In the years following the Civil War, the United States devoted itself to reconstruction and isolation. However, as the end of the century approached, a turn towards expansion and imperialism occurred. Gilded Age politics, tainted by corruption and weak leadership, led Americans to attempt to flex their strength. The first imperialistic opportunity was presented to President Grover Cleveland. A small-scale revolution by white farmers in Hawaii led to calls for annexation by the United States, but this was rejected by the president. Since there was no real way to expand the “empire” without violating the Monroe Doctrine, it became apparent that the only way the United States could expand was through war. The other two powers with some interest in the Western Hemisphere were Great Britain and Spain. The United States had previously clashed with Britain over a border dispute with Venezuela, but the issue was resolved through negotiations. The Spanish, on the other hand, were slowly losing their already meager hold on Latin America, it seemed like a fair fight. The first step towards confrontation came from the Spanish ambassador to America, Dupuy de Lome. In a letter written about President McKinley's involvement in Cuban independence, de Lome openly insults the president. This letter ended up in the wrong hands and was eventually published by the media. The media in which he played an important role was called yellow journalism. This type of journalism takes facts and expands on them or even makes up stories. The two most prolific crime journalists were Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. These two men competed for readers, so a simmering conflict with Spain could be brought to the boil with a little exaggeration. The most i...... half of the paper ...... bounced higher than ever. One may ask: did imperialism really help the United States? The answer may vary depending on how you look at it. Some might say yes, it helped because the economy reached unprecedented levels. However, after Wilson's election, there was a recovery in the economy and a reduction in imperialism. The most logical way to look at the imperialist surge of the 1890s and early 1900s is that it was a catalyst for the inevitable. The United States, with its large population and immense resources, would obviously exercise its power in some way, shape, and form, and imperialism was the first expression of that. It's safe to say that imperialism helped shape the United States as a country just over a century old, and that inevitably would happen, just as it would for any expanding country..