American Imperial Expansion

  The Republican victory in 1896 gave heart to proponents of prosperity through foreign trade. McKinley sought neither war nor colonies, but many in his party wanted both. Called "jingos," they included Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt; John Hay, the ambassador to London, and senators Albert Beveridge and Henry Cabot Lodge. Britain, France, and Germany were seizing territory around the world, and jingos believed the United States needed to do the same for strategic, religious, and economic reasons.     In your opinion, do Lodge's arguments support the need for the United States to acquire an imperial empire? Explain your position.