Josiah Strong's belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race suggests that late 19th-century expansionism was a continuation of past ideas about American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny, where Americans felt it was their duty to spread their values. However, his focus on a 'competition of races' marks a departure by introducing a more aggressive, racial justification for expansion that was more intense than earlier efforts, reflecting a shift towards a belief in racial hierarchy in U.S. policy.