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Motivating Factor Behind American Imperialism

Most of America's imperialist expansions between 1890 and 1914 resulted from political

ambitions. In his 1899 painting, "School Begins," Louis Dalrymple used the cartoon that

depicted Uncle Sam (the U.S. government) towering over various countries referred to as his

students to show America's wish to have overseas territories by its political might; hence, it used

those places among others such as Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines for this

purpose. This essay argues that political expansionism was the primary force behind American

imperialism at the turn of the century, as government leaders sought access to strategic territories

and resources to project U.S. military power globally. However, debates over historical

interpretations and evidence relating to the period between 1890 and 1914 reveal that American

imperialism during this era was driven by politics and power projection that pushed Americans

to drop traditional isolationism and engaged a foreign policy.

Teddy Roosevelt and William McKinley had political ambitions behind the imperialistic

expansion of the United States of America between 1890 and 1914. Some of those calls were

based on the need for more substantial political influence and increased military power

projection across its borders, like annexation of the Philippines, intervention in Latin America,

and campaigns for navy modernization. In their opinion, America's power was supposed to be

symbolized by strategic lands for the manifest display of her might through control over

resources. In 1903, McKinley frankly admitted that the Philippines were being kept under

American dominance due to power struggle factors, “We could not give them back to Spain –
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that would be cowardly and dishonorable; we could not turn them over to France and Germany –

our commercial rivals in the Orient – that would be bad business” (Rusling, 109).

Barbarian Virtues by Matthew Frye Jacobson describes how America's ideas of

peoplehood, citizenship, and national identity were altered during these years through increasing

economic activity, foreign military engagements, and a massive wave of immigration from other

countries (p. 27). In this respect, the author uses official political papers and fiction books,

descriptions of journeys made to other lands, publications written by scholars in institutions of

higher learning, and works of art, among others. Consequently, the writer interprets the

relationship between American expansionism on the one hand and migration on the other,

thereby bringing together two areas usually treated separately. It is thus an insightful and

persuasive story that reconstructs American politics in its true spirit. Barbarian Virtues

demonstrates how specific issues gave rise to what we now call "Americanism.”. The Roosevelt

administration’s focus on naval primacy and appropriation of the Midway Atoll by executive

order in 1903, which marked a political empire cemented through military conquest, showed the

amalgamation of politics and armed forces.

American Yawp's chapter on the American Empire aptly demonstrates that America was

driven into imperialism by political ambitions for power and might in the late 19th and early 20th

centuries. This chapter also underscores how gaining overseas territories or expanding its

regional influence made sense as imperatives of an increasingly globalizing power. Roosevelt's

imperial presidency meant naval supremacy and strategic locations like Latin America and the

Pacific mattered. “Roosevelt wanted to expand American influence. For instance, he advocated

for the annexation of Hawaii for several reasons: it was within the American sphere of influence,

it would deny Japanese expansion and limit potential threats to the West Coast, it had an
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excellent port for battleships at Pearl Harbor, and it would act as a fueling station on the way to

pivotal markets in Asia” (Ellen Adams and Amy Koho).

Image by Louis Dalrymple. 1899 chromolithograph.

1899 political cartoon, “School Begins,” illustrates my argument that American

imperialism was fueled by political reasons aimed at power and control at this time. It was

published in Judge Magazine by Louis Dalrymple, who drew Uncle Sam, showing these new

colonies as sad schoolboys post-Spanish-American war, wherein the U.S. had taken over some

Spanish territories like Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Dalrymple's sketch manifests

these developments as dictatorial politics. In the proper historical context, Dalrymple was

responding to the Philippine-American war that was viewed as a revolt by Filipinos who opposed

a new colonial government imposed by McKinley without their consent. He was against political

annexation because he belonged to the Anti-Imperialist League, and his cartoon presents an

outline of this anti-imperialism through territories represented as pupils drawn from

underprivileged schools under the influence of Uncle Sam's paternalism. In conclusion, a quote
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on the blackboard: "The U.S. must govern its new territories with or without their consent,"

reflects Dalrymple's condemnation of coercive politics.

An explicit critique of the cartoons shows how Republican leaders expanded their powers

at home and abroad by acquiring those islands under McKinley. Dalrymple saw democratic

principles as jettisoned for political strategies and territorial ambition without considering

indigenous peoples. This is displayed in his cartoon through areas that must accept these

impositions of political authority, which also violate the principle of consent itself. So, both

visually and textually, political tropes have been used by Dalrymple to emphasize his perspective

on American foreign policy. He referred to this period as the 'era of imperialism.' The cartoon

became incredibly popular in Judge Magazine in 1899 and was celebrated as an infamous

representation of anti-democratic territorial hunger during that time.

The facts and interpretations reveal that the main contributing factors to American

imperialism between 1890 and 1914 were political reasons. The need for military power

projection abroad came from a requirement to dominate strategically vital territories and

resources commensurate with its increasing global status; this was true during the Roosevelt

administration when the building of the navy at the outset was conceived in terms of deployment

over Pacific and Caribbean regions even as it formed the backbone behind state formation.

Consequently, scholars argued convincingly that only political causes among them led the

otherwise insular nations into such zealous pursuits for nothing else but the imperialistic dreams

of that time. This sense of urgency on the part of America, specifically against self-government

elsewhere, demonstrates faith in such expansionist destiny based on expediency rather than

democratic values; evidence supports this claim.

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Works Cited

Ellen Adams and Amy Koho. "American Empire." The American Yawp, Stanford University

Press, 2018.

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/19-american-empire/#IV_Theodore_Roosevelt_and

_American_Imperialism

General James Rusling, “Interview with President William McKinley,” The Christian Advocate

January 22, 1903, 17. Reprinted in Charles Sumner Olcott, The Life of William McKinley,

Volume 2 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), 109-111.

https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/19-american-empire/william-mckinley-on-

american-expanionism-1903/

Louis Dalrymple. School Begins. 1899 chromolithograph. December 31, 1898.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/school-begins-by-louis-dalrymple-1866-

1905-1899-news-photo/1162716332?adppopup=true

Matthew Frye Jacobson. Barbarian Virtues. The United States Encounters Foreign Peoples at

Home and Abroad, 1876-1917. 1-336.

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780809016280/barbarianvirtues