Reconsidering US Imperialism at 250

The idea of the US as an “empire” is hotly contested and is most often applied by critics of the nation’s foreign policy, particularly over the past century. However, the notion of the US as “imperial” dates all the way back to the nation’s founding, with Thomas Jefferson envisaging the US as an empire of/for liberty. As the US celebrates the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence from British imperialism, this comment piece outlines what it contends is the relative continuity of US imperialism across its history since 1776. This short piece considers the idea of US imperial continuity via three main themes: territorial expansion, economic coercion, and hemispheric domination. It traces these themes back to the earliest years of the United States and shows, in broad brushstrokes, how one can track imperialism all the way through to more recent policy and rhetoric from the Trump administration. Across all three thematic areas, this piece argues that the past two and a half centuries provide ample evidence that, far from rewriting them, the Trump administration of 2025 and early 2026 is largely adhering to the rules of US imperialism.