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Countries like the United States and Japan today are different from many of
the ancient world powers for a very important reason. Japan and the US both
needed outside help in order to even show up on the world map, figuratively
speaking. Japan was a small island nation that was in constant civil war
between showguns who controlled small parts of land around the island. This
division of power meant they were never able to unify under a certain emperor
for very long, and when they did, they followed the belief system of
Confucianism which in many aspects made them weak. As for the US, we
started as a sovereign nation that rebelled against the greatest power in the
world, we were new to this whole conquerer the world game that the rest of
the world played, we dont have a long history and also have a pretty weak
military up to this point. So both nations therefore recognized that
Isolationism, and cutting themselves off from the outside world would only
hinder their ability to move forward as a strong nation. The US adopted
Imperialism and its take what you can mentality early on. They also used
imperialism as a way to expand their economic well being instead of just their
physical land amount. The US did this all across the world, forcing countries
like China, Japan and other Asian countries to trade with them. And when they
said no, the US flexed their all the military might they could muster and either
invaded a part of the country and forced them to; or took it over completely.
Japan started out by following China and shutting off themselves from the
outside world, then when the US came knocking and the US wanted to trade
they turned them down multiple times, Killing the messengers too, not very
nice. The US thought that too, so they decided to force Japan to trade with
them, and be able to set up an embassy within Japan. Japan was forced to, so
Japan began to follow what the US had done to them. Only they decided to
kick Chinas butt and take Korea, in an effort to control a potential invasion
point. They then went on to take over a much larger chunk of china, imposed
heavy demands from the Chinese government that benefited them heavily.
They did the same thing with Russia, wiped out their military; then once
defeated they took control of a part of their land. The US did the same thing
with many of the Latin American countries, like Panama. They built a canal on
their soil after winning Panama from Colombia. This meant the US controlled
the canal and all the trade that passed through, none of revenue going to
Panama. Now the US has benefitted heavily from their imperialistic nature
throughout history, first off by invading part of Japan just because they didnt
want to trade and forcing them to, as well as setting up an embassy. This led
the US to be able to control their trade. They then went and did this to Cuba
(Invaded, took over gov., controlled their foreign policy, trade regulations,
naval base), Panama (dug a canal, huge part of economy), Puerto Rico
(Controlled their gov., now a US colony), DR (Essentially ran their gov and
 trade), Guam (same old, trade regulations, gov. control). Japan also did very
well. They controlled chunks of china, forced them to trade with them as well
as take some of their trade income. Also they did the same thing to Russia.

T. The Teller Amendment was an Amendment saying that the US can only get
involved with Cuba in regard to smoothing over conflict and helping them with
stability. Once the USs duty of preservation was over, the US must relinquish
any power in Cuba and let it be ruled by the people of Cuba. Essentially we
didnt want anything to do with Cuba, this all happened in 1898. As for the
Platt Amendment which is quite contradictory and comes after the Teller A,
its states: The US will pull its troops out of Cuba if, the US can control Cubas
foreign affairs, Cuba can no longer negotiate treaties of any kind, US
companies will be welcomed to Cuba, since US controls their economy, and
the building of a naval base on the island. This was all given to the US in 1901.
The US originally didnt want any part of Cuba, but when they went to war with
Spain and fought to gain control of Cuba, that all changed. The imperialistic
and power hungry US realized what kind of opportunity Cuba was for their
economy. Controlling Cuba meant US countries could build factories there for
super cheap, as well as reach a whole new part of the world. Labor was cheap,
the Cuban economy needed it, and the US militarily controlled it; what else is
there to do but seize more land for themselves. Cuba wasnt the only one,
Guam, Panama, DR, and PR all were seized by the Americans in the result of
the Spanish American war. The Roosevelt Corollary was justification for the
military take over of Cuba. The Corollary pretty much made the US the
international policemen of the western hemisphere. Being the policeman, the
US saw that the Spanish had previously controlled Cuba and that they had just
fought the US in the war. So the US believed that first off, Spain in no way
should control Cuba, and no way could Cuba make it on its own. Their
 government was too weak and war stricken Cuba had no economy. So the
Platt Amendment served as a way for the US, or international policemen, to
leave Cuba in protective custody. Cuba was restricted in everyway possible,
but was safe for the time being.

\. The quote is referring to how Mexico is so close to the US in terms of borders,

and yet so far away from Gods protection and care. Seeing how ruthless and
powerful the US was in Central America, Mexico fears for their country. They
fear that the US and its favoritism towards imperialism might just decide, hey,
Mexico hasnt been conquered or partially conquered by us yet, why not?
Mexico realized that it really wouldnt take much for the US to decide to roll
their military into Mexico in an effort to Help Mexico advance as a nation.
They had the right to fear for their country, poor Cuba, Philippines, Panama,
and Guam. The individual countries did nothing to warrant the American
takeover they got, Mexico was afraid that America for some paper thin reason
might decide its a good idea to control Mexico. So they know they are helpless
in terms of defending themselves, they have no real army, no solid economy,
and no navy. The only thing that could possibly protect them is God. And
according to them, hes pretty far away. Meaning it inevitable the US takes
over part of Mexico. And thats exactly what they did, today we see them as
states like Texas, or New Mexico, but before it was Mexican territory that the
US stripped from them in another war. As for today, the Mexican president
sure does have some words for the US but this quote is not one of them. The
US has since grown up from being a bully and now respects international
borders and realizes you can just take countries land. Plus the reason America
was able to do it so long ago is that many of the places were hardly
developed, farm fields and dessert. If the US was to try and take over even
another state or region from Mexico, the cultural shift and logistics of if would
be impossible and unrealistic. Mexico and other world nations are safe from
the imperialism that ran rampant throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s.
 a. President Trump, as tempting as imperialism is, today, the cultural calamities
that any act of imperialism would cause today would be devastating to another
nation and ours alike, not only to our foreign policy but to our ethical morals.

