Theodore Roosevelt believes that the U.S “needs” a war. After the frontier was closed, people looked for profit overseas. Thought that overseas markets would relieve the problem of under consumption and prevent economic crises. Two drives were capitalism and nationalism. After the Monroe Doctrine which stated that Europeans can’t interfere with the U.S’s sphere of influence, they looked to the Pacific: of Hawaii, Japan, and the great markets of China. They already had multiple affairs in other countries and the ideology of expansion was widespread among military men, politicians, businessmen and even leaders of farmer’s movements. Captain A.T. Mahan of the U.S navy was a popular propagandist for expansion and greatly influenced Roosevelt. When Italians were lynched in New Orleans, Roosevelt saw it as a good thing and was contemptuous of races and nations he considered inferior. William James was a philosopher and anti imperialist who criticized Roosevelt for his pro war ways. They wanted foreign trade because the nation markets were insufficient and there was overproduction of industrial products. Oil became a big export in the 1880s and 90s and was second to cotton as the leading product sent overseas. Large commercial famers including Populist leaders demanded expansion such as William Appleman Williams and Populist Congressman Jerry Simpson of Kansas. An appeal for war would look strong if the expansion looked like an act of generosity; helping out a group of rebels overthrow rule as in Cuba. The idea of an “open door” became an open theme in American foreign policy. This was that merchants did not need colonies or war of conquest if they could just have free access to markets. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts also supported imperialism and wrote in a magazine. Instead of two sides with pro imperialism Roosevelt and Lodge against anti imperialists led by William Jennings Bryan and Carl Schurz there was a third coalition of business men intellectuals and politicians who opposed traditional colonialism and advocated an open door policy. When China was weakened by a recent war with Japan, German military forces occupied the Chinese port of Tsingtao and demanded a naval station with rights to railways and coalmines, and within a few months other powers moved in and the partition of China began with the U.S left out. Views changed afterwards and people who resisted Imperialism now advocated for it. One example is In Cuba. They were scared about Cuban rule if they won by themselves and kept the United States out. They didn’t recognize that the rebels were belligerents and they didn’t have to send troops to help them. They were also scared of a black and white rule in Cuba where the black rule was
