In response to the development of an American Empire overseas, Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota stated: "We come as ministering angels, not as despots." Representative Bourke Cockran of New York disagreed: "We who have been the destroyers of oppression are asked now to become its agents" Based on our readings this week, which of these interpretations do you find most persuasive? Did the United States expand overseas to spread freedom around the world, or did it do so for less altruistic reasons?