How did Americans justify an expansionist foreign policy in the late nineteenth century?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: The ideal answer should include:
a. Supporters of an expansionist foreign policy built their arguments around the notion of American exceptionalism.
b. This was the belief that the United States was unique and had a special mission in the world.
c. John Fiske applied Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to argue for the racial superiority of Anglo-Saxons, who he believed should lead the world.
d. Josiah Strong attributed American greatness to Protestant Christianity and believed that the spread of Protestant Christianity would make the United States even greater.
e. Alfred Thayer Mahan and Theodore Roosevelt believed that military power, especially naval superiority, was the key to world power.
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What did Joseph Cinque and Madison Washington have in common?
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