Expansion After the Civil War

Post Civil War Expansion

The American expansion from the post-Civil War years to the turn of the 20th century was a form of imperialism. Essentially, the U.S. simply took over a number of areas and groups of people, without any real regard for them or true need for the land. It was not an expansion that was agreed-upon and equal, but rather something that required one group of people to come in and take what belonged to someone else, for their own material gain. One of the main examples of this was the Native American policy, as the settlers who come to the United States took over more land and pushed the Native Americans onto reservations where they had little space and no room to expand. All they had and worked for was essentially taken from them, not because it was really needed, but because the people who came to America were capable of taking the land and they decided they wanted it. They saw that they could gain something materially, and so they determined that they wanted that gain. What would be lost by those they were taking from was a non-issue, and not a concern.

The Native Americans got the short end of the deal, but they were not the only ones who struggled after the Civil War. Hawaii was also seeing turmoil. The native Hawaiian people were largely invaded by others, and much of what they held dear in their culture was pushed aside. Hawaii ended up becoming one of the 50 states, and lost a great deal of the anonymity it had enjoyed. Additionally, the language was changed, and English was much more widely spoken. There are still native Hawaiians who speak the language and live in more traditional ways, but there are also a number of other people who live in Hawaii even though they were not native to the island and did not have any ties to it. The expansion of settlers and other people into Hawaii and into the land areas of Native Americans was imperialism at its most severe and significant, as it changed the entire landscape.

Another example of imperialism was the Spanish-American war. It was an unnecessary war that was fought heartily and could have been avoided. It was imperialistic because it really was not needed, and because it took land and valuable resources away from people who needed it most. Those who had much were simply trying to get more, as opposed to allowing those who had very little to keep what they had. That was unfortunate, because the people who already had a lot were people who did not need any more. They did not see things that way, though. They thought they that needed more and, ultimately, that the people who already had very little needed even less. That is often the case with countries that begin to grow and develop rapidly. They start taking more and more from those around them, and when they defeat other countries and groups of people, they take more than they need to take in order to show their force or to restore equality among the groups. That is unfortunate, but it is something that is often seen with countries and with groups of people within the same country who cannot get along. Taking only what is needed to restore order is rare.