HOW TO EXPLAIN AMERICAN IMPERIALISM

Some say that the exclusive American imperialism is built on genocide and enslavement - genocide among the Natives and enslavement of imported Africans. Well, first of all, we may keep in mind that the Americans are not exclusive in their genocide and enslavement, because genocide and enslavement are as old as agrarian societies that arose some 12,000 years ago.

More precisely, in the recent history of the Americas, the Spanish and the Portuguese have a more or less similar record of genocide and enslavement in Latin America, while they did not conquer the rest of the world from there. Therefore, the American conquering of the rest of the world may need another explanation than the initial genocide and enslavement they committed at home.

The explanation that the American boldly optimistic pioneering, conquering, colonization culture seems attractive. After all, when the colonists had conquered North America from east to west and their wheels finally stopped rolling at the Pacific coast, the boldly optimistic pioneering mentality did not stop. Culture is harder than iron and steel. But again, the Spanish and Portuguese had a more or less similar history of colonization in Latin America while they did not develop their economies as fast as the Americans, nor did they conquer the rest of the world from Latin America.

The typical imperialism by the Americans may have roots in their cultural origins in Western Europe. And I don’t mean the imperialist culture of all Europe, because the Spanish and Portuguese in Europe also had an imperialist culture but that did not bring them to conquer the world from Latin America. No, it seems to be the West European culture in its difference from the Spanish and Portuguese culture that had a decisive influence in North America.

So, we may ponder on that West European culture, the same culture that made West Europeans strongly develop their technology and economy and  exploit their advantages by colonialism. This culture also made the Americans strongly develop their technology and economy.

But here, the pioneering mentality of the Americans that I mentioned comes as an additional force. It is probably the combined West European culture and the boldly optimistic pioneering mentality that made the Americans exceptionally bold and energetic in their technological and economic innovation and expansion. And once they became the leading country in the world, the USA, as any leading country might do, used their almighty position to develop imperialism.