Well before the Spanish-American War, in which the United States took control over Spain's Caribbean possessions, the United States had coveted land in the Caribbean. One of the chief reasons was to keep out foreign powers. Foreign countries could potentially use Caribbean islands as supply bases; by denying foreign adversaries this luxury, the United States hoped to secure the Atlantic Ocean as a barrier to potential takeover.
The United States also desired additional land for sugar production. During the period before the American Revolution, Britain, France, and Spain fought over the Caribbean islands since the sugar wealth there was worth more than what the imperial powers were getting from North America. Sugar was a valuable commodity as well as a chief ingredient in rum, a staple in the maritime industry. Though the US produced sugar in Louisiana, additional acres would boost American revenues. Duty-free sugar brought to the mainland from...
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American possessions would also benefit the American consumer.
Southerners wanted Caribbean possessions to create more slave states that would hopefully ensure that Congress would never be able to abolish slavery. The Ostend Manifesto, an attempt to buy Cuba from Spain before the Civil War, was very controversial since Northern abolitionists claimed that it was promoted by a minority of Southern slaveholders who wanted even more land. Even though the purchase offer was emphatically turned down by Spain, the attempt only added to the bitterness between North and South before the war.
Manifest Destiny was also a part of the American need to expand in general. American citizens saw the spreading of their government and way of life almost as a divine directive. Under this ideology, Americans saw it as their duty to spread their Christian beliefs and republican government to the Caribbean.
US merchants were also searching for new markets for goods. If the United States owned territories in the Caribbean, these goods could be shipped without tariffs. This search for new markets intensified after the US started to industrially develop with the increased usage of steam power.