<P> Cánovas saw Spanish imperialism as markedly different in its methods and purposes of colonization from those of rival empires like the British or French . Spaniards regarded the spreading of civilization and Christianity as Spain's major objective and contribution to the New World . The concept of cultural unity bestowed special significance on Cuba, which had been Spanish for almost four hundred years, and was viewed as an integral part of the Spanish nation . The focus on preserving the empire would have negative consequences for Spain's national pride in the aftermath of the Spanish--American War . </P> <P> In 1823, American fifth President James Monroe (1758 - 1831, served 1817 - 1825) enunciated the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the United States would not tolerate further efforts by European governments to retake, expand their colonial holdings in the Americas or to interfere with the newly independent states in the hemisphere; at the same time, the doctrine stated that the U.S. would respect the status of the existing European colonies . Before the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), Southern interests attempted to have the United States purchase Cuba and convert it into a new slave territory . The Ostend Manifesto proposal of 1854 failed, and national attention shifted to the growing sectional conflict and threat of civil war . </P> <P> After the American Civil War and Cuba's Ten Years' War, U.S. businessmen began monopolizing the devalued sugar markets in Cuba . In 1894, 90% of Cuba's total exports went to the United States, which also provided 40% of Cuba's imports . Cuba's total exports to the U.S. were almost twelve times larger than the export to her mother country, Spain . U.S. business interests indicated that while Spain still held political authority over Cuba, economic authority in Cuba, acting - authority, was shifting to the U.S.A. </P> <P> The U.S. became interested in a trans - isthmus canal across Central America, either in Nicaragua, or in Panama, where the Panama Canal would later be built (1903 - 1914), and realized the need for naval protection . Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan was an especially influential theorist; his ideas were much admired by future 26th President Theodore Roosevelt, as the U.S. rapidly built a powerful naval fleet of steel warships in the 1880s and 1890s . Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897--1898 and was an aggressive supporter of a war with Spain over Cuba . </P>

Why was there so much interest in cuba both before and after the civil war