U.S. Imperialism Begins

1. Name at least five factors that fueled American Imperialism.
a. technology
b. military
c. religion
d. tradeing
e. to stop China and Great Btitian from getting too much power

2. Choose two of the above five factors and describe them in your own words.

A. technology- America had never previously bothered with getting land west of the contiguous United States because they didn't have the technology to make use of the land. With the invention of Steamships American had the ability to bring goods from Hawaii back to the contiguous United States in a timely fassion and make use of them.

C. religion- Much like the viewpoint of early labor reform movements, American's thought of themselfs as above the Hawaiins. They made what they were doing sound moraly right by arguing that the Hawaiins needed to be converted to monotheism for their own good.

3. What was known as “Seward’s Folly” and why?

It was Secretary of State Steward's purchase of Alaska from the Russians. Many called it a Folly because at first it was looked upon as useless land. Not untill the many natural resources of the land became clear to Americans did the general public approve of the purchace.


4. What plantation-based product accounted for three-quarters of Hawaii’s wealth in the mid-19th century and who controlled this product?

The Unite States controlled sugar plantations accounted for 3/4 of Hawaii's wealth.


5. Using as much detail as possible, outline the sequence of events that led to America gaining possession of Hawaii? In other words, why was the United States interested in these Pacific islands?

In 1880 the United States declared the Western fronteer closed. Many believed that what made America so special was the ability do continue westward expansion and discover and make use of new natural resources. This created the belief that if Americans could no longer find a fronteer to explore they will cease to be real Americans. This, along with new technology that made exploreing the pacific ocean a feasible opprunity, eventually would lead to America's intrest in and eventual take over of Hawaii. Also, once intrest in Hawaii began, many more reasons why it was a necessary addition to the United States came about. It was wanted for: military reasons, because of Pearl Harobr's location; religious reasons, because Americans still had a strong belief in social darwinism and that they were more fit to control Hawaii than the hawaiians were; economic reasons, because of the ability to grow new resources that couldn't be grown in North America; and for nationalist reasons, to be able to control the shipping industry.