“Political factors were the main cause of United States’ expansionist foreign policy.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that political factors were the main cause of United States’ expansionist foreign policy. Causes may predate the timeframe but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may refer to political causes such as the role of Presidents McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft who saw expansion as a unifying force, the popular notion of the US as an emerging world power, and the geo-political influence of Alfred Mahan. Other relevant factors may be addressed, for example economic investments in Hawaii and Cuba, the desire for expansion into Asian markets (leading to the Panama Canal) and the ideological contributions of Social Darwinism and the Christian missionary movement, but with a focus on the issue in the question. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

Political factors as the main cause of the US expansionist foreign policy was a fairly popular choice. However, most candidates asserted that economic and/or ideological motives were more important than political factors. Many candidates were able to differentiate between the various causes and used appropriate examples in support of their analysis. However, weaker efforts applied very few specific examples from the 1880–1929 era.