How did some american politicians justify u. s. imperialism at the end of the 19th century

One of the main ways in which some American politicians justified U.S. imperialism at the end of the 19th century was by claiming the the countries they were interested in colonizing were too "backwards" to help themselves, and therefore needed structure that was to be provided to them by America. 

They were 21 women on the committee  team and 9 men on the committee  team.