3. The US rise to world power, 1776–1945

This chapter traces the United States' transformation from a rebellious former colony into a global power by analysing how territorial expansion, economic growth, and ideological ambition shaped American foreign policy from 1776 to 1945. It explains how early leaders conceptualized the republic as an empire, pursued continental expansion through diplomacy and war, embedded slavery within that process, and confronted its limits in the Civil War. The chapter examines how post-war industrialization, overseas markets, naval power, and interventionism created a new economic and strategic empire with global reach. It shows how Wilsonian idealism, economic collapse, and rising militarism drew the United States into two world wars while exposing enduring tensions between democracy, empire, and security. Finally, the chapter argues that victory in 1945 left the United States dominant yet ideologically divided against the Soviet Union, thereby establishing the structural foundations of the Cold War.