2. Defining Empire
In your opinion, which
statement best characterizes the
motivations behind American
foreign policy in the 20 century?
th
3. #1
“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent
alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so
far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for
let me not be understood as capable of
patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I
hold the maxim no less applicable to public than
to private affairs, that honesty is always the best
policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those
engagements be observed in their genuine sense.
But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would
be unwise to extend them.”
– George Washington, Farewell address, 1796
4. #2
“[America’s] glory is not dominion, but liberty.
Her march is the march of the mind. She has a
spear and a shield, but the motto upon her shield
is Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been
her declaration. This has been, as far as her
necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind
would permit, her practice.
– John Quincy Adams, Speech to the House of
Representatives, July 4, 1821
5. #3
“When I next realized that the Philippines had dropped into
our laps I confess I did not know what to do with them. . . And
one night late it came to me this way. . .1) That we could not
give them back to Spain- that would be cowardly and
dishonorable; 2) that we could not turn them over to France
and Germany-our commercial rivals in the Orient-that would
be bad business and discreditable; 3) that we not leave them to
themselves-they are unfit for self-government-and they would
soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain's
wars; and 4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take
them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize
and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we
could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.”
– William McKinley, The Christian Advocate, January 1903
6. #4
“The peace of tyrannous terror, the peace of
craven weakness, the peace of injustice, all these
should be shunned as we shun unrighteous war.
The goal to set before us as a nation, the goal
which should be set before all mankind, is the
attainment of the peace of justice, of the peace
which comes when each nation is not merely safe-
guarded in its own rights, but scrupulously
recognizes and performs its duty toward others.”
– Theodore Roosevelt, Address to Congress, 1904
7. #5
“What do nations care about the cost of
war, if by spending a few hundred
millions in steel and gunpowder they
can gain a thousand millions in
diamonds and cocoa?”
– W.E.B. Du Bois, The Atlantic Monthly,
1915
8. #6
“This nation has placed its destiny in the
hands and heads and hearts of its millions of
free men and women; and its faith in
freedom under the guidance of God.
Freedom means the supremacy of human
rights everywhere. Our support goes to those
who struggle to gain those rights or keep
them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.”
- Franklin Roosevelt, Address to Congress,
1941
9. #7
“We’ve never been a colonial power. We don’t
take our force and go around the world and try
to take other people’s real estate or other
people’s resources, their oil. That’s just not what
the United States does. We never have and we
never will. That’s not how democracies behave.
That’s how an empire-building Soviet Union
behaved but that’s not how the United States
behaves.”
– Donald Rumsfeld, Interview with Al Jazeera
TV, February 27, 2003
10. Defining Empire
What is the definition of
“Empire”?
Was the United States an
empire in the 20 century?
th
