Explain how the economic interests of businesspeople and farmers motivated and shaped America's expansionist foreign policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The economic interests of businesspeople and farmers played a significant role in shaping America's expansionist foreign policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Businesspeople were motivated by the desire to access new markets and resources, while farmers sought to secure overseas markets for their agricultural products.

Businesspeople saw expansionism as a way to open up new markets for American goods and to access valuable natural resources such as rubber, oil, and minerals. This was particularly important as the United States experienced rapid industrialization and needed new sources of raw materials and markets for its manufactured goods. As a result, business interests lobbied for expansionist policies that would allow for the acquisition of overseas territories and the establishment of trade relationships with other countries.

Farmers, on the other hand, were motivated by the need to find new markets for their agricultural products. Overproduction and falling prices in the domestic market led farmers to seek overseas markets for their goods. Expansionist policies were seen as a way to secure access to foreign markets and to ensure that American agricultural products could be sold abroad.

These economic interests ultimately shaped America's expansionist foreign policy, leading to actions such as the annexation of Hawaii, the acquisition of the Philippines, and the Open Door Policy in China. These policies were driven by the desire to secure new markets and resources for American businesses and farmers, and they had a significant impact on the course of American foreign relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.