The country was only 30 years removed from the Civil War. There was still regional division/conflict and it was still the tail-end of the reconstruction era.

Although the coutry has never been truly isolationist, its passive tendencies towards foreign policy allowed the country to develop on its own. One event, the Treat of Paris, changed this. We helped Cuba defect from Spain and gained our own territories . It was the first time the Unied States had accomplished something of this magnitude. This brough the United States to the table as a nation. At the time (remember at the time), it wasnt seen the united states was an up and coming super power, but just another country.

Looking back, yes thats when we became an up and coming super power. However, during the time, we werent seen as one...yet

Source: its from a lecture in college. Ill find the exact dates and cite it.

Fry, Joseph , "Treaty of Paris" American Foreign Policy 1750-1920. University of Nevada-Las Vegas, WRI Building, October 17th, 2013

And here is the Professor https://www.unlv.edu/people/joseph-fry