ABSTRACT
The purchase of Alaska by the United States exemplified a significant magnification of expansionism, since American politicians were looking to expand beyond the natural borders of the nation. In April 1869, Cuban annexationists, encouraged by the bold action of President Andrew Johnson (1865–1869), proposed a meeting between the cabinet of the newly elected President Grant and José Morales Lemus, representing the Cuban rebels. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish informed Morales that the cabinet would not meet with a rebel representative since the United States wanted to keep faith with Spain. 1
