by question 1. Reread the assignment sheet. Evaluate below how closely your peer's paper comes to meeting all of the requirements of the assignment? (Is the topic appropriate? Is it the required length? Are there the required sources? Etc.) 2. On the paper, write down what you think the thesis is. The thesis should be clear and arguable and not simply a statement of fact(s). Make suggestions for improving the thesis. 3. Does the paper make its case? Is the thesis supported with evidence and examples? Tell the writer where you would like more detail or more support. 4. As you read through the essay, did you ever feel lost or confused? Point out these places. 5. Evaluate the paper's sources. Are they credible scholarly sources (for example, is Wikipedia a scholarly source?) 6. Evaluate the paper's documentation of sources. Are all sources properly documented using the Chicago Manual of Style? Whenever the writer summarizes, quotes, or paraphrases, does she/he use a corresponding note? Does the note contain the correct details? 7. Make suggestions for improving the introduction and conclusion. The introduction (the first or first and second paragraphs) should interest the reader and set the stage for the rest of the paper. The conclusion should signal closure. 8. What are the paper's strengths? What are its weaknesses? Make any final suggestions for improvements. Analytical Essay 1 The United States of America (USA) exists today as a country of order and power. Trade relations are held with hundreds of nations around the globe, and peace is kept. Though it can't be said that it is a perfect country it can be acknowledged that we've come a long way. Throughout the second half of the nineteenth century the "U.S. interest in foreign policy took a backseat to territorial expansion in the American west. The United States fought the Indian wars while European nations carved empires in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the pacific. " That being said the U.S. was behind and was in need of a new outlook so at the start of the twentieth century they adopted a new foreign policy: isolationism and expansionism. Isolationism "advocated non-involvement in European and Asian conflicts and non-entanglement in international policies. " Whereas expansionism is the practice of expanding territory and invading foreign lands. The U.S. was determined to use this to make up for lost time by expanding its trade and its influence, they wanted to become far more proactive and become a prominent nation. A large part in why this was so important to the U.S. was because our nations founding fathers believed in Manifest Destiny : "The United States is destined-by god, its advocates believe-to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire North American continent." Though North American continent is what is explicitly said here the United States looked far more outward towards where the Europeans carved empires. This search outward became much more necessary as the depression of the 1890's progressed. This depression showed a visible recession causing businesses to fail and find the need to search abroad to make profit of some kind. As this persisted many made an attempt to expand to nations a long way from home. the people of China were "legally prohibited from preaching Christianity ." That being said missionaries were not allowed in the country, and neither were foreigners in general. This was all true up until 1958. In 1958 the Treaty of Tientsin was passed, this treaty allowed "foreigners to travel through China and legalized Christian missionary activity. " Though this treaty was passed in 1958 few missionaries had gone to China. This new ideal of expansionism excited American missionaries, that being said a large amount of them went to China; By "1905 there were more than 3000 ." Time passed and soon 100,000 people in China converted to Christianity. Though some saw this as a beautiful change many resented the interference and the change they were trying to bring and decided to form "anti-foreign secret societies most notably the Boxers ." In 1899 the Boxers killed Chinese Christian's and missionaries and ultimately killed around "30,000 Chinese converts and 250 nuns, priests, and missionaries ." This dragged on for a very long time not slowing down for a second; in August of 1900 2,500 U.S. troops joined the fight, rescuing foreigners and battling those still fighting. Because these U.S. Marines played such a pivotal role in this battle "the foreign powers forced the Qing to submit a settlement that included a large amount of money ($333 million) to be paid to the foreign nationals. Following the Boxer uprising the United States passed the Open-door Policy as an international policy. Doing this the U.S. was able to gain access to the Chinese markets this expanding their economic power. On top of this the Monroe Doctrine was passed stating simply that the western hemisphere was dominated by them and that the Europeans should stay away. These along with the U.S. new found power helped for them to establish dominance in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1895 Cuba started its fight for independence from Spain, the Cubans were paying high taxes and were tired of the corrupt Spanish administration system; this fight persisted for 3 years. President McKinley sent the U.S. battleship Maine to Cuba on February 15,1898 and it exploded and sank in Havana without reason. This caused tension to rise between the U.S. and Spain. The U.S. decided to start weighing out their options and contemplating wether or not they should intervene and help Cuba. Though tension had already been rising between Spain and the U.S. since after the U.S. battleship Maine exploded, they looked for other another reason to intervene, this reason