Imperialism

What Is Imperialism?

"Imperialism is the policy of forcefully extending a nation's authority by territorial gain or by the establishment of economic and political dominance...". Imperialism is when a nation expands its influence through political, economic, and democratic way.

Examples

There are many examples of imperialism through 1890 to 1914. I will cite a few to give you an idea of imperialism. In 1893, American business groups, with the help of United States Marines, overthrow Hawaii's Queen Liluokalani and set up a provisional government.In 1903, Panama gives the United States control over the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million. In 1907 The Great White Fleet tours the world as a display of the impressive naval power of the United States. In 1914 the President Wilson sends troops to mexico to assist Mexican revolutionaries. These are all examples of imperialism.

The source of my examples is the book we use in class.

Causes of Imperialism

There are many causes of imperialism. There is economic factors, military purposes, and social purposes.Economic factors such as natural resources that not all countries have , which therefore make them have to get them from different countries. If a country needs a special natural resource in order to make some kind of manufactor and it doesn't have any of that resource, it will have to go get it somewhere else.In a military point of view, countries were starting to evolve and all were starting to become advanced, and countries didn't want to fall behind therefore this was another cause.When I say social purposes, I mean all human factors such as religion, health and other. Religion was a "big" cause of imperialism because it spread fast.Also some countries needed some medicin from other countries which was another cause of imperialism. These were the causes of imperialism.

Pros And Cons

Pros

• Bigger nations introduced to smaller nations technology and industrialization which boosted their economy.
• In many nations education was more important now and encouraged.
• Since there were so many development in nations, there was better health care available.
• New and better transportation system.
• Food production and economy grew.

Cons

• Some nations were forced to have new religions.
• Many traditions and cultures were forgotten and lost.
• Natural resources were exploited, making them limited.
• Basic rights taken away from people, leading to discrimination and slavery.
• Many Asians and Africans were shipped to America and England, against their will as plantation slave labor.

Op/Ed

In my opinion imperialism is both positive and negative. All the positive aspects of imperialism equal all of the negative aspects of imperialism. As a global view, it is good that there is imperialism for all the good thing it brings even if there are some negative effects of that. It is like many good things in life. They are good but many have something negative in them but if you look at a global view it is worth doing. I see imperialism like that.