William McKinley actively sought territorial expansion during his tenure as President of the United States as a means to stimulate the domestic economy and increase American international prestige. This expansion was critical to the continued economic growth of the United States and its emergence as a world power. This report looks at McKinley's expansionist foreign policy and asserts it was tied directly to attaining economic markets and prosperity for the United States and not, as is commonly believed, a moral duty to help our ?little brown brothers.?1 This foreign policy designed to achieve economic growth conflicted with what many believed were the very foundations of our Constitution, the belief that no man should be ruled by another without consent. America had gained its independence from Great Britain because of the widespread acceptance of this belief and now, a little more than a hundred years later, the country was contemplating colonialism because it was sound business.