What developments in the late 1880's and mid-1890's demonstrated the increasing interest of the US in Latin America?

Answer 1

Beginning in the 1890s, the United States began to practice some of the same imperialistic policies that it had previously criticized major European powers for. Spurred on by sugar planters, America expanded its influence in Hawaii and in 1896 annexed the islands. Americans also pushed for an "Open Door" trading policy in China. Efforts to expand American influence abroad were motivated by economic, political, religious, and social factors; the "white man's burden" argument was influential in both Europe and the United States. There were also opponents to imperialism who often based their opposition on moral grounds. American imperialistic impulses flourished during the Spanish-American War; newly created American naval power was one important factor in the defeat of Spain. After contentious debate within the United States, America finally decided to annex the Philippines; it took three years for American forces to defeat Filipino rebels, who instead of fighting the Spanish now resisted their new occupiers, the Americans. Americans finished building the Panama Canal in 1914; the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine further increased American influence in Latin America.