Last episode we talked about the robber barons, and the changes in technology and manufacturing that they exploited to become phenomenally rich. Part of that growth of riches was due to the expansion of the US as an exporter of stuff to the world.  And as part of that expansion, the United States began to see itself as a legitimate world power, and began to seek to enforce its will on other countries.  This had started back in Episode 73, with the Monroe Doctrine, as President James Monroe, the 5th President of the United States, said, in 1816, that the US would protect South and Central America from the interference of European powers.  Now, in the late 1800’s, the United States had begun to build its own battleships and other steam-powered naval vessels, and for the first time, the United States really began to project force upon other countries in the western hemisphere.  Website:  shortwalkthroughhistory.comemail:  [email protected]

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