A sequence of images from popular culture portray the Spanish War of 1898; the first and second images tell the story of the United States' involvement in the Caribbean conflict. The editors of the journal piece claim that an American ship by the name of Maine was sunk off the Caribbean coast. The Spanish were allegedly responsible for destroying the ship, according to the United States. In response to the mine that sank the ship and killed 258 Americans, the nation gave a reward of $50,000 USD for the capture of the criminals. The victim in this situation was represented by the United States. The second slide depicts an image of Cuba inside a frying pan over an island aflame. The commentary means that while Spanish misrule was a threat to Cuba, succumbing to anarchy was the bigger threat.
The third and fourth slides also depict scenarios and events of historical significance to the United States in the Philippine-American War. It shows the rivalry between the Philippines and the US as US view it as ungrateful. This sentiment is supported by W.H. Taft in the next slide citing how backward and disorganized the Philippines’s political thought was. On new imperialism in the fifth to eighth slide, the United States is depicted as intervening in the colonization of Africa, South America and Asia. In the 6th and 7th slides for example, America embodies the role of teaching the Caribbean and carrying Africa’s burden. The ideology behind this representation is because the US did not colonize any country but hosted the refugees and slaves from them. In the 6th and 8th slides, minorities are either depicted as insolent or savage. In the 6th slide moreover, Native Americans are depicted as ignorant of Americans’ benevolent Instruction.
Part 2
Introductory Paragraph
As was elucidated above, American Expansionism and New Imperialism movements were key drivers in the involvement of the United States in global affairs. This was after America became self-sufficient as a nation in terms of driving progress from within its boundaries. However, during these times, most of the world was backward in terms of beliefs, social structure and political organization. This led to a scenario where the development of the United States would be inhibited by the lack of progress in its neighbors. That is why the most significant imposition of American policies on foreign lands happened to countries within the immediate boundaries of the country. This paper proposes that America’s input in the movements of New Imperialism and American Expansionism was positive and beneficial not only this itself but also to the countries that America imposed its rule on. This paper will use three reasons to support the above assertion. The first reason is that the United States enabled fast economic development in the countries it imposed its policies on at a rate that the countries could not have achieved if they were left to their own devices. The second reason was that the expansion and imperialism was beneficial to America in terms of providing more land and resources for shaping its economic future. In this light, were it not for its expansion, the country would not have been as powerful as it is. The expansion also meant that the population of the United States increased therefore improving its military and industrial capacity. Countries in its sphere of influence therefore benefitted from the economic and military backing that America provided
