In the 1890s some Americans were eager to expand. Post-Civil War the U.S. was going through a time where they thought that they were lagging behind other nations in terms of expansionism. America felt that they were lacking what they needed in order to become a powerhouse. Many Americans, like Theodore Roosevelt or Alfred Thayer Mahan, were imperialists who wanted to acquire land/territories for the U.S. The United States sought to find their identity as a nation in the world. American Identity to imperialists can be defined as patriotism, military power, and dominance/hegemony. This was controversial because some Americans were anti-imperialists who did not believe in expansionism, but in defending the Constitution. This brought about both supporters and opponents of imperialism during the Spanish-American War. Manifest Destiny is defined as the 19th century belief that expansion of the U.S. throughout the American continents were both justified and inevitable. This “God-given right” fueled western settlement and imperialistic belief. Imperialist Senator Albert Beveridge, September 1898, made a speech that stated “the flag of liberty will circle the globe...benighted peoples will know the voice of liberty is speaking...civilization is dawning.” This demonstrates the belief of expanding to territories around the globe. Charles Denby wrote a forum in November 1898 titled “Shall we keep the Phillipines.” In the Forum, Denby is talking about the epoch known as the Battle
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The term “carpetbaggers” refers to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. Many carpetbaggers were said to have moved South for their own financial and political gains. Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers.
By the time he left office in August 1857 to represent the territory in Congress, Stevens had "negotiated ten treaties providing for the quieting of Indian title to some hundred thousand square miles of land."
