
New York, N.Y. — In the 19th century, the United States developed a powerful ideological engine for expansion: Manifest Destiny. What began as a belief that the young republic was destined to stretch from sea to shining sea soon evolved into something far more ambitious. Naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, encouraged by Rear Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce, reframed the doctrine for a global age. Mahan argued that American greatness required control of sea lanes, strategic...






