РефератыИностранный языкGrGrading Us Foreign Policy In The 1900

Grading Us Foreign Policy In The 1900

′S Essay, Research Paper


Throughout the twentieth century the United States of America


has had many successes and failures in their foreign policy.


Beginning in the late 1800s with manifest destiny all the way


through the cold war and communist containment through the late


1900s the US had some pluses and some minuses in how they


handled affairs abroad. After comparing the following


information I have decided to give the foreign affairs of the


United States a C+ in the Twentieth Century.


At the end of the Nineteenth Century the theory of


Manifest Destiny arose. Manifest Destiny is the theory that


the United States of America is a superior country to most


others so, we have the God given right to expand our boarders


throughout North America and beyond. Into the Twentieth


Century many wars were fought over America s most


controversial and hypocritical foreign policy. They


used the excuses such as overpopulation, or America has to


police the Western Hemisphere, to bring our boarders into


the Pacific Ocean. America made sure that they totally


dominated this hemisphere.


At the end of the 1890s America started a war


against Spain in the Spanish colonies in the Philippines.


They said that Spain was too weak to hold the colony


(imperialism) and they wanted to set the colony free.


Yet after battles throughout the Philippines and Texas we


had acquired territories in Guam, Philippines and Puerto


Rico. Even though we had just fought for the independence


of the Philippines, when given the chance America gobbled


up these areas to satisfy our insatiable hunger for power


and land.


Starting with President Theodore Roosevelt,


different philosophies concerning our imperialistic


policing of our hemisphere were devised to help keep


the rest of the world out of here. The Monroe Doctrine


which gave the US international police powers and the


Big Stick policy that said that the United States


would speak softly but they would also enforce


their decisions with a Big Stick. Under this philosophy


the Panama Canal was constructed.


President Taft, the next president after Roosevelt


had a different policy concerning foreign affairs,


called Dollar Diplomacy. Here the substitution of


dollars for bullets made this a seemingly better


policy and also made America seem friendlier to


foreign countries.


After Taft foreign policy in America changed


drastically. President Wilson was against imperialism


and he tried to keep America more domestic minded


rather than foreign dependant. When World War One


began Wilson kept America out as long as possible


but it was inevitable that we would have to join


and end it. Even though we entered the war, we missed


most of it and were only in for about a year and a half.


America had proved the deciding factor in the war so


when America went to the Treaty of Versailles Wilson


proposed his 14-point plan. The other vengeful


European countries ignored the plan except for one


point the League of Nations. Wilson returned home


defeated and was dealt an even harder blow when


America voted to not join the League of Nations.


After World War One America seemed to ha

ve had


enough of the rest of the world. The following three


presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover gave the US


citizens exactly what they were looking for, isolation.


The Roaring Twenties and the depression kept


Americans occupied and they totally ignored the


rest of the world. Maybe if the United States had paid


more attention to what was happening in Europe, there


would never have been a World War Two. This was an


extreme weak point in our history of foreign affairs


and definitely effected, how I overall felt about the


United States foreign policies in the Twentieth Century.


During World War Two however, the United States


proved once again why they are a world power and they


also helped themselves grade-wise in my opinion. Roosevelt


actually kept us out of the war during the first part of it,


yet managed to aid our allies through the Destroyer


Deal and the Lend-Lease Act. After Pearl Harbor was


bombed America had to join the war. They dealt with


Japan having to use Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and


Nagasaki after all else failed.


The atomic bombs were a controversial part of


America s foreign affairs yet I believe it was the


right choice because it ended the war abruptly and


kept Americans safe and prevented deaths of American


soldiers. What America did that was not good was the


confining of Japanese-Americans to camps. Although


this was internal it occurred because of our fear of


the outside world. This was a very low point in


America, betraying loyal American citizens because


of past roots.


Following World War Two came the scariest


time in world history when the world could have come


to an abrupt end with the push of a few buttons.


The Cold War occurred because America and Russia


hated each other s governments and wanted to prevent


their spread. Containment was the best approach


to the battle against communism. Fighting limited


war in Korea and Vietnam was necessary to prevent


communist expansion, but if an all out offensive


was taken then atomic weapons would most likely


have been used.


The Truman Doctrine which helped all free


people who wanted help to stay free of those trying


to take them over. In Turkey and Greece we gave aid


to these countries which helped them stay free.


This was perfect for containment and was very


helpful to America s grade.


Finally the last important piece of the Cold


War and America s foreign policy was the domino theory.


It was proven that if one country fell to communism


countries around it would too. This occurred after


the fall of Vietnam with Cambodia and Laos.


The Vietnam War although controversial was


necessary for containment. But since the United


States lost this brings down their grade. Had we


won the war maybe America s perception of Vietnam


would be different.


Through the Twentieth Century, the US had


many ups and downs in foreign policy. With containment


and the world wars the US was just and good. With


imperialism and isolationism, America s greed showed.


The goods and bads pretty much balanced out making


the United States foreign policy grade average.


356

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