Progression Two: Argument with Research

Misael Argueta

Professor Maritza Fonseca

CAS 115

23 September 2013

Progression Two: Argument with Research     

American imperialism has had a huge impact on history, mostly on Central American history. After the Central American countries won their independence from the european countries, USA decided it was going to be their protector from any more dictator or european influence. From this the Monroe doctrine was created warning the world, mainly the european countries, to stay away from the Americas and that USA was the new protector of the continents. And thus the seeds for American Imperialism was born. The chapter of the Gospel of Democracy goes into depth of American Imperialism, talking about why were Americans so willingly buying into this new idea of imperialism. It also analyzes what Americans thought about  these Central American countries.

America gained its independence from the British crown in 1783 following a revolutionary war. Seeing this as an example, many Central American countries took this opportunity to fight for their independence. In 1823 the last countries received independence from Spain. Following the Spanish independence wars, the Central American states were in political turmoil because they had no idea what to do after independence and had no idea how to self govern themselves. Seeing as how these newly developed countries could be easily taken advantage of by other powerful countries, America declared the Monroe Doctrine stating that no European countries could interfere in American affairs. This was the first major foreign policy move as a America was moving from an isolationist policy to an imperialistic policy.

American Imperialism became to be because of three main reasons: fear of European influence, perceived Central American Inferiority and because of Manifest Destiny. Americans feared that if Europeans interfered in Central American affairs they would have a strong influence there and then could potentially launch an invasion against America itself. The other reasons, which can be connected to each other, where the feeling of American superiority and the Manifest Destiny. As John Winthrop said, “We must consider that we shall be a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.” Americans took this to heart and tried to disassociate with European countries  and wanted to be seen as a “... a bastion of democracy, it stood apart from other nations as a city upon a hill.”(*see works cited page for explanation).  They wanted to expand their democratic ideas westward and throughout the whole continent. They believed that this was their destiny, a Manifest Destiny.

The author argues that America tried to influence the Central American countries but ultimately failed because America was contradicting itself in this policy. “In the end Racism bore a paradoxical relationship to U.S Imperialism. On the one one, prejudicial disdain for colored people offered justification for the forceful acquisition of influence and territory… On the other hand, the presence of nonwhite peoples… posted an unwelcome possibility that they may have to be incorporated into american society,  thus altering its racial composition and lower its quality.”(*) As well, one can see that while America tried to incorporated democracy it eventually started developing these countries into despotic nation in order to feel the political, social and economic needs for the American people. While the author argues that the social experiment that is Manifest destiny failed, one can see that America's intervention was not a complete failure. They helped introduce a form of democracy, whether it was an illusion of democracy, to the countries of Central America. They also helped them financially, even though it was forced. So the Manifest Destiny cannot be seen as a complete failure.

Sources

*My main source was the Gospel of Democracy article that was uploaded on moodle. I was not able to find the author of the book, nor the name of the book so I did not know how to cite the article. I would be glad to discuss this with you some other time.