From about 1890 to 1918, the United States embarked on a quest to increase the worldwide prestige of the United States. The United States expanded its territories, adding Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico with the victory over Spain in the War of 1898. Imperialists who supported this expansion often used an unique brand of Social Darwinism, referred to as American Exceptionalism, to justify these acquisitions. This heightened American patriotism and American perceptions regarding race and loyalties, which, in turn, led to fears of conflicting German American loyalties during World War 1. German Americans were specifically singled out because German Americans had particularly close ties to their mother country and German Americans…