The United States expansionism in the late 19th and early 20th century came about by such things as Puritanism during the 17th century, which expanded the Puritan Beliefs in the United States, it was a movement arising within the Church of England in the early part of the 17th century that sought to purify, or reform, that church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers. It had a continuous life within the church until the Stuart Restoration. Puritanism reached North America with the English settlers who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620. It remained the dominant religious force in New England throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. This was one of the first forms of expansionism in the US, it was an expansion of religion. Another major impact of expansionism in the US was the First Great Awakening in the 18th century. Which was again an expansion of religion in the US, it was a general revival of evangelical religion in the American colonies, which reached its peak in the early 1740s. Local revivals had occurred previously, inspired by the teaching of such clergymen as the congregational theologian Jonathan Edwards. The English evangelist George Whitefield made extended tours along the Atlantic seaboard, attracting large crowds as he preached the necessity for sinners to be converted. Others followed his example of itinerant preaching, and many small local revivals merged into a general "great awakening." It has been said, to first look at the interests of your home before looking in other areas for problems. The United States has always looked elsewhere quickly, but for our own goods, such as with expanding our territory with a Canal in the Panama Canal as seen in doc. C and the Roosevelt corrallary that made the canal possible after the original Monroe Doctrine wouldn"t suffice a good enough reason for our expansion and reason for expansion into the Panama and other parts of South America, and Mexico.
