Relative Isolation - Frederick Jackson Turner's "fronteir Thesis"

The United Sates moved from relative isolation into an international role from the time of the Spanish-American war until present day, because of Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis", imperialists, the crisis in Cuba, World War I, the great depression, World War II, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and 9/11. The consequences on the U.S society is controversies arose in the United States between anti-imperialists and imperialists at the time of the Spanish-American war on whether or not we should expand our foreign policy and get involved with Spain, the impact on women at the end of the second world war, the impact on African Americans, social change, and peace and anti-war movements due to today's ongoing Iraq war. It was Frederick Jackson Turner who started the discussion on getting out of relative isolation in the very beginning.

Frederick Jackson Turner's "Fronteir Thesis" sparked the beginning of the United States move out of isolation. At the Columbian Exposition, Turner addressed the crowd with the debate being; would the United States seek new frontiers in foreign lands with the closing of the western frontier? Yes, he answered. Turner said that the dominant fact in American life has been expansion, and since the western frontier had closed, it was time for us to continue expansion overseas, and continue expansion overseas we did. According to Emily Rosenberg, American Economic and Cultural influence provided the basis for Americas global preeminence-which is a role dependent on advanced technology, surplus capital, and mass culture. At the time, Europe was ahead of us in terms of seizing other nations. The United States needed to take action. We had to join the imperialism race, to ensure that we didn't end up losing out on a bigger market.

Imperialists argued that it was time to stop obeying Washington's and Monroe's famous documents, and revamp our foreign policy. In his farewell address in 1796, George Washington stated his defense for us staying neutral. He believed that the United States should be neutral in all foreign affairs. He said we had a right to take, and an interest to take, a neutral stance. He decided to maintain his stance with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. In the Monroe Doctrine, it stated that the United States would not interfere with European nations if not interfered with. Monroe said that it was the United States policy to leave parties to themselves, in hopes that other powers will do the same. However, over the next 100 years times changed. Other people besides Turner said it was time to shift our focus overseas. Imperialists such as Henry Watterson realized that. He states that while a stay at home approach was wise for a weak nation 100 years ago, by the late 1800's standards, it wasn't acceptable. The United States must adapt he said. He argues that at the time, the United States was destined to become a world power. It was their time to succeed. Watterson believed that the entire foreign policy that was adopted years before the conflict with Spain needed to be reconstructed. He agrees that while it may increase the dangers, it will also increase the opportunities for the American people. Charles Denby also takes a similar stance. He recognizes that Washington and Monroe were against the acquisition of foreign territory, but at the same time the world has changed since the farewell address and Monroe Doctrine were written, and we needed to compete with other nations. United States Navy officer Alfred T. Mahan, though not taken seriously as an imperialist, advocated for the annexing of Hawaii, the Caribbean Islands, and the Philippine Islands. He stressed that the navy was a key and vital aspect to our prosperity. Many people were now starting to voice their opinions.

Meanwhile, in Cuba, their nation was in shambles while under control of the Spanish. The Spanish had put people in concentration camps where many were dying, the economy was in shambles, the nation didn't have any resources, and while Cuba was a potential threat to American security, Americans called for it to be brought under American protection. One year after Grover Cleveland said that the U.S. had a neutral stance on the situation in Cuba, the U.S. Senate brought to action the fact that the crisis in Cuba needed attention. Through the process of yellow journalism by Joseph Pulitzer and William Hurst, the people of the United States realized how bad it was in Cuba due to reading the newspapers with eye-catching headlines. On December 7th of 1896, Grover Cleveland said that the United States would take action if Spain couldn't resolve the crisis itself. Eventually, it was McKinley's turn to take over. When William McKinley was elected into office, pressure started to mount on him. He was worried about the economy, but didn't see overseas imperialism as the answer.

When McKinley started, the United States was still in isolation, but the question arose again, being do we try to help out Cuba and declare war on Spain? Was it time for us as a nation to get out of isolation? This was one of the consequences on our U.S. society during the shift into an international role; the huge debate on whether or not to get involved in foreign affairs. The racist President of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, for one was worried that annexation of the Philippines would start an influx of Chinese people into the country, but more importantly wanted to protect American laborers so that the Chinese wouldn't take over jobs. Other anti-imperialists such as Andrew Carnegie said that the Philippines would be the curse of the United States, while William Jennings Bryan took a stance somewhat of George Washington's farewell address in which he said that we should maintain a government by the people, and for the people. This was a consequence on the United States society due to these arguments between imperialists and anti-imperialists. In relation to the Philippines, Debates back and forth between imperialists and anti-imperialists continued. Some claimed that it is our destiny to control the east; with others saying it is wrong to get involved with other nations.

With people still split over whether or not to take charge, problems in Cuba were continuing. "The island lay in ruins. The conflict, combined with the Spanish-U.S. tariff controversy of the 1890s, had destroyed two-thirds of its productive capacity. Close to 20 percent of its prewar estimated population of 1,800,000 had perished. While the Cuban crisis continued; what happened after was what officially put us into an international role. The New York Journal published an article called the De Lome Letter, which criticized President McKinley by saying he was a weak politician and questioned his diplomacy, which only agitated him to move closer to war with Spain.