What were the causes for Americas expanding role in the world from 1865 1910?

The process of territorial expansion, which had been highly politicized in the 1840s' "Manifest Destiny" campaigns, was stalled by the political revolution of the 1850s and the subsequent Civil War and Reconstruction. Of approximately twenty opportunities to acquire overseas territory between 1865 and 1889 only six were seized. Around 1890, however, American expansionist tendencies regained strength. Of the twenty-five opportunities to acquire territory between 1890 and 1908, twenty-three resulted in some form of expansion.

Scholars continue to debate the reasons behind the shift. Some see an implicit desire to validate the emerging American self-image as a world power. This theory is tied to the concept of "classical realism," the idea that states expand their power and influence when they have the opportunity to do so, as the Europeans had been doing for centuries. Other scholars cite "defensive realism"; if the United States did not act, her vital interests might be jeopardized. Still other scholars see economic motives and the growing importance of international commerce behind the resurgent expansionism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The uncertainties in American policy become apparent when one recognizes that certain areas long coveted by some Americans, like Cuba, were not annexed when they might have been, yet other areas, like the Philippines, were seized after the briefest of national discussions. Regardless of theories, it is clear that U.S. expansion developed in a broader context of expanding European empires throughout the world.

Overseas expansion after 1890 also paralleled the growing influence of the American navy. The most important American strategist in this period was Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), head of the Naval War College and author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890); he was admired by the Prince of Wales, the German Kaiser, and Theodore Roosevelt. Mahan, like the Greek historian Thucydides, argued that the survival of any great power depended on a strong navy, and that a strong navy depended on island possessions that could serve as naval bases.

This module focuses on the two primary areas of American expansion: Middle America including the Caribbean; and the Pacific . The pattern of expansion varied considerably. In some cases, the United States engineered the purchase of new territory (as in the case of Alaska); in other areas American "interests" undermined the local government and asked for annexation (as in the case of Hawaii). In at least one instance (Samoa), the native government sought American protection.

The completion of the railroads to the West following the Civil War opened up vast areas of the region to settlement and economic development. White settlers from the East poured across the Mississippi to mine, farm, and ranch. African-American settlers also came West from the Deep South, convinced by promoters of all-black Western towns that prosperity could be found there. Chinese railroad workers further added to the diversity of the region's population.

Settlement from the East transformed the Great Plains. The huge herds of American bison that roamed the plains were almost wiped out, and farmers plowed the natural grasses to plant wheat and other crops. The cattle industry rose in importance as the railroad provided a practical means for getting the cattle to market.

The loss of the bison and growth of white settlement drastically affected the lives of the Native Americans living in the West. In the conflicts that resulted, the American Indians, despite occasional victories, seemed doomed to defeat by the greater numbers of settlers and the military force of the U.S. government. By the 1880s, most American Indians had been confined to reservations, often in areas of the West that appeared least desirable to white settlers.

The cowboy became the symbol for the West of the late 19th century, often depicted in popular culture as a glamorous or heroic figure. The stereotype of the heroic white cowboy is far from true, however. The first cowboys were Spanish vaqueros, who had introduced cattle to Mexico centuries earlier. Black cowboys also rode the range. Furthermore, the life of the cowboy was far from glamorous, involving long, hard hours of labor, poor living conditions, and economic hardship.

The myth of the cowboy is only one of many myths that have shaped our views of the West in the late 19th century. Recently, some historians have turned away from the traditional view of the West as a frontier, a "meeting point between civilization and savagery" in the words of historian Frederick Jackson Turner. They have begun writing about the West as a crossroads of cultures, where various groups struggled for property, profit, and cultural dominance. Think about these differing views of the history of the West as you examine the documents in this collection.

To find additional documents in Loc.gov on topics related to the West, use such keywords as West, ranching, Native Americans, and pioneers, or search using the names of states or cities in the West.