American Imperialism Benefits

Words: 1494
Pages: 6

Land is power. Depending on the location, land can provide different resources, such as, soil to plant on, and space for people to live on. For just one person it can provide all of these things, but for a country it can provide so much more. Whether it be a trading point, resources, a military base, or a show of power, a country can reap these benefits by obtaining land. A country expanding and gaining control over land is called imperialism. The United States began to participate in imperialism in the 1800’s and while many believe this was a mistake, the nation, and the territories the United States acquired during that time benefitted greatly from imperialism.
Trade between countries is often very important economically. According to “Digital
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For example, Americans introduced the Philippines to public school systems. Nick Clark, author of “Education in the Philippines” wrote that “The United States has left the largest imprint on the education system, which can be discerned in a number of ways.” Clark was speaking about the Philippines, he then went on to say, “today the United States continues to influence the education system, with many Philippine academics having earned graduate degrees from U.S. universities.” Education is very important for the development of a nation and this would not have happened if it wasn’t for the help of imperialism. Cuba also benefited from American imperialism as well as Puerto Rico. While in Cuba, American military government “provided food and clothing, helped farmers, organized elementary schools, and helped eliminate yellow fever”(Tuwiner). The United States also helped financially, as described in the article “The First American Empire and Imperialism,” the author writes “thanks in part to the protection of American business in Cuba after the Spanish American War investments in the territory quadrupled, benefiting Americans and the locals.” This was a major win, financially, for Americans and Cubans. The article then describes the tax-exempt status situation Puerto Rico was in “which greatly bolstered the economy” as the author put it. The United States seems to have boosted the economy of not only …show more content…
The author is saying that after the war the United States officially had everything to qualify as a world power. Gathering up so much territory, so many strategic military bases, and winning wars sparked fear in other countries. The United States was a force to be reckon with, and they proved this by winning World War II, using their new territories gained from imperialism. As stated before, The United States used Pearl Harbor to stop the spread of World War II into the American Mainland (The First American Empire and Imperialism). Becoming powerful and feared is extremely beneficial to a country because it provokes less people to challenge that country. It also causes other nations to want to align themselves with the world power. Imperialism gained the United States the economy and military it needed to become a world power, along with the respect of other