The Birth of the American Empire: Alfred Thayer Mahan

Professor J. Turner

History 104

Febuary 8, 2026

The Birth of the American Empire: Alfred Thayer Mahan:

An Annotated Bibliography

Kane, Robert. Who Influenced Whom? A New Perspective on the Relationshio Between Theodore Roosevelt and the Alfred Thayer Mahan. Saber and Scroll. 1 September, 2014. .

In Who Influenced Whom?… Robert Kane challenges the idea of Alfred Thayer Mahan being the main source of Theodore Roosevelts belief in navel power. It explains Mahans theories were important in shaping the U.S naval policy, however, his influence on Roosevelt is often overstated. The author presents Mahan as a reinforcing figure rather than the original source of Roosevelts beliefs, displaying Roosevelts already developed similar ideas before Mahan became influential. This perspective helps separate Mahans broader impact on American naval strategy from his personal influence on Roosevelt. Overall,the source is useful fir understanding Mahans role as an important theorist of sea power, while also showing the limits of his direct influence on key political leaders.

Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783. Fifteenth ed. Little, Brown, and Company, 1898. Google Books, .

Alfred Thayer Mahans main argument of sea power is the key factor in this source, explaining the rise and fall of great empires. Mahan uses historical examples from European navel conflicts to show how control of the oceans leads to economic success, political influence, and gobal power. He also describes how geography, government polices, and strong navel systems allow nations to expand their influence through trade and military strength. The book presents sea power as a foundation of empire-building, nit just a military strategy. This source is important for understndaing how Mahans ideas helped shape American expansion and the development of the US as a global power.

LaFeber, Walter. The New Empire: An Interpation of American Expansion, 1860-1898. Cornell University Press, 1963. Internet Archive, .

LaFeber explains Americans expansion in the late 19th century was

intentional and driven by economic needs rather than accidental gobal

involvement. He shows how political and busines leaders believed

foregin markers were necessary to slove domestic economic problems

and respond to the closing of the American frontier. The author

connects industrial growth, trade expansion, and political power to

the rise of U.S imperialism in Latin America and Asia. This explains

why the United States sought global expansion, while Mahans sea of

power theory pushes how the expansion was achieved through naval

strength and control of trade routes. Simultaneously, they help explain

the economic and strategic foundations of the birth of the American

Empire.

Lankiewicz, Donald. Alfred Thayer Mahan and his vain quest to keep ships straight. Navy Times, 14 October, 2019. .

The article Alfred Thayer Mahan and his vain quest to keep ships

straight focuses on the personal and professional life of Alfred

Thayer Mahan, emphasizing his struggles as a naval officer and the

contrast between his practical failures at sea and his immense

intellectual influence on naval strategy. Although Mahan was not

particularly successful as a ship commander, his ideas ultimately

mattered far more than his naval career itself. What matters most in

this article is the way it humanizes Mahan by showing him as a

flawed individual while still acknowledging the lasting power of his

strategic thinkinh and writing. This helps my topic by showing

Mahans importance did not come from battlefield success, but from

his ideas, which shaped U.S. naval policy, military expansion, and the

ideological foundations of American imperial power.

Garrity, Patrick J. The Reluctant Empire. Claremont Review of Books, vol. 3, no. 1, Winter 2002-2003, Claremont Institute. .

Patrick J. Garritys The Reluctant Empire examines the concept of American imperialism by analyzing the historical tension between the United States expanding global influence and its reluctance to openly identify as an empire. Garrity argues American power developed not through traditional colonial ambition alone, but through strategic, economic, and ideological expansion that positioned the U.S. as a dominant global force. This is significant to my topic because it provides broader historical context for understanding how Mahans naval theories fit into a larger pattern of U.S. expansion. This helps connect Manhans strategic ideas to the national mindset and foreign policy culture that allowed American imperial power to develop, making it useful to understanding the foundations of the U.S. global influence.

Can you make this non AI just the paragraphs please.