USA: From Colonies to Colonies – cultural foundations and expressions of expansion.
OR: Chapters in US expansion – cultural foundations and ideologies
/US history, Culture, Language, Politics, US Foreign Policy, International Relations/
Course code: TBA
Time and place: Mondays 14.15, AMBR ??
Instructor: Balogh Beatrix
Language: English
Purpose: Critical reading of US expansion; getting acquainted with US ideology underlying acquisitions and
exerting influence; reading complex English texts, honing students’ critical thinking, research skills, and improving
writing and speaking proficiency.
Brief summary: A seminar course that discusses the evolution of the United States as an “Empire” spanning a
continent, and stretching way beyond its shores. We are going to explore the path from the original 13 colonies to
the quasi colonies, termed US Overseas Territories, and to the present “imperial politics” in the international
arena. Why has the US expanded westward and beyond? Why would not the colonies be simply let free? What
have been the underlying cultural, economic, and strategic considerations for annexing new territories or letting
them “into a sisterhood of states”? Do some of the same factors govern US Foreign policy?
Course description:
Either „colonies” of the title could have been used in quotation marks depending on the perspective. The USA
began its history as the Thirteen Colonies of the British Empire stretching along the Atlantic Coast, the North East.
Vying for new lands and a never receding horizon the new country kept expanding westward until spanning from
sea to sea. Pioneers settled uninhabited lands. However, they also waged wars with and purchased lands from
the local population as well as the European colonial empires.
Whilst it has never become a classical colonial empire the USA did not stop acquiring new territories after
reaching the Pacific. Annexation of Alaska and Hawaii marked a historical moment of moving to non-contiguous
territories. The Spanish-American War of 1898 resulted in such overseas acquisitions as the Philippines, Puerto
Rico and Guam. Liberia in Africa was a US colonial possession between 1821 and 1847. The Second World War
added further territories to the list.
The course focuses on the drive for expansion: not a single factor but a complex set of historical necessities,
ideological underpinnings, deep-seated beliefs, and myths. We are going to discuss how and why the new lands
were acquired; how a territory could become a state; why the USA moved beyond the mainland; how and why
overseas territories were acquired by a state whose republican-democratic ideals clearly run against colonization;
whether such acquisitions marked a departure from earlier expansion patterns or a contiguity in new forms; how
the territories have been managed. Are the pacific islands mere coaling stations or an integral part of the USA? Is
there an American Empire? And if so, what kind of an empire can talk about?
Does Manifest Destiny, opening new Frontiers, military strategic considerations, or the need for new markets, the
urge to spread democracy, or fighting for global freedom provide better explanation? Is American Exceptionalism,
another metaphoric understanding of expanding control, or some down-to earth explanation is the answer?
Should the roots of imperial quest be found in domestic political-cultural factors or the tenets of International
Relations theories? And indeed, would the same factors explain US behavior in international politics?
Apart from getting acquainted with the historical and diplomatic crossroads of “Imperial stretching” our in-class
discussions will center on the question “why”. Readings include text-book chapters, internet sources, and brief
studies from a variety of authors treating certain aspects of US expansion. It will be our task to then clash these
ideas.
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Requirements: class participation, Home assignments, end-term test
Students are expected to prepare for each class and participate in discussions. Bring ideas about the assigned
readings. Complementary - primarily internet-based research - is encouraged. Evaluation and grading is based on
active and meaningful class participation, completion of home assignments (two article summaries: one assigned,
one chosen), occasional in-class quizzes, and an end-term test.
Students may also give a short presentation in class (non-compulsory) highlighting the main ideas of a
recommended reading or the intriguing issues of a specific expansion-move (more details in syllabus). The short
talk should be accompanied by a typed hand-out that contains the key points of the presentation and your sources.
Compulsory and recommended texts* will be distributed via coursemail, uploaded to Neptun, or can be retrieved
from a reading packet deposited in the copy center. A detailed syllabus finalized by the end of the first class
session will indicate the home assignments and their deadlines as well as the date of the end-term test. The draft
syllabus below provides an overview of the main topics and questions to be discussed during the course and
indicates some of the recommended readings. Further details on the requirements, attendance and grading
policy are provided at the end of this document.
* The “Recommended Readings” below lists useful texts that will be made available for students’ perusal throughout the course. Reading
assignments (core texts mandatory to all students) will usually be excerpts from longer studies and book chapters, while a summary of the
entire recommended text will be presented by a volunteer. When possible, texts are located on the web so as to facilitate easy access and
reading online. There will also be a reading packet containing hard copies of the core texts including both the photocopies of
recommended book chapters and the printouts of some of the texts also available online.
Draft Syllabus
I. Myths of empire
 Introduction, syllabus, assignments, requirements, clarifying terminology, discussing bibliography, PLEASE
bring the printout of the syllabus to the first class.
