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This is what I wrote:

The late nineteenth century was the time when the United States was developing the industrial economy. It was immediately after the civil war and America had fallen out with France and Britain due to disagreements. France wanted to manipulate Mexico while the British were attacking union shipping using the Alabama and other ships that came from the English ports. This made it continuously hard for America to ship in some of the raw materials they wanted for their industries and it was against the American foreign relations policy. At this time, the American citizenry was about 50 million (Henretta & Brody, 2010). There was enough manpower to support the expansion impulse and the Americans were aware of the potential that industrial development would bring in terms of foreign income through shipping of locally manufactured products and employment for the educated citizens.

This expansion even saw the collapse of the fleet of the US Navy which happened between 1881 and 1885 (Henretta & Brody, 2010). However, the Navy was reorganized into a smaller group that was retained. There was no need for a huge army since there was no war and America had already stamped it’s authority over some major territories and European countries also recognized it as a major power in the foreign arena.

Though the American’s disinterest in foreign relations could have been intentional, the major cause was the building of the businesses within the territory. There were international telegraphic cables that the Americans used to keep in touch with the international community but apart from that, the American economic interests abroad were minimal. They used this period to catch up with the developed British territory and other European states. While they were not busy expanding industries, the American were busy acquiring sugar plantations in Hawaii for their factories and buying Alaska from Russia for a coaling station (Henretta & Brody, 2010).

Reference

Henretta, James A. and David Brody. America: A Concise History, Volume 2: Since 1877. 4^th ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.

This is what I got a feed back from:

there were many explanations given to justify America's expansionist/imperialist impulse.  From Social Darwinism to an extension of Manifest Destiny to taking up the "white man's burden", the explanations for conquest were many.  Do you think that these explanations had any connection to people's actual desires or were they flimsy excuses to obscure the whims of unbridled capitalism?

Homework:

Write 150 words from the feed back stated above.