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19th Century. Though the 19th century saw the rise of populism, the labor movement and Jacksonian democracy, it also ushered in the Gilded Age, when men like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J. P. Morgan ...
- Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a 19th-century school of American...
- Knights of Labor
They supported the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the...
- Bleeding Kansas
By early 1854, with the United States expanding rapidly...
- Bank War
The Bank War was the political struggle that ensued over the...
- Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster emerged as one of the greatest orators and...
- Gilded Age
Jacob Riis worked as a police reporter for the New York...
- Transcendentalism
The 19th century in the United States was marked by several key political and social movements that profoundly shaped the nation’s history. One of the most significant political movements during this time was the Abolitionist Movement , which fought for the immediate emancipation of enslaved African Americans.
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The Transformative Era: Exploring the 19th Century United States. The 19th century United States was a transformative era marked by significant changes and developments. From social movements to technological advancements, this period shaped the nation in various ways. Social movements played a crucial role in shaping the 19th century United ...
- Overview
- The end of isolationism
- The scramble for colonies
- The United States becomes an empire
- What do you think?
After more than one hundred years of isolationism, at the end of the nineteenth century the United States became an imperial power.
The United States had once been a colony, its fates and fortunes tied inextricably with those of Great Britain, and found its colonial status quite at odds with its belief in representative government. In the late eighteenth century, a new alliance with France helped the fledgling nation throw off colonial rule. But the help of European powers always came with strings attached, entanglements that the American government found potentially dangerous as the nation struggled to grow and thrive. Having observed the effect of foreign alliances on his administration, when George Washington left office he cautioned his successors to avoid entangling foreign alliances in his Farewell Address of 1796.1
For one hundred years, with few exceptions, his successors obeyed. With an ocean separating it from the travails of Europe, the United States quietly developed into a vast and productive country as wars and famines and revolutions elsewhere brought immigrants to its shores. Taking Washington's advice to heart, the United States pursued a policy of isolationism, avoiding alliances and international intrigue as best it could.
[Learn more about isolationism]
But in the late nineteenth century all of that changed rapidly. In the space of just a few years, from 1898 to 1901, the United States went from being a former outpost of the British Empire to an imperial power in its own right, claiming territory or influence over no fewer than five islands outside its territorial boundaries (Cuba, Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines).
One explanation for the United States' entry into the imperial game was peer pressure. Between 1870 and 1890, the industrial nations of Europe and Asia, particularly Great Britain, France, Germany, and Japan, scrambled to seize territory in the undeveloped world. With unmatched firepower and technology, these imperial powers divided Africa and Asia among themselves. Many in the United States feared that if America didn't join the race for empire, the great powers would leave it behind.2
What was the point of having colonies? Like the system of mercantilism, under which the American colonies had sent raw materials to Great Britain and purchased finished goods in return, colonialism was a system designed to benefit the imperial power, usually at the expense of the colony. Colonies not only provided sources of valuable raw materials (diamonds, gold, timber, oil, rubber, and many others) for the imperial power, their populations served as markets for the industrial products made in the home country.
Markets were particularly important for the United States, which had emerged as the world's leading industrial power in the wake of the Gilded Age. Capitalism could only thrive and expand as long as people purchased the products of industry, and at the end of the nineteenth century, Americans were beginning to fear that new markets within the United States were drying up now that Manifest Destiny (the belief that God intended the United States to occupy the North American continent from Atlantic to Pacific) had been achieved. In 1893, eminent historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared that the American frontier was now closed, leading many to fear that the pioneering spirit central to the American identity was in jeopardy.3
What would Americans do now that relentless expansion was no longer possible? Who would Americans be if they no longer had a wilderness to conquer?
These questions were still unanswered when disturbing news came from Cuba, where guerrilla rebels were attempting to throw off the yoke of Spanish rule. After an American warship exploded in Havana harbor, the United States declared war on Spain. Spain was badly outmatched, and within six weeks the United States had triumphed in the Spanish-American War. In the process, they had acquired significant influence over Cuba, annexed Hawaii, and claimed Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as territories.
Not everyone was thrilled about the United States' new role as an imperial power. The irony that a former colony, which had once rebelled against a distant government across the ocean, was now governing distant peoples was not lost on contemporary observers. Others protested that imperialism would include people of "inferior" races in the American body politic. The Anti-Imperialist League, which included such diverse characters as steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and labor leader Samuel Gompers, protested the United States' new empire.4
Why do you think some Americans supported imperialism? Why did some oppose it?
Was colonialism different than Manifest Destiny, or just a new phase of it?
Should the United States have become an empire? How long could the United States have maintained an isolationist policy towards the world?
[Notes and attributions]
The United States was a country in the 19th century. During this time it grew from 17 states to 45 states. The year was from 1801 till 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. States like Utah, Illinois and Mississippi were added to the United States. There were 22 presidents.
The 19th century in the United States refers to the period in the United States from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. For information on this period, see: History of the United States series: History of the United States (1789–1849) History of the United States (1849–1865) History of the United States (1865–1918) Historical eras:
Feb 26, 2024 · Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century While other resources focus on different aspects of the 19th century, such as the Civil War or immigration, this is the first truly comprehensive treatment to cover all aspects of 19th-century history including: population, politics and government, economy and work, society and culture ...
