Founders and Empire -Like many questions whose answers touch on the essential nature of our country, historians and partisans on both sides of the question of empire refer to the intentions of the founding fathers.
	Manifest Destiny - Territorial expansion marked the first century of the American republic, and its ideology was captured in the idea of Manifest Destiny.
	Spanish American War - Early in the conflict, U.S. Navy commander George Dewey defeated a Spanish naval squadron in Manila Bay, opening the way for U.S. influence in the Pacific.
	William Jenning Bryan Three-time presidential candidate and influential politician, Willliam Jennings Bryan railed against the excesses of imperial Europe, and extolled the virtues of being a Republic.
	Mark Twain - The U.S. adventure in the Philippines, after the Spanish Ameircan war prompted waves of patriotism and doubt. Mark Twain, a journalist before he was a novelist, decided to check out the situation for himself ... and lost a little of his enthusiasm along the way.