being that the U.S. had a large trade with Cuba the year before the rebellion started and had a large sum of money invested in Cuba's sugar. All of this helped for the U.S. to realize that there was more on the line than just Cuban independence. Moving forward Roosevelt decided to take this all into consideration and ordered a U.S. fleet to be ready to take a boat to Manila, Philippines in the case that there is eventual conflict with Spain. On "April 11th, 1898, President William McKinley asked congress for authorization to end the fighting in Cuba between the rebels and Spanish forces and to establish a stable government that would maintain order and ensure, the peace and tranquility and security of the Cuban and U.S. citizens on the island. " On April 20th ,1898 congress authorized, and on April 22nd Spain declared war on the U.S. The war was fought in multiple different places: "May 1st in Manila Bay, June 10th in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and June 22,24 and July 3rd in Santiago. " Following this the French ambassador approached McKinley's administration and discussed peace terms that led to the signing of a cease fire on August 12th. Though a cease fire was signed "5 days after a U.S. Navy squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay." Nevertheless, McKinley sent troops to secure the islands. "Commissioners from the United States and Spain met in Paris on Ocotber 1st, 1898 and produced a treaty that would bring an end to the war after six months of hostiles ." The treaty was then signed on December 10th,1898 which finally brought an end to the Spanish-American war. Following the end of the Spanish-American war the U.S. realized how large the territory they acquired really was now in possession of: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. The U.S paid Spain $20 million for the islands they initially had (Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam.) This helped to mark the United States as a Pacific power. the U.S. was also tasked with imposing a Cuban constitution and decided to impose the Platt Amendment "a series of provisions that granted the United States the right to intervene to protect Cuba's independence as well as the power to oversee Cuban debt so that European creditors would not find an excuse for intervention." This keeping Cuba in order as some believed that Cuba could not self-govern well enough to not raise havoc. The definition of Imperialism is: "A doctrine, political strategy, practice state policy, or advocacy that consists in extending power by territorial acquisition or by extending political and economic control outward over other areas " After the Spanish-American war this is a definition that you could use to explain The United States. They expanded their economy, they took their influence far past just the United States, they gained possession of different nations, and they used their military for good. The United States of America is a country of freedom, success, and peace. The U.S. has grown like no other starting from the bottom of the food chain and working its way up the totem poll. They went from isolationism and expansionism to handling the Boxers in China, to fighting the Spanish-American war, and to becoming an imperialist country. Through all this they still managed to come out in one piece. This country as a whole has grown to become strong and successful. All in all, the conversation had in this article covers exactly what caused the switch from isolationism and expansionism to imperialist simply showcasing all that this country has done to get to exactly where it is today. Bibliography - United States Department of State. "American Isolationism in the 1930s." Office of The Historian. Accessed May 15, 2024. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/american-isolationism - United States Department of State. "The Spanish American War." Office of The Historian. Accessed May 19th 2024. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war - United States Department of State. "The Spanish American War." Office of The Historian. Accessed May 19th 2024. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war - The Legal Information Institute. "Imperialism." Cornell Law School. Last Modified April 2022. Accessed May 19, 2024. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/imperialism - History.com. "Manifest Destiny." HISTORY. Last modified November 15, 2019. Accessed May 16, 2024. https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/manifest-destiny - James L. Roark. The American Promise: The United States and the World. Bedford/St.Martin's, 2023. - - James Roark, "The American Promise: Markets and missionaries. Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2023. - - James Roark, "The American Promise: Markets and missionaries. Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2023. - The library of Congress Publishing office. "Treaty of Paris of 1898." Library of Congress Research Guides. Accessed May 19, 2024, https://guides.loc.gov/world-of-1898/treaty-of-paris#:~:text=Commissioners%20from%20the%20United%20States,Day%2C%20Sen. - Natalie Wenigmann, "American Missionaries in China in the 1860's." Linda Lear Center Digital Collections and Exhibitions, accessed May 18, 2024, https://lc-digital.conncoll.edu/exhibits/show/gold-journal/essays/missionaries - Natalie Wenigmann, "American Missionaries in China in the 1860's." Linda Lear Center Digital Collections and Exhibitions, accessed May 18, 2024, https://lc-digital.conncoll.edu/exhibits/show/gold-journal/essays/missionaries - Natalie Wenigmann, "American Missionaries in China in the 1860's." Linda Lear Center Digital Collections and Exhibitions, accessed May 18, 2024, https://lc-digital.conncoll.edu/exhibits/show/gold-journal/essays/missionaries