Chapter 17 Section 1
The Pressure to Expand
Imperialism
• Nations attempt to
create empires by
dominating weaker
nations
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Economically
Politically
Culturally
Militarily
Why did imperialism grow in Europe at
the end of the 1800s?
• Industrial growth:
countries were looking
for new markets to sell
their products to
• Nationalism: The
believed in the
superiority of their
nation
• Advances in military
technology: bigger,
better navies to protect
their colonies
• Humanitarian or
religious goals: Belief in
social Darwinism or
spread Christianity
What affect did the growth of European
Imperialism have on United States attitudes
toward foreign policy and expansion?
• It created a sense of
urgency for Americans
• Many believed that the
U.S. had to claim
overseas territories in
order to become a great
nation
Monroe Doctrine
• Declaration that the
U.S. would oppose
efforts by any outside
power to control a
nation in the Western
Hemisphere
How did the United States apply the
Monroe Doctrine to its foreign policy
throughout the 1800s?
• To keep the Western
Hemisphere free from
intervention by
European powers
• To justify Manifest
destiny as well as
acquisition of overseas
territories
Nationalism
• Devotion to one’s
nation
– Led European nations to
compete for empires
– Desired to expand to
prevent others from
expanding
– Led nations to believe
that their culture and
ways of life were
superior
Why did U.S. policymakers feel the
need to secure new markets abroad?
• Foreign markets were
seen as necessary to
sell the nation’s extra
products
• Unsold products could
create surpluses that
could lead to panics and
depression in the U.S.
Annex
• To join a new territory
to an existing territory
– Supporters of expansion
denied that the U.S.
sought to annex foreign
lands
• It happened anyway
Banana Republic
• Term used to describe a
Central American nation
dominated by United
States business
interests
– Namely the United Fruit
company in Costa Rica,
Guatemala, and
Honduras
Why did some believe that U.S. expansion
was needed to preserve the “American
spirit”?
• They worried that the
closing of the frontier
would deplete the
nation’s energy; a quest
for an empire might
restore America’s
pioneer spirit
• As this 1901
political cartoon
suggests, the U.S.
relied on the
principles of the
Monroe Doctrine
to block European
involvement in
Latin America.
What is the
cartoonist
suggesting about
the role of the U.S.
in world affairs.