US Involvement in Foreign Affairs and Imperial Expansion

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to US foreign involvement and imperial expansion.

Isolationism

The policy by which the USA detached itself from foreign affairs.

Monroe Doctrine

A US policy established in 1823 warning European nations against intervention in the Americas.

Manifest Destiny

The 19th-century doctrine that it was the divine right of Americans to expand across the continent.

Industrial Revolution

An economic shift from predominance in agriculture to the manufacture of industrial goods.

Preclusive Imperialism

The practice of acquiring colonies to prevent other countries from doing so.

Gadsden Purchase

An 1854 agreement in which the USA acquired land from Mexico for $10 million.

Spanish–American War

A conflict in 1898 that marked the USA's emergence as an imperial power.

Laissez-faire

An economic approach where the government avoids involvement in economic planning.

Social Darwinism

The application of Darwin's theory of evolution to human societies, promoting ideas of racial superiority.

Turner's Thesis

Frederick Jackson Turner's assertion that the American character was shaped by the existence of a frontier.