{"id":8268,"date":"2026-08-29T16:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T20:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/?page_id=8268"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T12:59:45","slug":"american-empire","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/american-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"American Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>The launching of an overseas American empire was the final act in the fall of the Second American Republic. &#8211;Manisha Sinha, Chapter 11<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><strong>Image Gateway<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM.png\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-5572\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-1024x516.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-1024x516.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-300x151.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-768x387.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-1536x774.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-2048x1031.png 2048w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-12.54.59-PM-500x252.png 500w\" alt=\"Cartoon\" width=\"940\" height=\"474\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>For more information, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Reconstruction_and_Empire\/TG5WEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=louis%20dalrymple&amp;pg=PT395&amp;printsec=frontcover\">Brian Shott\u2019s essay<\/a>\u00a0in David Prior\u2019s edited collection on\u00a0<em>Reconstruction and Empire<\/em>\u00a0(2022)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Timeline<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>1882 \/\/ Chinese Exclusion &amp; Immigration acts<\/li>\n<li>1883 \/\/ <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/fys-pinsker\/texts\/emma-lazarus-the-new-colossus-1883\/\">Statue of Liberty dedication<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1898 \/\/ War with Spain<\/li>\n<li>1898 \/\/ Hawaii annexation<\/li>\n<li>1899-1902 \/\/ Philippine Insurrection<\/li>\n<li>1899-1900 \/\/ Open Door Notes<\/li>\n<li>1900 \/\/\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/16-capital-and-labor\/#VI_William_Jennings_Bryan_and_the_Politics_of_Gold\">McKinley defeats Bryan in presidential rematch<\/a><\/li>\n<li>1903-1914 \/\/ Panama Canal<\/li>\n<li>1904 \/\/ Roosevelt Corollary to Monroe Doctrine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Chinese Exclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>The court decided\u00a0<i>United States v. Wong Kim Ark<\/i>\u00a0on March 28, 1898. For 120 years since, anyone born in the United States, regardless of their race or class, or the immigration status of their parents\u2014except for the children of foreign diplomats\u2014instantly becomes a U.S. citizen. \u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2018\/10\/31\/birthright-citizenship-wong-kim-ark-222098\/\">Jonathan Katz<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_3302\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/history\/2018\/10\/30\/birthright-citizenship-trump-inspired-history-lesson-th-amendment\/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.aefdf5c78ddb\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3302 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Wong-Kim-Ark-925x1024.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 925px) 100vw, 925px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Wong-Kim-Ark-925x1024.jpg 925w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Wong-Kim-Ark-271x300.jpg 271w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Wong-Kim-Ark-768x850.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Wong-Kim-Ark.jpg 1484w\" alt=\"Wong\" width=\"925\" height=\"1024\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3302\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3302\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wong Kim Ark<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>First\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/chinese-exclusion-act\">Chinese Exclusion Act\u00a0<\/a>(1882) (National Archives)<\/li>\n<li>Background on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/history\/2018\/10\/30\/birthright-citizenship-trump-inspired-history-lesson-th-amendment\/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.aefdf5c78ddb\">Wong Kim Ark<\/a>, litigant in Supreme Court case (1898)<\/li>\n<li>Jonathan Katz,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/magazine\/story\/2018\/10\/31\/birthright-citizenship-wong-kim-ark-222098\">\u201cBirth of a Birthright,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Politico (2018)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/course-syllabus\/second-founding\/\"><strong>Fourteenth Amendment (1866 \/ 1868)\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><strong><em>Section 1.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.<\/p>\n<p><em>ORIGINS:\u00a0 Civil Rights Act of 1866\u00a0<\/em><em>SEC. 1:\u00a0 That all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5605\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5605\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM-300x248.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM-300x248.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM-1024x845.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM-768x634.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM-363x300.png 363w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2022\/01\/Screen-Shot-2022-01-17-at-8.05.25-AM.png 1238w\" alt=\"Harlan\" width=\"300\" height=\"248\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5605\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justice John Marshall Harlan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Plessy v. Ferguson (1896):\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThe white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country.