American History

The period between 1890 and 1933 was of utmost importance in the history of the United States. Prior to 1890, the US foreign policy remained in line with principles erected by President Washington. According to President Washington, it was important that the US should build commercial relations with other countries, while avoiding any political connections with these countries. According to President Washington, this would minimize chances of war between America and other countries. Washingtons position was supported by the presidents Madison, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (Raico, 1995).

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Europe had embraced imperialism and was exploring and establishing colonies all over Africa, Asia and South America. Possibly taking a cue from the European powers, the United States started pushing its foreign policy goals by targeting weaker nations. The US relied heavily on her economic and military power to drive these goals, initiating among others the Spanish-American War which led to the US taking control of Puerto Rico and Philippines which had been Spanish colonies (US Department of State, n.d). It was also during this period that the US jumped into the first of the two world wars.

That US foreign policy was inspired by the desire to expand her foreign markets is not in doubt among historians. The idea of imperialism found spirited support from among others, Theodore Roosevelt, who would later become the president of the USA (Ekirch, Jr, n.d). The imperialist frenzy spread fast among the politicians, culminating in the election of William McKinley as president in 1896. McKinley was a most loyal supporter of the large policy (Raico, 1995). In all, it can be observed that the only reason why the US revised its foreign policy during this period was to expand its presence in foreign markets.