naturally the Spanish Colonial possessions.

1900 when we wrested Pananama from Columbia in order to have the Canal.

There was also a long standing policy of making Central America safe for the United Fruit Co.


Also don't forget the American consessions operating in China after the end of the govt of the Dowager Emperess and the Boxers.. and this lasted until WW II.

We have been a colonial power since the end of the 19th C,

[bigbillhaywood]

15. Since the beginning. American Revolution was an important step forward

but it did not stop imperial designs on Indian land. If you're looking for a definite point where the US "officially" became an Imperial power a la France, England and Spain: The Monroe Doctrine (1821?) of President Monroe-- the US would regard any further European expansion in the Western Hemisphere as hostile action.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. 1620

When those nice Christian pilgrims arrived and started taking Indian land.

Or, 1846, the Mexican War when we ripped off Texas (what a mistake THAT was) AZ, NM, CA, etc.

Or, 1898, Spanish American War when we "liberated" Cuba and the Phillipines.

From there on, it hasn't stopped.