\u00a0 And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power\u2026. But in the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens.\u00a0 There is no caste here.\u00a0 Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.\u00a0 In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law.\u201d\u00a0<em>(Dissent by Justice John Marshall Harlan)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wong Kim Ark (1898):<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cGenerally speaking, I understand the subjects of the emperor of China\u2014that ancient empire, with its history of thousands of years, and its unbroken continuity in belief, traditions, and government, in spite of revolutions and changes of dynasty\u2014to be bound to him by every conception of duty and by every principle of their religion, of which filial piety is the first and greatest commandment; and formerly, perhaps still, their penal laws denounced the severest penalties on those who renounced their country and allegiance, and their abettors, and, in effect, held the relatives at home of Chinese in foreign lands as hostages for their loyalty. And, whatever concession may have been made by treaty in the direction of admitting the right of expatriation in some sense, they seem in the United States to have remained pilgrims and sojourners as all their fathers were.\u201d\u00a0 \u2014<em>Fuller \/ Harlan Dissent in Wong Kim Ark (1898)<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Toward a new \u201cmanifest destiny\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4865\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1060px) 100vw, 1060px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM.png 1060w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM-1024x636.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM-768x477.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2021\/02\/Screen-Shot-2021-02-15-at-8.25.00-PM-483x300.png 483w\" alt=\"Gast\" width=\"1060\" height=\"658\" \/><\/a><\/h2>\n<h2>William McKinley, Inaugural Address, 1897<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed; peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_3980\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-21-at-1.40.14-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3980\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-21-at-1.40.14-PM.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-21-at-1.40.14-PM.png 758w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2019\/03\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-21-at-1.40.14-PM-246x300.png 246w\" alt=\"Large Policy\" width=\"758\" height=\"926\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3980\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3980\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From L to R \/ top to bottom: Alfred Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, John Hay, Henry Cabot Lodge<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_3986\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\n<div id=\"attachment_3986\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-23-at-9.19.11-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3986\" class=\"wp-image-3986\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-23-at-9.19.11-PM.png\" alt=\"Anti-Imperialists\" width=\"400\" height=\"462\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3986\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Top L to R: Andrew Carnegie, William James, (Bottom L to R): Ben Tillman, William Jennings Bryan<\/p><\/div>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3986\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<\/div>\n<h3><strong>Who were the imperial soldiers?<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/files\/2018\/01\/Esther-Popel-and-Daughter.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3987\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-282pinsker\/files\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-23-at-9.23.58-PM-817x1024.png\" alt=\"Presly Holliday\" width=\"600\" height=\"752\" \/><\/a>Afterlife of &#8220;Manifest Destiny&#8221;<\/h3>\n<h2>Woodrow Wilson, Annual Message, 1920<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>This is the time of all others when Democracy should prove its purity and its spiritual power to prevail. It is surely the\u00a0<strong>manifest destiny<\/strong>\u00a0of the United States to lead in the attempt to make this spirit prevail.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Donald Trump, Inaugural Address, 2025<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>And we will pursue our\u00a0<strong>manifest destiny<\/strong>\u00a0into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation, and, right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There\u2019s no nation like our nation. \u2013Donald Trump, January 20, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The launching of an overseas American empire was the final act in the fall of the Second American Republic. &#8211;Manisha Sinha, Chapter 11 Image Gateway For more information, see Brian Shott\u2019s essay\u00a0in David Prior\u2019s edited collection on\u00a0Reconstruction and Empire\u00a0(2022) &nbsp; Timeline 1882 \/\/ Chinese Exclusion &amp; Immigration acts 1883 \/\/ Statue of Liberty dedication 1898 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-8268","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8268"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8348,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8268\/revisions\/8348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-118pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}