Well in this first segment of this larger
lecture on Imperialism and the thinking or
rationale behind America's entry
into this larger Imperial policy,
Imperial campaign. I'm not quite sure what
the best word there would be. I want to let you know that
the larger argument I hope to make, I'll try to make,
really seeks to join together
what the United States is doing abroad. That means
you know, outside of the boundaries of the United States with what's happening
inside the boundaries. And I happen to think that's a very telling connection to make
and very,
very worthwhile to consider. But I want to start out, and I'll do so in this first
segment,
I want to talk a bit about Imperialism. It's a word you should know.
It's a word with which you should be familiar and
I'm not claiming to have developed some grand definition or
of explanation of Imperialism,
but I've tried over the years to sort of borrow and steal from people and come up
with a definition that I felt
offered at least some basic understanding of what
I mean by Imperialism. Simply put,
I would suggest to you that we may define Imperialism
as a policy of extending
a nation's authority by territorial
acquisition or by the establishment of
economic and political hegemony,
there's you a word, or dominance over other nations
or peoples. Now I don't know that, that may not be the best definition. But let me
see if I can sort of explain it.
First of all, the notion that it's a policy, that it's more than just
an idea. But it's an idea
that offers direction for action. Secondly,
that Imperialism involves some level of expansion
or extension. Now you could argue that the United States has been expanding
throughout its history.
From the Atlantic Coastal colonies of
the British Empire further on, The United States has continued to expand across
the lower 48 and in to Alaska, and ultimately in to Hawaii.
And that's true enough.
We might consider that this
process goes beyond the creation of say colonies,
that it's not necessary, as you saw
prior to the American Revolution, for the creation of colonies for Imperialism to
function. But it is sufficient,
it is sufficient to avoid
merely acquiring territory if by other means one can impose
ones will. If a country, and often times
when we're talking about countries, sometimes we are talking about
individuals,
operating on behalf of countries or under the guise of
policy from nations. Nation is a
big work, a very important word. Nonetheless,
my point here is it's not necessary to take and hold territory
to participate in Imperialism. It's often the case that happens,
its often the case there are colonial desires, but it's not
inherently necessary. This word hegemony, for lack of
other or alternative words, really means dominance. But
you can have a hegemony that is cultural.
And hegemony tends to flow in one way,
one direction, from powerful to the less than powerful and
by means of culture and control of culture,
control of words even, this dominant power can
push its will. Can impose,
perhaps is a better word, it's will over other nations or peoples. It's not
necessary to control directly the resources of a place.
Instead it's enough to use your power
to push or see that others
are getting those resources for you.
So you can practice an Imperialism that's predominently
economic or political, but not necessarily territorial.
Although again, territories are often taken
and held.
Again I don't know if that's a quality definition or the best definition but
it's sort of the one I've come up with over the years and
this seems to serve the purpose.
Now there's a process that seems to operate in terms of Imperialism,
certainly in the late 19th century we see it.
And let me go through that with you so that hopefully it will make sense.
The first step in this process tends to involve
the investment of capital.
This can be done by nation state but most often it's done by private interests.
Someone
who sees the opportunity in a nation, other than say the United States or Europe,
outside the West, to develop resources.
And resources are key. Resources are going to feed the manufacturing centers of
established nations, those who have the power
to become Imperial powers.
The first step is investment of capital and resources and the development of
those resources through things like mining,
agricultural work,
and also we may see the development of an infrastructure;
that simply means that the word infrastructure simply means things like
railroads, telegraph lines, utilities
the, the mechanical systems
that are necessary to carry out everyday life, that are necessary to carry out
business, commerce,
to communicate, to move goods, all that.
That's what I mean by infrastructure. You know things like bridges.
Well anyway investment of capital
usually to develop resources that are
largely undeveloped through
industries like mining, through agriculture,
and to develop an infrastructure in an
underdeveloped or undeveloped area.
So you have one nation who sees money to be made, who sees
resources and the business people within that nation seek to invest
in the development of those resources and to invest
in the infrastructure that's necessitated to get at those resources.
That's step one. Step number two.
The presence of the investment
of the industry's, of
this effort to get at these resources will
inevitably alter the local
culture and the local economy.
New ideas are brought in,
elements that perhaps have been largely absent from the lives of people
in the area being developed suddenly,
well, these alien ideas are suddenly part of their everyday existence.
Whether they be technological, or whether they be social.
How one is to live.
Step 3, the investors, companies, corporations
will seek to make favorable arrangements with one or another local group
to guarantee the security of those investments
and properties that they've made, that they have purchased.
This is where you began to open up the possibility for
factionalism. If there's already political factionalism in the area being
developed,
then you have the prospect that company will choose sides. We've seen this
happen before in geopolitical terms.
In North America during the colonial era,
prior even to the French and Indian War, as these competing nations of Europe
began to move into the Americas in to North America particularly,
they made alliances with various Native American people.
They wanted fur, pelts
and they were willing to exchange the means of war, making war,
for those pelts.
Imperialism works much the same way.
You invest money. You want to see returns on that money.
You've begun to reshape culture and remember we talked about
immigrants, we talked about the economic changes in the United States in the
previous lecture,
and we talked about the potential fear that can be caused
by these massive transformations taking place as if
life as you've known it just isn't going to be the same way anymore.
It's never coming back. Well, imagine in an underdeveloped region
when massive machines, massive numbers of individuals, who speak different
languages than you and
seem to understand the world that's different from yours. They
relate to one another in ways that perhaps you've never seen before fully.
Imagine the potential for the generation of fear.
There's the fear indeed that my group,
my people, my family, may be left out
of whatever's going on here. May be left out of
whatever gains are to be made.
So it behooves the investing company to find those
elements in society that are willing to work to protect the interests of the
company. But
when the time comes, step 4,
and the investments and development are threatened to the extent it looks as if
they may be lost,
there seems to be a tendency among investors to call upon the federal
government
or a government. I mean it's enough simply to think about
for instance, the British.
To think about the wars that were fought in India and fought in Africa.
That's the model.
And by the late 19th century the United States is in a position
to fight those wars. To protect investments that its people are making
abroad,
to begin to engage beyond North America in the concerns of Latin America but
also the Pacific,
of Asia, of Africa.
And to begin to put it's stamp culturally and economically
on the earth. Consider for a moment that the 20th century will be
known as America's century, the roots,
the very foundations of that American dominance.
US dominance are to be found here.
Here in the latter 19th century and the
economic changes that have occurred since the Civil War but also
in the first fledgling steps by which the United States, this new
industrial power, will step off this continent
to explore and
ultimately control territories beyond its shores.
This industrial giant. By then,
by step 5, what may be imposed
we may call hegemonic, dominance,
control, sometimes subtle,
sometimes violent.
Think about it before I go in this segment here
and think about it for just a moment. What
is it that's part of the strikes we talked about from the last lecture if it's not
violence?
What is it? It's part of those
strikes if it's not intervention, often military.
That's why,
and there are other reasons too, but
ultimately I want you to understand that the argument, whether you agree with it or if you
don't is
fine with me. The argument I will be making in this lecture
is that what happens
abroad, what happens in the Pacific ,what happens in Africa and Asia,
and elsewhere involving the United States and
its expansion, on the level of principle
on the level of basic relationships of power, those who have it and those who don't,
shares parallels with what's happening domestically here at home. Remember, in
places like Appalachia, here in the mountains,
it's about resources.
Who will own them, who won't.
It's about the protection of investments
when people react to are very much afraid that they'll be left out.
But it's also about that thing called cultural hegemony.
About the control of meaning and symbols,
that's part of the story here
even in these United States.