There was a large amount of US trade with the Pacific, but the idea of the federal government following it up with annexation was less accepted, and I guess less obvious, than it was for the European powers who were used to this kind of "thin end of the wedge" imperialism.
It is interesting to speculate what would have happened if Germany had not been so interested in colonies for colonies sake in the Pacific - maybe then the US would have purchased the Marianas and Carolines, might have all of Samoa, might have ended up with the no-longer-called-this Bismarck Archipelago?
Perhaps in a sense Germany took the USA's natural place in the Pacific, and it was only in Samoa where they came into direct competition, and almost a war
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
It is interesting to speculate what would have happened if Germany had not been so interested in colonies for colonies sake in the Pacific - maybe then the US would have purchased the Marianas and Carolines, might have all of Samoa, might have ended up with the no-longer-called-this Bismarck Archipelago?
Perhaps in a sense Germany took the USA's natural place in the Pacific, and it was only in Samoa where they came into direct competition, and almost a war
Best Regards
Grey Wolf