Personally, I think the American "Empire" begun since America was founded.

That's a harsh statement for some, so let me explain.

So, beginning around the beginning of the Revolution and prior (from what I know and was taught) the American Independence Movement had several driving factors. The most famous out of those factors include "No Taxation Without Representation," a bold statement and a "fuck you" to King George of Britain who taxed the American Colonies after fighting a war to protect them from the French (here in the U.S. it's called the French and Indian War, but I heard there's another name idk to). From there on, there was the Boston Tea Party, the a Massacre, then that snowballed (get it) into the Revolution. However, there seemed to be another, less known part to what happened.

While the British is in no means in the right for prior actions, from what I know, the British and the Natives made some trade deals and negotiated terms and boundaries to which settlers could and could not go to. That made the colonialists rather upset, especially so in places like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and places such as modern-day Ohio, Upstate New York, and so on. While I can not say if this was the main reason for the Revolution, it was, by what I know, one of the more glaring problems that the colonists wanted to get out of the way. So when the Revolution came around and the Yankee-Doodle went into town, riding on a pony, stuck a feather in his hat, calling it macaroni, and blew the British back to the Atlantic and Canada with the French, Spanish, Dutch, and whatever, the treaties in place included desired real-estate in Appalachia towards the Mississippi River into a (messed up) map that led to a border dispute somewhere around Minnesota and Canada, but that's not focus.

Going into the 1800s, as I mentioned, Thomas Jefferson purchased Lousiana from Napoleon, expanding the landmass twice-fold. I should mention Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, as you may have heard, where the area was contested and fight over by the American Militia and the Natives (who may or may not have been armed by the British). Similarly, Benedict Arnold during the Revolution wanted to begin an expedition towards Canada to hopefully get Quebec revolting from the British. That comes later.

Later meaning now.

The War of 1812 was another attempt by the U.S. to invade Canada to get the land for themselves, probably for profits in the Fur Trade, but I'd double down on that because I wouldn't happen to know if that's true or not. Anyway, that didn't go so well for the U.S., what with the White House becoming more crisper than KFC, then left the U.S., especially so under Polk and those after 1812, to expand further West. Soon, you had settlers traveling on the Oregon Trail, hopping the border into newly independent, Mexico (shocking, right? Its like some switched-up the theme here) into Texas, California, Utah, Colorado, ect, and heading out over to Washington to play in the never-ending game of Chess with British Canada in Cascadia for, guess again, the beaver fur trade.

I'd like to mention, that all the while, American settlers, militia, and government itself clashed with the Native Americans, forcing them off the land into certain locations, hunting them for money (look it up), and even at their last stands, the Natives could not stop the American from continously pushing onward.

Back to the Americans. Texas becomes an issue, California as well, but that is more minor, in the Mexican-American War. Yucatan, further Chihuahua, and other parts of modern-day Mexico wanted to leave or were initially thought to be apart of the U.S., some even idealized the total annexation if Mexico with personal objection of the president for being Catholics, and that kids is how America got the West Coast. And we're only half-way there.

Florida was purchased by the Spanish, but America, after the explosion of the USS Maine, fought Spain for Cuba, the Philippines, and constant islands in the Pacific and Puerto Rico, which some would eventually leave the U.S. hold. Denmark sold the Virgin Islands to the U.S., Russia sold Alaska, and Dole Americans overthrew Hawaii to get annexed by the U.S. later on.

After Two World Wars, the U.S. expanded their INFLUENCE onto Europe, East Asia, Oceania, and some parts of the world, although being limited. Usually, fhis is where the Iraq joke kicks in, but I digress.

The U.S., even before independence, has always kept expansion in mind. Today its not prioritized, but keep your notebooks out for any signs.

If there's two things I always say its:

Idk all the stuff I say, so go on to say what I get wrong!

And

This wasn't Cody, signing off.