Quote Originally Posted by marct View Post
Hi Steve,



I would certainly agree with that. I think that there was a fairly strong "Imperial conviction" from, say, 1800 to, maybe 1850 or so. I'm thinking mainly of Jefferson's program of expansion, and the run ins with both first nations and Mexico. Then again, that could easily have been a situation deriving from settlement / immigration pressures. The same thing seems to show up again in the wars against the disintegrating Spanish Empire.



I've often wondered if Imperial adventures aren't the product of a social order with a fairly strongly established aristocracy that is loosing power in the central state. That certainly seems to be the case with most of Britains adventures. I wonder if the Northern victory in your civil war didn't transform American imperial drive into an economic / TNC format.

Marc
In regard to Mexico, there was a substantial "anti-war" faction in the Northeastern and New England states. The Indian situation is a bit more complex, but it's worth remembering that even then there was a domestic opposition to expansion in that area (although some of it was Abolitionist fervor migrated to a new cause). Roosevelt's imperial drive is a slightly different beast, but even then some of the tone was different from what was seen with Britain. Much of it was framed by the "Yellow press" as a conflict to free oppressed peoples from the harsh yoke of Spain. Was that the real goal? Not really, but it was pitched that way.

I would tend to agree with you that the Northern victory in the Civil War changed the complexion of many of these policies. My own theory has been that most imperialist urges do emerge from an aristocracy that has an elevated view of itself and tends to look down on others (to include those within their own nation) who do not reach that level. It's also easier to be imperialist when one does not have to take popular urges into account. Also, I think there is a trend within those aristocracies to try to replicate their "dream state" overseas once conditions for it fade domestically. That could explain to a degree why Dutch and French colonial regimes tended to be harsher than those of the British.