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Monroe Doctrine
Written up by then president James Monroe and secretary of state John Quincy Adams the Monroe Doctrine called for no European involvement in the western hemisphere except for priorly owned lands. In return the U.S claimed not to interfere in European affairs or attempt to claim their land. This was a large move for America, the reasoning behind it was political because the nation wanted to finally break free from British reign and be seen as a separate power from the Europeans. -
Treaty of Wanghia
The treaty of Wanghia or the Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce was signed by Qiying of the Qing dynasty of China and by Caleb Cushing, who was the first U.S commissioner to China. The treaty signed for the following, only U.S officers could try and charge U.S citizens of China. Tariffs on the five treaty ports. the right to build churches and hospitals on purchased land of the five ports. The right for foreigners to learn Chinese. And the ban of trade of Opium. America’s reasoning for this tr -
Open Trade With Japan
On July 8, 1853 Commodore Matthew Perry led four ships, while he was aboard the USS Powhatan to be anchored at Tokyo Bay, Japan. Perry was sent to negotiate with the Japanese over opening trade. Japan at the time was only open to Dutch and Chinese traders and the U.S needed coal ports for whaling ships. Perry brought with him a letter from Millard Fillmore himself for the emperor and he refused to see anyone without political power. After deliberation the Japanese knew they were not ready to go -
Ostend Manifesto
The Ostend Manifesto was a document drawn up on October 18, 1854 by the American minister to Great Britain James Buchanan, the Minister to France, John Y. Mason, and the Minister to Spain, Pierre Soule. Pierre Soule had been instructed by William L. Macy to purchase Cuba from Spain. Because of Soule’s aggressive tactics Spain refused. As a proposed solution President Pierce called for a meeting between the three ministers in Ostend, Belgium. The three of them were all pro-slavery democrats. The -
Purchase Of Alaska
In 1867 secretary of state, William Seward signed a treaty with Russia that gave Alaska’s land to the United States for $7.2 million or 2 cents an acre. Many Americans were angry about this purchase because they thought it was a waste, it was referred to as “Seward’s Folly”. Though to Sewards advantage in 1896 prospectors discovered gold in the Klondike district of Canada’s Yukon Territory which turned into the Klondike Gold Rush. By 1897 many people flocked there for mining opportunities and mo -
Crisis In Venezuela
In 1841 Venezuela addressed the British government accusing them of claiming Venezuelan territory. Back in 1814 Great Britain had received Guyana, then British Guiana from the Netherlands and never determined the western boundary. So then in 1835 Britain called for Robert Schomburgk to determine the boundary. His survey of the boundary was known as the Schomburgk line and it had given 30,000 miles of Venezuelan land to Guyana. The argument ensued when gold was discovered on the land. By 1876 Ve -
Spanish-American War
The war began on April 25, 1898 just after the battleship Maine was sunk reportedly by the spanish as it presided in the Havana harbour on February 15, 1898. In the three years prior americans had become baffled by Spanish tactics used to keep control over Cuba and they wanted power to be relinquished from spanish rule not only in Cuba but in the entire western hemisphere. Then April 20, 1898 congress granted Cuban independence and ordered spanish rule to be relinquished. Spain ignored this dema -
U.S Annexes Hawaii
During the 1800’s leaders of European countries such as Great Britain and France forced Hawaii into making treaties that would benefit the european powers financially. Then in 1842 Secretary of state, Daniel Webster made it known that the U.S had interests in Hawaii and that no other nation shall attempt to colonize. Just after this a friendship of treaty was made with Hawaii and then in 1875 a treaty of trade was made to give America political and economic power over Hawaii through U.S sugar pl -
U.S Annexes the Philippines
The fight to gain power over the Philippines began when Spain gave up power over the Philippines in the Treaty of Paris. On February 4, 1899 the Philippine-American war broke out. Emilio Aguinaldo was a nationalist leader of the Philippines and fought for independence. The war went on for 3 years and resulted in 4,200 american fatalities, 20,000 Filipino combatant fatalities, and 200,000 Filipino civilian fatalities. Due to the U.S’s military advantages Theodore Roosevelt declared the war over o -
Open Door Policy
This policy was formed by Secretary of State, John Hay in 1899 to 1900. It called for all nations to have equal access to trade and investment in China. Countries like Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and the United States took advantage of these open door notes and were protective of their spheres of commerce. The first few notes were sent out on September 6th, 1899. The notes proposed three principles, 1) To keep all ports in their spheres open to all nations 2) To allow Chinese offic -
Boxer Rebellion
In 1898 a secret society was formed of Chinese peasants in Northern China and they called themselves the Righteous and Harmonious Fists. The Boxers (as the Western Press called them) had goals of removing chinese influence and destroying the Ch’ing dynasty. Then the Empress Dowager backed up the Boxers on their goals and they no longer wanted to destroy the Ch’ing dynasty. In late 1898. the boxers were murdering chinese christians and missionaries. The rebellion had moved to the Capitol by May o -
Building Of The Panama Canal
In the 1800’s America and Britain saw the idea of a panama canal as a good way to ship goods more efficiently between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The Anglo-American canal began construction because of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 though it didn’t make it past the planning stages. Then the french made their attempts of excavating in 1880 but because of disease among the builders the builder, de Lesseps went bankrupt. Next in 1901 the U.S. repealed the Clayton-Bulwer treaty and replaced -
Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment, approved on May 22nd, 1903 had three major points. 1) To limit Cuba’s freedom to make treaties with other countries 2) It authorized the United States to intervene in Cuban affairs as it deemed necessary and 3) It required Cuba to sell of lease land to the U.S for naval and fueling stations. This last point ended in the establishment of the navy base, Guantanamo Bay.The Platt Amendment was enacted and enforced for military reasons. America wanted a naval base for fueling sta -
Roosevelt Corollary
The Roosevelt corollary was enacted because the U.S was becoming more comfortable as a world power and was nervous about the Monroe Doctrine being too passive to keep out European powers. The corollary stated that intervention by the U.S was a last resort to ensure that other nations in the western hemisphere fulfilled their obligations to international creditors, and didn’t break United states law. In result military use was used in nations in the region and overall the corollary helped to just -
Gentlemen's Agreement with Japan
The gentlemen’s agreement notes followed a tense period between the United States and Japan because of the U.S not supporting the Japanese advancements over China and the poor treatment of Japanese immigrants by native U.S citizens. The notes agreed to a point on both sides. Japan agreed not to give out passports to those emigrating to America unless for business reasons and the U.S agreed to allow integrated schools between Japanese and whites. Previously in San francisco Japanese students were
