How and why did the U.S. pursue imperial expansion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

The motivations of American imperialism were complex, but essentially grew out of the lack of space for "Manifest Destiny"-type expansion once the West Coast was reached, ethnocentrism and the desire to share the "superior" institutions of American-style democracy.  Economic pressures were also involved, of course, and the same imperialist desires which motivated Great Britain, Rome and all previous empires.

When America's Manifest Destiny ran right to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, many economic and political interests in the US came to believe that the country's future lay in expansion on the Pacific Rim.  Hawaii and Alaska (including the Aleutian Islands) became American territories, American trading interests in China expanded and then "opened" Japan.  Trade had always flourished in the Caribbean basin and with Latin America, and in the 1890s the plight of the population of Cuba and their insurrection against Spain captured the attention of the American public.  The draconian measures of Cuban Governor General Weyler caused a public outcry, exacerbated by the newspapers of W. R. Hearst.  The sinking of the USS Maine, accidental or otherwise, became the final cause of war between the US and Spain in 1898.  Following the successful conclusion of that war America found herself in possession of vast overseas territories including Cuba in the Caribbean and the Philippines on the edge of the Pacific and the China seas.

This situation was seen by many economic interests and politicians as the natural progression of the US into a great power, but was considered an embarrassment by many who believed the foundations of our republic were threatened by such imperialism, and had no desire to become a colonising nation.  The hypocrisy of an imperial republic became particularly acute in the campaign America undertook to "pacify" the Moro population of the Philippines, who had always resisted Spanish rule and now found themselves under the "benevolent" control of the US.  In many respects this led to the isolationism espoused by many Americans throughout the first half of the 20th century.  So the main methods of American imperialism were economic expansion and war, the twin engines which have powered imperialism throughout history.

What motivated the U.S. to seek an empire in the late 19th century?

One reason for the United States' expansion in America during the early 19th century was the idea of manifest destiny, the belief that the U. S. was destined to extend its borders from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the Pacific. This belief grew in part because of the U. S.'s strong stance toward furthering democracy throughout the Americas and partly because adding more territory would prove profitable in the long run.

Another reason for expanding the U. S.'s empire was to protect itself from foreign attack. Although the U. S. has been one of the world's superpowers for nearly a century, it was not so in the 19th century. After gaining its independence from England, the U. S. had to fight a second war with Great Britain (the War of 1812) and a war with Mexico in order to secure its borders. Even Spain was forced to engage the U. S. during the Spanish-American War in 1898. This war helped the U. S. add valued territories outside the continent, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and The Phillipines--strategic ports in the Caribbean and Pacific that would allow the nation a more expansive world view.

What motivated the US to seek an empire in the 19th century?

Perhaps the initial motivation of empire building provinces in the Jeffersonian ideology of expansionism. This however gets altered and molded to meet the economical needs of a growing nation as the 19th Century came to a close. The most traditional belief or cause the US mentality of this nature is that of Manifest Destiny. This is the John O'Sullivan's belief that the nation had God given right to take land westward to the Pacific. This was reinforced with the spreading of Christianity and democracy. As industrialization intensified and world trade became more essential to the economy this concept spread to lands beyond the west coast. One last and perhaps interesting way to analyze this question to go back even to the founding of Massachusetts Bay; the main driving force there was John Winthropes' belief in establishing a "city upon a hill." If such a belief is fast forwarded to encompass your question one could very much so argue that the US foreign policy has been to promote itself for the better glory of humanity; this was then reasserted by John Quincy Adams with the announcement of President James Monroe to police and/or protect (prevent) colonization of European nation in the Eastern Hemisphere known historically as the Monroe Doctrine.

What motivated the US to pursue an empire in the 19th century?

I think that the desire for empire in the late 19th Century American thought was a reflection of the wealth that was being generated.  In the end, America was producing a great amount of wealth.  It is from this point that thinkers like Howard Zinn reflect that compelled America to want to generate more wealth in foreign markets.  Zinn argues that those in the position of economic power felt that the opportunities afforded to them could not be simply contained in America, and necessitated expansion across the world.  The development of new and vibrant foreign markets that would generate even more wealth should be the driving force in political policy around the world.  When President Roosevelt, "welcomes war," it is with this idea in mind:

The profit system, with its natural tendency for expansion, had already begun to look overseas. The severe depression that began in 1893 strengthened an idea developing within the political and financial elite of the country: that overseas markets for American goods might relieve the problem of underconsumption at home and prevent the economic crises that in the 1890s brought class war.

This is one potential explanation behind the motivation of the United States to possess its own empire during the 19th Century.

Why did the United States become an imperial nation in the late 1800s?

There were many reasons why the United States became an imperial nation in the late nineteenth century. Perhaps the two most important reasons were as follows. 

First, the United States sought markets around the world for its manufactured goods. There was a real fear in the United States and other industrialized nations that the country's economy might fall prey to overproduction--its factories, in other words, might produce more than domestic markets could bear. So American business leaders sought to expand their interests overseas, and pushed the government to adopt policies that protected their rights to trade. The so-called "Open Door" notes, which claimed the right of the United States to trade alongside other nations in China, was an example of this motive in practice. 

Another reason was that many perceived that the United States needed to expand its military influence around the world, especially in the Pacific. This motive went hand in hand with the commercial motives discussed in the preceding paragraph. The United States sought islands in the Pacific as naval bases that could extend its reach into Asia and protect its access to markets in that region. For both of these reasons, the United States emerged as a major imperial power after crushing Spain in the Spanish American War of 1898. 

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