18th Century American Imperialism

Towards the end of the 18th Century American foreign policy underwent major change. Fueled by the Progressive movement and new interpretations of Manifest destiny, Americans sought to expand the United States’s influence around the world. During the 1890s the United States mainly used military and economic prowess to accomplish their international desires. Progressives used this new foreign policy to expand their domestic agenda onto to an international level. These advancements were widely supported due to many Americans new found understanding of Manifest destiny. Many intellectuals of the 18th Century including Frederick Jackson Turner and Alfred Thayer Mahan promoted United States expansion. These sentiments caused views towards manifest destiny to change from domestic ambitions to international ambitions. The United States’s new initiative as an international power caused them to clash with Spain over their colonies; Puerto Rico, the Phillipines, and Cuba. As the 1890s progressed Cuba’s relevance grew due to the United States’s desire to tap into the economy of the country. While the United States fought with the Spanish for Cuba the media’s portrayal of the ordeal greatly influenced the American population’s views towards Cuba. Americans’ pre-war ideas about Cuban independence
intervention because of the prospect of good headlines. In the 1890’s a dawn of new era of journalism was upon the world. This new era of attention-grabbing headlines and dramatic, sometimes fictional, stories were to become known as “yellow journalism”. Sensational headlines were what sold papers (PBS). Every frontpage of the New York Times featured some sort of murder or atrocity. Dramatic representations of Cuban news would help fuel the American public’s passion for Cuban independence. The widely supported sentiments of Cuban independence would ultimately le American