20th century America was in a period in which America was greatly influenced by the warfare prior to the turn of the century and then nearly twenty years into the ear. These two wars played a key role in the formation of American identity. The Spanish American war was a war that brought about change in political views in the United States. Instead of opposing imperialist views they now favored it and had colonies in both Cuba and the Philippines. After the Spanish American war there was a surge of imperialist sentiments among Americans. Adversely, after World War I an influx of democratic views and beliefs bombarded American lives altering their former imperialist view of the nation and defining the identity of the 20th century indefinitely.
American imperialism in 1898 was not a sudden abandonment of anti-colonial tradition but a logical extension of commercial expansion, something the United States had been doing throughout its history. President McKinley was not interested in wars of conquest or of territorial aggression. His interest in expansion was to makes the United States first in international commerce and as a means to implement its humanitarian and democratic goals. McKinley would eventually be forced to act in a humanitarian effort for the people of Cuba and to protect America’s interest against Spain’s domination of Cuba. America needed worldwide markets for surpluses and raw materials for manufacturing. This was a perfect opportunity for it to gain both raw materials and expand their markets. Despite this being a seamless time for America to prosper there was still some debate as to whether imperialism was the right form of going about the politics in the United States since it was a country that immerged from colonel rule.
In the first years of the 20th century the United States perused a more dynamic and aggressive foreign policy than it had in the past. There was a progressive diplomacy in which commercial expansion...