 A case study: Puerto Rico from colony to statehood (ppt) AND Intro to reading scholarly texts
 Is there an American Empire? – Myth and realities, AND How do myths relate to metaphors? Untying
metaphors I: American Exceptionalism, Global police, Harbinger of democracy and freedom, the
inadvertent or benevolent empire
 Untying metaphors II: Metaphors in Culture and Language, Conceptual Metaphors, ICMs, and derivatives:
Wars, games, family, The Fairy tale scenario, The Global Sheriff, Family Models and FP
II. The Westward Expansion
 The Westward expansion, Pioneers, Settlers and opening new lands –Organizing space
 Wars over territories, Purchases and the close of Frontier
 Manifest Destiny, Frontier, and the Monroe Doctrine – discussion of cultural-ideological motivations for
expansion
 Non-contiguous territories: Alaska and Hawaii AND State centered realism
III. Overseas Expansion
 The Spanish American War, The underlying metaphors for colonialism
 The underlying IR theories (realism, liberalism, constructivism)
 The emergence of a superpower – World War II and after
 Conclusions (Is there a single organizing force? departure/contiguity, national/international patterns)
Planned dates: Feb 10, 17, 24 Mar 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, Apr 7, (Easter Holiday: 14, 21) 28, May 5, 12, 19
Recommended Readings (the reading list may be subject to change):
Caroll, Peter N. and David W. Noble. The Free and the Unfree. A New History of the United States. Middlesex,
England: Penguin Books, 1987, Chapter 7
Eubanks, Virginia. “The Mythography of the “New Frontier” MIT communications forum papers WEB
http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/papers/eubanks.html
Fein, Bruce “The Myths that Made and Empire” The American Conservative, August 2010
Frederick Jackson Turner, 1893 “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” WEB
Hunt, Michael. Ideology and US Foreign Policy. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987, Chapter 6, and
“afterword” in the new (2009) edition available online
Lubragge, Michael T. “Manifest Destiny - The Philosophy That Created A Nation” WEB
Munro, John. “Empire and Intersectionality. Notes on the Production of Knowledge about US Imperialism.” WEB
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Odom, William E. “American Hegemony: How to Use, it How to Lose it” Monterey Institute of international
Studies, Middlebury.edu
Odom ,William E. America’s Inadvertent Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. Chapters 1, 2
O'Sullivan, John L. on Manifest Destiny, 1839 Excerpted from "The Great Nation of Futurity," The United States
Democratic Review, Volume 6, Issue 23, pp. 426-430.
Patterson, Michael, at al. A History of American Foreign Relations. Volume 2. 6th ed. Chapters 1, 2, 12
Schumacher, Frank. “The American Way of Empire: National Tradition and Transatlantic Adaptation in America’s
Search for Imperial Identity, 1898-1910” GHI Bulleting No 31. Fall 2002) 35-50.
Slaughter, Anne-Marie. “International Relations, Principal Theories” in Wolfrum, R. (Ed.) Max Planck Encyclopedia
of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2011) www.mpepil.com
“Milestones: 1866-1898”: “Annexation of Hawaii, 1898” and “The Spanish-American War” From Office of the
Historian, US Department of State. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/Annexation_of_Hawaii
Zakaria, Fareed. From Wealth to Power. The unusual Origins of America’s World Role. Princeton, New Jersey:
Princeton University Press, 1999, Introduction, Chapters 2,3, 5
Attendance, class work, and evaluation:
1. You may miss a maximum of 3 classes during the semester. Please use this considerable freedom judiciously
and responsibly. Since you may be bound to miss classes due to an illness (counted into the 3 possible
absences), do not miss a class for an alluring alternative activity. If you miss more than 3 classes, your course
will be marked “incomplete”. To help prevent such an occurrence 2 classes can be missed at your own
convenience and without any consequence. However, you have to make up for the third absence by either
providing a summary of the assigned text 2 days in advance, or by writing a 3-5 page essay on the discussion
topic of the missed class within 2 weeks of the date of absence.
2. PLEASE DO NOT MISS END-TERM TEST! The seminar group is to complete the same test at the same time. A
make-up exam by appointment should be saved for an extraordinary situation. Having a cold does not qualify
as extraordinary.
3. You should prepare for each class. Read the assigned text and revise your understanding of the previous
discussion topic and its key terms. Occasional quizzes at the beginning of class sessions will present you with
short questions based on previous class discussions and the reading assigned to that class. Quizzes will be
graded and the scores are included in your classwork grade. They are also useful means to practice for the test
and to provide feedback on your progress. The fact that you have missed a class does not exempt you from
preparing for the next. The date(s) of comprehensive test(s) and the compulsory text for each class are specified
in the syllabus. Additional homework can be obtained using the course email list.
4. There will be two home assignments. One of the tasks will be to write a 1-2 page summary of a longer article
from the recommended readings. The assignment will be discussed in class and will also be specified in Neptun
at least two weeks before the deadline. The other home assignment will include summary of set texts
accompanied by individual on a topic of your choice. Whilst online encyclopaedias and fact-files may be useful
initial references students will also have to locate and integrate scholarly materials (print books, scholarly
journal articles) in a manner specified in class. The findings of the research must be summarized in a format
discussed in class.
5. In-class student presentation (non-compulsory) may cover your research project if appropriate.
Evaluation: Your final grade will be based on the following components. The relative weight of each component is
given in parenthesis:
1. The result of the End-term Tests (30%)
2. Class work: meaningful participation in class discussions, the results of the quizzes, presentation (40%)
3. Home assignments (30%)
You may fail the course in one of the following ways: by failing to reach an average of 2.0 (defined as 55% of the
maximum score possible) in the End-Term test; by being an absentee student or coming to class absolutely
unprepared on a regular basis; by failing to complete your home assignments on deadline.
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