It is perhaps too easily accepted that Americans heeded the advice of George Washington in his Farewell Address to steer clear of foreign entanglements.  Looking at American expansion more deeply Professor Walter Nugent of Notre Dame and Indiana University sets forward the thesis that Americans have always been expansionist. Professor Nugent divides the eras of U.S. expansion into three eras:  Empire I, Empire II, Empire III.

In this lesson we will investigate what Professor Walter Nugent means by Empire I.