Americans guarded imperialistic lead by: Claiming that it was their obligation. Americans and Europeans both attested that it was their obligation as preferable races over hoist, culturally assimilate and Christianize nearby social orders. This was known as the White Mans Burden and relied upon the musings of social Darwinism.
Before imperialism there was isolationism, which according to page 608 of the textbook was “the belief that America should stand apart, stay out of foreign wars, and avoid excessive political or economic involvement in foreign affairs”. This worked until 1846 when the US went to war with Mexico and gained four new states. With this new sense of power people begin to lean towards imperialism. Imperialism is “the policy or action by which one country controls another country or territory”. In 1893 there was an economic depression that led to an oversupply of manufactured goods that weren’t moving in America. In order to move these goods, businessman begin looking abroad. They believed that America needed to join the imperial competition and many military and political leaders agreed. A naval officer named Alfred Mahan published a book in which he wrote that in order for America to be a great world power we will need a great navy. This new imperial rule for the for America seemed to be justified by the idea of social Darwinism, which is basically just survival of the fittest.
