During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the United States pursued an aggressive policy of expansionism, extending its political and economic influence around the globe. The United States had always been an expansionist nation. Throughout the 19th century and the twentieth century, Americans discussed and debated issues connected to expansion. However, there was many similarities and differences in the American expansionism during those two centuries. From the early years of the century until the Civil War, policy debates centered on extending our North American borders. Each episode of expansion created an intellectual friction between those that supported territorial growth and those in opposition. Debate varied in their particulars, however. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory, for instance, raised important constitutional issues concerning the legality of land purchase. In the ensuing years, geographic growth would be examined in the context of moral, economic and political issues. Regardless of the historical event, an underlying belief in manifest destiny, our nation's fate and duty to settle our North American lands coast to coast, underscored each territorial acquisition. It seems certain most Americans believed in a special manifest destiny for the nation, and this philosophical foundation enabled the United States to spread westward with confidence and moral assuredness. .
The United States was always known as a powerful strong and persistent nation that would or take whatever it wants no matter how difficult it is or the obstacles it will face. For the sake of expansionism, the Americans risked their lives and their safety in .
wars. Throughout the course of expansion, the Americans forced any member of any of the peoples indigenous to the Western Hemisphere and anyone who resided the land they wished for or desired, because they considered that this is their land and that those creatures who are on are settling on an unoccupied land without their legal claim.