IntroductionIntroduction
Central Question: What arguments were made for and against American imperialism?
Can you name at least three foreign countries in which U.S. troops are currently stationed? American troops are deployed to various countries across the globe, some of which are countries plagued by war. In many cases, the American people have conflicting opinions about U.S. involvement in these countries. These disagreements about foreign policy are nothing new.
While progressives promoted reform within the United States, others eagerly looked outward as interest in world events and opportunities to expand began to escalate. Beginning in the late 1800s, U.S. headlines revealed imperialisticprocess whereby stronger nations takeover weaker nations actions by European nations in places such as Africa, India, and China. Americans, traditionally eager to acquire new territory, began to call for overseas expansion as well. While not everyone agreed with expansion, the eyes of the nation began to look outward in search of new land, new people, and they hoped - new opportunity.
At first glance, you may assume the focus of the political cartoon below is Uncle Sam's problem with obesity. However, upon closer examination, you find that his expanding waist size was not considered a problem for many Americans. As a matter of fact, his tailor, President McKinley was quite happy to add a few stripes to his pants. Select the blue icons to learn about the characters and captions to learn more.
Analyze the Cartoon text version | Open Analyze the Cartoon in a new tab
Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Describe attempts by the United States to establish a global empire during the late 1800s.
- Evaluate the arguments both for and against imperialism during the late 1800s.
The above objectives correspond with the Alabama Course of Study: US History 11 Objectives: 3 & 3.4.
This lesson incorporates the following Literacy Standards: R2, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, W4, W6 & W9.
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