Jules Ferry

Jules Ferry
Imperial expansion is the process of one country or region trying to take over one or more countries and regions to spread their government and the gain more resources (Brower, 2014, p.5). Imperial expansion had a great impact on the world back in the 1800s and 1900s. Jules Ferry had a significant impact on the French imperial expansion in the late 1800s. Reasons for countries to participate in imperial expansion are to help spread their government, expand their resources and gain resources, and to spread their religious beliefs. The French population was unsure if they should participate in imperial expansion, Jules Ferry, the Prime Minister of France at the time, spoke to his people about the reasons they should participate in expansion.
Ferry believed it was very important to start their imperial expansion and not let others take over. Ferry feared the other countries that were expanding such as the United States of America. Ferry stated “United states of America have become protectionists” worrying about their increase in markets and becoming more difficult to access their resources (Kleinman, 2015). Jules Ferry believed it was important to expand to start acquiring more land and resources that will benefit their people. The more land they have the more different resources they can gain which can also help their economy. If they have more options to export and import, it will help increase their income. Ferry stated in his speech that North America has been expanding so quickly, which can have a negative effect on France. France has some territory in South America and they use their resources for trade. With North American starting to enter into South America with their expansion it can restrict their use of trade and resources and soon kick them out of their territory in South America. It is very concerning when the other countries are expanding and can potentially cut them off France from trade. Ferry reports “Germany is setting up trade...