This paper will discuss why it was important to have the United States be in imperialist power after the Spanish American wars of 1898, and the Roosevelt era. By understanding this, we can see the affects of this policy that strengthened America's outlook on the rest of the world. This not only created some certain terms to make use of the world's resources, but expanded the power of the US, as well. By realizing this, certain examples of hegemony will be used to understand why it was important to do this in the early twentieth century. 4 pgs, bibliography lists 5 sources.