Name:______________________________________________Class___________Date_____________
American Foreign Policy
Directions: From the sheet given and/or your textbook: Read and analyze the definitions for each of the topics listed below.
Create 1 detailed definition for each topic. You must create your own definition and may not copy word for word from the
provided definitions.
Define: Foreign Policy:
Domestic Policy:
Isolationism
Examples of isolationistic policy: time period?
Expansionism
Examples of expansionistic policy: time period?
Imperialism
Examples of imperialistic policy: time period?
Name_____________________________________________Class_____________Date__________
Frederick Jackson Turner’s Thesis
Frederick Jackson Turner (11/14/1861 –3/14/1932) is widely regarded as one of the most influential American historians of
the early 20th century. He is best known for The Significance of the Frontier in American History.
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Turner is remembered for his "Frontier Thesis", which he first published July 12, 1893 in a paper read in Chicago to the
American Historical Association during the Chicago World's Fair. In it, he stated that the spirit and success of the United
States is directly tied to the country's westward expansion. According to Turner, the forging of the unique and rugged
American identity occurred at the juncture between the civilization of settlement and the savagery of wilderness. This
produced a new type of citizen - one with the power to tame the wild and one upon whom the wild had conferred strength
and individuality. Every generation moved further west and became more American, and the settlers became more
democratic and less tolerant of hierarchy. They became more violent, more individualistic, more distrustful of authority,
less artistic, less scientific, and more dependent on ad-hoc organizations they formed themselves. In broad terms, the
further west the community, the more American the community.
Turner gave a famous lecture on how the frontier had shaped American development, concluding that the "first period" of
American history—-the period that had nurtured individualism, democracy, and widespread opportunity for economic
autonomy—-had come to an end. It sounded an alarming note about the future, since the U.S. Census of 1890 had officially
stated that the American frontier had broken up. The idea that the source of America's power and uniqueness was gone
was a distressing concept. Many, including future president Theodore Roosevelt, believed that the end of the frontier
represented the beginning of a new stage in American life and that the United States must expand overseas. For this
reason, some see the Turner thesis as the impetus for a new wave in the history of United States imperialism.
After reading the information above describe your thoughts on each underlined and numbered phrase from above:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Now that you are an expert on the terms “expansionism, isolationism and imperialism”
5. Do you think that westward expansion was more “expansionary” or “imperialistic?”
why?
6. Once the United States begins to move into territories outside of the borders of the contiguous United States (example: Hawaii, Alaska,
Puerto Rico, Philippines, Samoa, etc.)
(a) Do you feel that the US foreign policy changed (yes or no)?
(b) Do you think now we were more “expansionary” or “imperialistic?”
(c) Why do you think that?
7. Given what you read about Frederick Jackson Turner; why do you think he is widely regarded as one of the most influential American
historians of the early 20th century.
Given this historical information:
Many, including future president Theodore Roosevelt, believed that the end of the frontier represented the beginning of a
new stage in American life and that the United States must expand overseas. For this reason, some see the Turner thesis as
the impetus* for a new wave in the history of United States imperialism.
*impetus- momentum, force, drive
8. Do you think that the United States was already looking for new places to expand or do you think Frederick Jackson Turner wrote this thesis
and scared America into further expansion?
Name________________________________________Class_________________Date______________
“Mahan”
“Having…no foreign establishments, either colonial or military, the
ships of war of the United States, in war, will be like land birds,
unable to fly far from their own shores. To provide resting-places
for them, where they can coal and repair, would be one of the first
duties of a government proposing to itself the development of the
power of the nation at sea”
Alfred Thayer Mahan
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1890
Read the above quote and answer the following questions:
1. Who wrote the above quote?
2. What was the name of the book?
3. When was the book published?
4. According to the passage, did the United States have any colonies or territories outside of the country’s borders?
5. What is Mahan comparing America’s Navy, or ships to?
6. Explain this quote.
7. Why do you think this book influenced U.S. foreign policy in the late 1800s?
8. Does this quote dispute or assent (agree with) what we learned last class from Frederick Jackson Turner?
`Name________________________________________Class_________________Date______________
After analyzing the above cartoon, answer the following questions:
1.
What do the following items represent in the cartoon:
(a) Bolts of cloth stacked on the left:
(b) The tailor:
(c) Man being fitted for a new suit:
(d) Flag under the bolts of cloth:
(e) Current suit on man:
2.
Based on the clues of the cartoon, give an approximate date for the cartoon.
3.
Explain the title of the cartoon: “Measuring Uncle Sam for a New Suit”