Imperialism was a damn near act of war during the 1800s, but the
difference is, the nations that we and other world super powers invaded and
manipulated for our self gain could never fight back or do anything to prevent it. If
any sort of land grab was attempted today, the repercussions would be war. Look
at Russia and the Ukraine, Putin, as great as you may think he is, took land from
the Ukraine without any sort of logical reasoning behind it. From it war raged for
months between the nations, of course Russia, being a world power, they won. But
not without steep penalties, the US then sanctioned the hell out of them. Foreign
relations, as shaky as they were before, were gone. A nation that steals another
nations land for no reason is nation you want to be associated with. Imperialism on
a large scale is non existent and should never be used in such a drastic way as we
did with Japan, or Latin America again. Nations and parties that follow imperialism
today do not survive, the Nazis are another example. They grabbed Poland without
a reason, what did they get? A crippled country, less land than before, Sanctions
and war fines that were being payed for over eighty years. Its not worth it Mr.
President, also the ethical repercussions for individuals themselves is drastic and
crippling.

A nation that has been taken over through imperialism, such as the Congo
during the late 1800s benefits in the long run in no way. Their economical makeup
was pure exportation of natural resources, this is good if you have a strong
government and one that is not corrupt. But when Leopold pulled out of the
Congo, and other European nations did the same in Africa, Millions of people were
left without a government, or without parents because of the brutal genocides.
Foreign invasion, which imperialism in a way is, superficially supports the country,
and when the invaders leave; it collapses, cultures that were previously a whole,
are left in tatters from the foreigners. If its broke dont fix it, this holds true to this
day. If a nation is in need, do help it out; but that doesnt mean take over their
nation, control its government, its economy and everything else. Because when its
time for them to do it on their own, Cuba for example, or the DR, they have no clue
and they end up electing a dictator like Castro or Trujillo. Mr. President, dont
make the mistakes the US did two hundred years ago, dont let history repeat
itself.
Although the imperialistic rule imposed during the Scramble for Africa by
Europeans was ethically wrong and the loss of native life was insurmountable; it
positively augmented the continents economic and sanitary well being far more
than the African continent ever could on its own.

Fueled by the notion that the white man must civilize the poor primal native
lands of Africa, the Scramble Africa was the horrific result. European countrys
claims for land in Africa was legitimized during the 1884-1885 Berlin Conference
that decided natural borders and land grab claims for over six different European
countries. Each European nation preached similar ideology, christianity,
industrialized commerce and civilization. They truly felt as if they were the
superior race and civilization, Cecil Rhodes, the Prime Minister to the Cape Colony
in South Africa embodied this notion in his 1877 Confession of Faith, Having read
the histories of other countries, I saw that expansion was everything, and that the
world's surface being limited, the great object of present humanity should be to
take as much of the world as it possibly could. Without consoling the poor
primitive africans that they were invading, the European countries flexed their
imperialistic power; destroying governments, civilizations, and local cultures. The
most egregious of these offenses was King Leopold and his privatized army that
now controlled the resource rich Congo. Blinded by his pure negligence of
humanity, Leopold's darwinistic mindset and policies imposed upon the lesser
race, the Congolese, enslaved the population and forced them into hard labor.
Within a year of landing on African shores, Leopold had already showed how
devastating imperialism is to the subordinate population. Mass genocide and a
population drop of nearly 50% in the Congo were all results of Imperialism in the
Congo; but with suffering came success.

Rubber sales in the Congo skyrocketed fifteen fold, reaching nearly 41 million
dollars in profits in 1902. Though the majority of this money would find its way to
Leopolds pocket, the side effects of having such a rich export and European
colonization cannot be ignored either. Sanitation was a huge plus for the African
natives. Previously unannounced to them, European methods of sanitization
dropped infection rates of Malaria, quinine was accidentally, but is proven
effective in stopping the spread of malaria. Washing your hands and moving
latrines away from homes where both European concepts; these advances in
sanitization dropped the rate of sickness to an all time low of 30% infected rate for
most deadly diseases. As for medical infrastructure, hospitals and aid clinics
began showing up. Though mainly for whites only, these institutions educated the
Africans further. One thing Leopold was really good at was building, with the
ability to traverse the Congo River and surrounding tributaries with large and
robust riverboats, the king built actual towns. These towns consisted of markets
that Africans welcomed, the markets meant foreign goods could be bought, which
was previously unbenounced to them. Leopold had established free trade within
his slice of Africa and the rivers surrounding him. Opening markets to vital
resources. Without significant economic backing, none of these advances are
possible. With 80% of your exports consisting of rubber, Leopold built a monopoly
on it. Because of this, 41 million dollars in profit were flowing through the country;
along the way building roads and towns throughout the country. Of course all of
these positive advances were just side effects of Leopold filling his pockets with
coin, in no way was he focused on helping the African people. But as evident as
his atrocities of mutilation were to the world, so were the advances being made in
Africa. In a messed up and sinister way, Leopold unknowingly upheld his White
Mans Burden.