An Imperialistic Attitude
The economy recovered from a depression in the 1890s. The United States needed to open more markets in foreign territories. This led to a period of imperialism or expansionism where strong nations acquire weaker nations to increase economic and political strength. Since the United States had conquered most of the North American territory, it began to look at non-industrial territories to acquire as other industrialized European countries had done in African and Asia.
Many reasons led to this resurgence of manifest destiny, including:
• Industrialists wanted to open new competitive markets to sell manufactured goods.
• The United States had increased the strength of its navy with the building of new battleships including the U.S.S. Maine. The navy needed refueling stations around the world.
• The United States needed access to more natural resources.
• Public opinion supported this imperialist attitude and with an economy on the upswing, expansion could help to sustain the better economic times.
• The sociological theory of Social Darwinism was becoming popular, which states that people who are successful thrive because they have proven themselves to be superior; therefore, undeveloped people (and nations) should die out because that is the natural order of the world.
