hey there and welcome back to heimler's history and further welcome to unit seven of the ap us history curriculum which covers the time period 1898 to 1945. this period kicks off with the american foray into imperial expansion so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked imperial style then let's get to it now as we consider american empire in this video we're basically trying to do one thing to explain the similarities and differences and attitudes about the nation's proper role in the world so imperialism what is it well imperialism is a term that describes the expansion of one country's political economic and military influence over another country in other words it's the expansion of empire and you might be like america ain't no empire but you would be wrong america went ahead and dipped its toes into the imperialist waters with the purchase of alaska in 1867. you might recall that both russia and great britain laid competing claims to this territory and so william seward who is lincoln and then johnson's secretary of state proposed a purchase of the territory for 7.2 million the act was branded seward's folly because the territory was viewed as a polar icebox with no particular value that is until 1898 when gold was discovered there and seward was like Hey there and welcome back to Heimler’s History, and further welcome to Unit 7 of the AP U.S. History curriculum which covers the time period 1898-1945. And this period kicks off with the American foray into imperial expansion, so if you’re ready to get them brain cows milked imperial-style, then let’s get to it. Now as we consider American empire in this video, we’re basically trying to do one thing: to explain the similarities and differences in attitudes about the nation’s proper role in the world. So, imperialism: what is it? Well, imperialism is a term that describes the expansion of one country’s political, economic, and military influence over another country. In other words, it’s the expansion of empire. And you might be like, “America ain’t no empire, pssh.” But you would be wrong. America went ahead and dipped its toes into the imperialist waters with the purchase of Alaska in 1867. You might recall that both Russia and Great Britain laid competing claims to this territory, and so William Seward, who was Lincoln and then Johnson’s secretary of state, proposed a purchase of the territory of 7.2 million dollars. The act was branded Seward’s Folly because the territory was viewed as a polar icebox with no particular value. That is until 1898 when gold was discovered there and Seward was like, [brushes off shoulder, heh]. And so with this territory in the bag, a territory with no connection to the main territory of the UNited States, and furthermore a territory with buttloads of gold buried in it, imperialistic expansion all of the sudden felt a lot more desirable. Not to mention that territorial expansion was basically in the DNA of Americans. The whole 19th century is basically the story of further westward expansion across the continent. And when Frederick Jackson Turner shed a single tear and told everyone the dangers of the closing of the frontier, everyone else shed a single tear with him, and then realized, “hey, there’s lots of land in the world—we could just go take that.” Thus began the push for American empire. And we’re going to get into that more fully in the next video when we talk about the Spanish American War, but for now, it’ll be important for you to know that there was a fierce debate concerning imperial expansion between two groups: the imperialists and the anti-imperialists. The imperialists looked to gold discovered in Alaska and concluded, “You know, if there’s valuable raw materials in Alaska, maybe there are valuable raw materials in other places as well. We could just take those.” In addition to the desire for expanded access to raw materials, imperialists also wanted to secure new markets for American made goods, including both manufactured items and agricultural goods. Additionally, imperialists took up that janky pseudoscientific theory of Social Darwinism to justify expansion. Remember, Social Darwinism said that if the natural order of things is that the strong eat the weak and only the fittest survive, then why shouldn’t that also be the case with politics and economics. So to the imperialists, American expansion was the means by which America could get upon the international stage and flex its giant pectorals of liberty. After all, European nations had been expanding their empires for centuries, and if America didn’t join the game, they might be seen as a second-class nation. Maybe your pectorals aren’t as juicy as you think. Additionally, there were racial motivations for expansion, case in point, the reverend Josiah Strong’s book, Our Country: It’s Possible Future and Present Crisis, which was published in 1885 but really found purchase in this period. Essentially, Strong argued that the white, Anglo-Saxon race was the pinnacle of human evolution, and therefore was the fittest to survive. And as a Christian minister, he added a gloss of religiosity to the mix as well. He argued that it was the Christian duty of the white race to expand itself abroad and bring the glories of Christianity and western civilization to the dark and backward lands of the world, which, as it turned out, was indeed Christian duty. [I see what you did there.] Also influencing the imperialists was a book published in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan called The Influence of Sea Power on History. Mahan argued that any country that was strong on the world stage got that way because they had a robust navy. And this, he argued, was the only way to truly secure the foreign markets that the industrialists were lusting after. And so, persuaded by Mahan’s argument, Congress approved the construction of a massive new steel fleet of ships. Now, it may seem to you like that has nothing to do with imperial expansion, so let me show you how it does. If you’re going to rule the world through a navy, then you’re going to need many strategic pieces of land throughout the world where you can land that navy and refill it with coal and supplies. And so under Mahan’s influence a great race began to secure many Pacific and Caribbean territories that could facilitate American naval dominance. Okay, so those are the main arguments coming out of the imperialist camp. And now we’re going to consider the main arguments coming out of the anti-imperialist camp. The main arguments for this group began with the principle of self determination for nations. Self determination is the idea that a nation should be able to decide for itself who ruled it and what laws were passed. And maybe that sounds familiar, because those were the exact same arguments colonial Americans used to reject British rule. So the anti-imperialists argued that if America began taking over less-powerful countries, they would be robbed of the right to self-determination. Add to that, anti-imperialists argued that America had a long history of isolationism from foreign affairs. And they invoked George Washington himself who, in his farewell speech, warned against foreign entanglement. They said that if we go enmesh ourselves in territories and peoples around the globe, it’s going to have consequences that are beyond our control: we’ll be drawn into wars and economic disputes that we have no business participating in. But the anti-imperialists also argued against expansion with racial arguments just like the imperialists did. One of the main debates between these two groups was this: did the Constitution follow the flag? In other words, if America goes and plants a flag in the Philippines, for example, do those people become American citizens endowed with American rights and privileges? Now anti-imperialists argued that the Constitution SHOULD follow the flag. But that was not because they, in general, thought other nations should be granted constitutional rights. For anti-imperialists, this was a kind of ruse to hide what their true argument against imperialism was, namely, what happens when we take over a country full of brown people—are they going to become citizens with full rights? Of course not. So might as well not expand at all. Okay, that’s what you need to know about Unit 7 topic 2 of the AP U.S. history curriculum. If you need more help on Unit 7, then check this playlist right here. I’ve also got an Ultimate Review Packet that’ll help you get an A in your class and a five on your exam in May, so if you’re in to that kind of thing, click away. And finally, if you want me to keep making videos then you can let me know by subscribing. Heimler out.