“Economic factors were the major reason for the expansionist foreign policy of the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.“ To what extent was this idea supported by the actions of the United States government?

Before the United States engaged in the first-ever international war against Spain in 1898, the federal government claimed they had to secure Cuba's freedom because that would create markets for American goods. It was this story that was sold to the public, even though the real goal of the expansionist foreign policy was to increase America's influence on the global scale and acquire more territories in line with what was done by the European nations at the time. Shortly after defeating Spain and freeing Cuba, the United States annexed Puerto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Philipines. President McKinley, in trying to maintain the economic argument, addressed the public by stating that America had been forced to annex these regions against its will. He further stated that the annexed Filipinos were going to be taught the American way of life and be removed out of poverty through civilization.
After the "liberation" of Cuba, the expansionist foreign policy strategy was implemented to the fullest. America engaged in other international wars—the federal government sent troops to China to topple the Boxer Rebellion. The argument was that this group hindered economic development in China by restricting free trade. Using the same argument, the United States also went to war with Japan, North Korea, and Vietnam. Interestingly, the idea of economic development in the expansionist foreign policy program was supported through direct foreign aid to these countries after the fighting was over.
The United States government also believed that once these countries had a democratically elected government, economic progress would follow out of free trade. Unfortunately, that did not happen in North Korea.
Additionally, the United States passed laws to support the economic factors reason for foreign policy expansion. The McKinley tariff was introduced to protect American firms from international competition. As a result, American goods were affordable both domestically and abroad.
http://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=1345

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