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The American Empire

Module description

Was America an empire? Is it one today? What do we mean by ‘empire’? What is the historical relationship between US imperialism and global capitalism? The module will provide an informed discussion about how the United States became a global power, how the United States has interacted with the larger world, and how other peoples have grappled with U.S. power since the late eighteenth century. You will investigate the historical controversies surrounding U.S. foreign relations, and consider its changing role from the late eighteenth century to today.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This course examines the United States’ controversial rise to global status from the late nineteenth century to the present day, focusing upon issues of imperialism, economics, politics, ideology, race, and gender. The purpose of this course is to sustain a balanced and informed discussion about how the United States became a global power, how the United States has interacted with the larger world, and how other peoples have grappled with U.S. power. You will investigate the historical controversies surrounding U.S. imperialism, and consider its changing role from the late nineteenth century to today.

You will need effective communication and analytical skills, oral and written, to complete many of your modules and in a job after you graduate.  This module aims to help you develop your skills in researching, interpreting, and analysing both primary and secondary material, and in reporting on your work.  It provides you with an opportunity to explore an area of history in more depth, and helps you to develop the depth of understanding you will require to study more specialised areas of history.  It will also give you an opportunity to work in a team on a group presentation.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the main approaches and developments in the history of U.S. imperialism, together with a very close knowledge of the areas selected for essay and presentation work
• 2. Summarise and evaluate different historical developments and debates in American imperialism.
• 3. Critically evaluate the main themes in American imperialism and to collate information upon, and evaluate in greater detail, those aspects of the module discussed in seminar and coursework.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Analyse the key developments in a complex historical environment.
• 5. Demonstrate an ability to handle profoundly different approaches to history in a deeply contested area.
• 6. Demonstrate an ability to understand and deploy complex historical terminology in a comprehensible manner.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Select, organise and analyse material for written work and oral presentations of different prescribed lengths and formats.
• 8. Present complex arguments orally.
• 9. Present an argument in a written form in a clear and organised manner, with appropriate use of correct English.
• 10. Through essay development process, demonstrate ability to reflect critically on your own work, to respond constructively to feedback, and to implement suggestions and improve work on this basis.

Syllabus plan

This module will examine topics such as: the political economy of American imperialism; Early American expansion; Civil War era foreign relations; empire by imitation (the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War); American ‘Open Door’ imperialism in Asia; American colonialism and its discontents; American financial imperialism; Wilsonianism and the Wilsonian moment; irresistible empire (interwar years); the Great Depression and deglobalisation; the Second World War and American militarism; empire of liberty vs. empire of justice (the origins of the Cold War); empire by invitation (rebuilding Europe); Cold War coups d’etat; the hot wars of the Cold War; Cold War civil rights; Cold War globalisation; the end of the Cold War; the new world order; and the new American Empire.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment consists of a 3000-word written assignment, as in the original assessment, but replaces participation in the group presentation with an individual presentation equivalent to an individual’s contribution, to be recorded and submitted with all supporting materials as for the original assessment; failing this, students should submit a written script that could be delivered in such a presentation (750 words)  along with all supporting materials as for the original assessment

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Andrew Bacevich, American Empire (Cambridge, 2002)
• Warren I. Cohen, The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations. Volume 4. Challenges to American Primacy, 1945 to the Present (Cambridge, 2013)
• Victoria De Grazia, Irresistible Empire: America’s Advance through Twentieth-Century Europe (Cambridge, 2006)Alfred Eckes and Thomas Zeiler, Globalization and the American Century (Cambridge, 2003)
• Akira Iriye, The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations. Volume 3. The Globalizing of America, 1913-1945 (Cambridge, 2013)
• Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq (New York, 2006)
• Walter LaFeber, The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad (New York, 1994)
• Emily Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream: American Economic and Cultural Expansion, 1890-1945 (New York, 1982)
• Walter LaFeber, The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations. Volume 2. The American Search for Opportunity, 1865-1913 (Cambridge, 2013)
• Geir Lundestad, The United States and Western Europe since 1945: From ‘Empire’ by Invitation to Transatlantic Drift (Oxford, 2005)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – Faculty to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages

Key words search

American Empire; U.S. History