Critical Thinking 18-1 #3

The idea of manifest destiny had a large amount of influence in American policy earlier in the 1800's, when America was settling the frontier. At that time, the belief that the country needed to grow was a major cause for western expansion. Later in the century, however, Americans began to use manifest destiny as a reason to extend their country's power by taking land from other nations. This was known as imperialism.
Examples of this imperialism can be seen in the United States' attempts to gain Hawaii and Cuba. These places were important for extra land and resources. Americans decided that it was a good time to take them, and that they had the right to do so. Hawaii soon became the 50th state of the United States, but Cuba refused to join the nation, even though it help the island gain independence from Spain. The imperialism of the late 19th century showed that Americans still believed in manifest destiny, and they would use it to help their country grow.