American Imperialism Motives for Imperialism

This assignment is due 11/3/18 at midnight
The material we will use for the assignment is http://www(dot)americanyawp(dot)com/text/19-american-empire/
I believe chapters 19,20,21 may help you with the assignment. I have attached a power point that we were given and also a link we were given I am not sure if either will help you with this assignment, but figured it would not hurt.
http://media(dot)pearsoncmg(dot)com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/history/MHL/US/documents/Poem_Real_White_Mans_Burden.html
PROMPT
This is an exercise in ethics and civics.
The United States, like many industrial nations, entered into a new race for colonies at the end of the nineteenth century (the Age of High Imperialism). The Europeans squared off in a Scramble for Africa, the United States and Japan were vying in the Pacific, and everyone was carving up spheres of influence in Asia. While the United States did create a formal empire and expand its informal empire over Latin America during this time, the concept of American Empire stirred quite a bit of debate.
Prompt: Why do you think American Imperialism stirred debate? Which side of the issue (imperialist or anti-imperialist) had the best argument? (for this latter, do not use presentist (looking at the past from our own perspective in the early 21st century) arguments - use the reasoning of the time when considering your response).
In your answer, you must provide a clear thesis statement (which states your position as to which side had the best argument). You must discuss both formal and informal empire and address both the pro- and anti-positions, must include a minimum of TWO primary sources (from which you pull evidence and analyze in a meaningful way), and you must utilize specific and detailed historical facts (which can be specific people, events, places, or ideas/concepts).
Be sure to properly cite using Turabian/Chicago style FOOTNOTES
Instructions
Click on your Learning Community in the course menu to your left and access your group discussion board.
You must make an initial post, according to the instructions below, before you will see other students' posts.
For your initial post, you must start a new discussion thread to respond to the prompt above. The subject line of the thread should be your last name.
After posting initially, check out what others have written and thoughtfully and substantively reply to at least THREE other participants.
Note - While you only need to reply to THREE people, you are strongly encouraged to participate more by replying to several people. Not only will this help deepen your thoughts on this week's materials, it will also increase your chances of getting full credit on at least three comments/replies.
Requirements
Use only the materials provided in the course module or your assigned textbooks. We have vetted all materials in this course and other materials may or may not be appropriate for college level work. I will downgrade anyone who uses outside materials.
Remember what you have learned about thesis statements and evidence in the Historical Methods Portfolio. Your post should have a thesis statement and it should have both primary and secondary source evidence in support of the thesis
Don't quote secondary sources. Paraphrase in your own words and then cite instead.
You must properly cite using the Turabian/Chicago style that you can find under "Writing Help" in the course menu to your left.
Grading Guidelines
NOTE: We will grade the very first post you make as your initial post. Therefore, do not access the discussion board until you are ready to post. If you make an empty post and then come back later and make an initial post, we will grade the first empty post and you will earn a 0. We hate to be so draconian but we have had issues in the past with students posting "hi" or an empty post and then copying from what others have submitted. This is unfair to those students who submit early and do their own original work.
After you make your initial post, you will respond to three other students (or the instructor) with meaningful comments. "I agree," "I'd never thought about that," or other "me, too" type posts are not meaningful. Meaningful posts respond to the historical content of the original poster and add to the historical conversation.
Initial Posts will be worth up to 70 points and each comment is worth up to 10 points (30 total). Initial posts are graded upon logic, clarity, weight of evidence, historical context, and following of instructions. Comments are graded upon historical content, logic, clarity, and moving the discussion along.
Discussions are a group exercise, therefore you should post early and often. Pay attention to deadlines for the initial posts to be made. Students who always post at the very last minute are not participating in the teamwork inherent in answering this prompt and furthering discussion and will not do as well on this assignment.