Why Did The United States Expand In The 1890's

Did the united states expand in the 1890's for humanitarian or imperialism reasons?
In the 1890’s powerful nations engaged in a race to extend their influence across much of the world. Imperialism was the main reason for the expansion in the United States. Imperialism was when the U.S wanted to gain more land and dominate weaker nations. There were many different factors leading to imperialism and the pressure to expand such as economical factors, nationalistic, and military factors.
One reason for the rush of expansion was economical factors and the need for natural resources and manufacturing nations increased also. During this time extractive economy was often used by countries like Europe and Japan. Meaning that a colonizing country removed raw materials and shipped them back home to benefit its own economy. For the United
Imperialist around the world used ideas of racial, national and cultural superiority to justify imperialism. They felt a moral duty to spread their culture to people's they consider inferior. One of their main ideas was social Darwinism. This was the belief that life consists of many struggles and only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle. Imperialism related to social Darwinism by saying weaker countries should be taken over by the stronger countries so they can control them. Imperialists also believed that if we remained isolated, Europe would gain control of the entire globe. Everyone was feeling a sense of competition with other European countries to expand and secure more area. Another imperialist view was the belief in manifest destiny. Manifest destiny was a doctrine for expansion of the U.S throughout the American continents. It was also the belief to expand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Imperialist Americans were able to accept social Darwinism with the help of god and manifest