Alaska (1867)As the United States expanded westward in the early 1800s, Americans soon found themselves in competition with Russian explorers and traders. Russia, however, lacked the financial resources to support major settlements or a military presence in Alaska. The Russian defeat (losing of the war) in the Crimean War further reduced Russian interest in keeping Alaska.

Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859, but the U.S. Civil War delayed the sale. After the Civil War, Secretary of State William Seward quickly took up the Russian offer and on March 30, 1867, agreed to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million. The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the treaty on May 28, and Alaska was formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867. This purchase ended Russia’s presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern ocean.

For three decades after its purchase the United States paid little attention to Alaska. Skeptics (people who criticized and questioned the purchase) had dubbed (called) the purchase of Alaska “Seward’s Folly,” (folly means stupidity or craziness) but the former Secretary of State was vindicated (justified, correct) when a major gold deposit was discovered in the Yukon, Alaska in 1896, and Alaska became the opportunity to the Klondike gold fields. Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959.

US Secretary of State William Seward was criticized and some Americans joked that he had spent $7 million buying a piece of ice.

Source: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/alaska-purchase

Open Door Policy—China (1899-1900)

In 1898, President McKinley stated his desire for the creation of an "open door" that would allow all trading nations access to the Chinese market. The following year, Secretary of State John Hay sent a series of diplomatic notes (letters) to the major Western powers (most powerful European nations).

Hay’s proposal for an Open Door Policy called for the establishment of equal trading rights to all nations in all parts of China and for recognition of Chinese territorial integrity (meaning that the country should not be divided up by countries). The impact of such an Open Door Policy would be to put all of the imperial nations on an equal footing.

No nation formally agreed to Hay’s policy but US Secretary John Hay simply announced that an agreement had been reached. Only Russia and Japan voiced disapproval.

The U.S. had no “sphere of influence” in China, but had long maintained an active trade there. If other nations were to partition China, the United States would likely be excluded from future commercial activities. In short, Hay was simply trying to protect the prospects of American businessmen and investors.

Challenges to the Open Door policy would increase in the ensuing years, including the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 in which Chinese nationalists resorted to armed opposition in an attempt to end foreign occupation of their country.

Source: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h908.html

Hawaii (1898)Interest in Hawaii began in America as early as the 1820s, when missionaries tried to spread their faith. Since the 1840s, Americans acquired a true foothold (position) in Hawaii as a result of the SUGAR TRADE. The United States government provided generous terms to Hawaiian sugar growers, and after the Civil War, profits began to swell (increase). A turning point in U.S.-Hawaiian relations occurred in 1890, when Congress approved the MCKINLEY TARIFF, which raised import rates (tax) on foreign sugar. Hawaiian sugar planters were now not being sold in the US, and as a result, a depression (economic downturn) swept the islands. The sugar growers, mostly white Americans, knew that if Hawaii were to be ANNEXED by the United States, the tariff problem would naturally disappear. At the same time, the Hawaiian kingdom was passed to QUEEN LILIUOKALANI, who determined that the root of Hawaii's problems was foreign interference.

In January 1893, the American planters organized an uprising to overthrow the Hawaiian Queen. At the same time, they appealed to the United States armed forces for protection. US marines captured the islands, and the American flag was raised in HONOLULU. The 3Queen was forced to abdicate (abandon the throne). Hawaii remained a territory until granted statehood as the fiftieth state in 1959.

Source: http://www.ushistory.org/us/44b.asp

Japan (1854)Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch traders engaged in regular trade with Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Persistent attempts by the Europeans to convert the Japanese to Catholicism and their tendency to engage in unfair trading practices led Japan to expel most foreigners in 1639. For the two centuries that followed, Japan limited trade access to Dutch and Chinese ships with special charters.

There were several reasons why the United States became interested in creating contact with Japan. First, American traders in the Pacific needed to secure coaling stations, where they could stop to take on provisions and fuel while making the long trip from the United States to China. The combination of its advantageous geographic position and rumors that Japan held vast deposits of coal increased the appeal of establishing commercial and diplomatic contacts with the Japanese. Additionally, the American whaling industry had pushed into the North Pacific by the mid-18th century, and sought safe harbors, assistance in case of shipwrecks, and reliable supply stations. Many American sailors found themselves shipwrecked and stranded on Japanese shores, and tales of their mistreatment at the hands of the unwelcoming Japanese spread through the merchant community and across the United States. Americans argued that forcing the Japanese to trade with the world was a necessity that would ultimately benefit both nations.

In 1851, US President Millard Fillmore authorized a formal naval expedition to Japan to return shipwrecked Japanese sailors and request that Americans stranded in Japan be returned to the United States. He sent Commodore Matthew Perry. Perry arrived with a variety of gifts for the Japanese Emperor, including a working model of a steam locomotive, a telescope, a telegraph, and a variety of wines and liquors from the West. His mission was to complete an agreement with the Japanese Government for the protection of shipwrecked or stranded Americans and to open one or more ports for supplies and refueling. Displaying his readiness to use force, Perry’s approach convinced the Japanese authorities to accept the letter. The Japanese agreed to Perry’s demands, and the two sides signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854. According to the terms of the treaty, Japan would protect stranded seamen and open two ports for refueling.

Japan’s opening to the West enabled it to modernize its military, and to rise quickly to the position of the most formidable Asian power in the Pacific.

Perry’s Navy squadron or “SQUAD” arriving in Japan

Source: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/opening-to-japan

Big Stick Diplomacy (1901-1909)"Speak softly and carry a big stick" With these words President Theodore Roosevelt (described his approach to foreign policy. Roosevelt is remembered by some for his aggressive policies which bullied smaller nations into conforming to U.S. desires. Indeed, the "big stick" was a big naval force (the "white fleet") that was sent on a world tour by Roosevelt to display the power of the United States.

In the early 1900s, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic had incurred debts to several European countries—debts that they could not pay. In December 1902, British and German ships blockaded Venezuelan ports in an effort to force payment. Known as the Venezuela Affair, this action violated the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European powers to stay clear of further involvement in the affairs of smaller nations in the Western Hemisphere. Though Roosevelt stepped in and settled the dispute without bloodshed, he realized that something more needed to be done to prevent such actions by Europe in the future. This led to the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.

Roosevelt’s Corollary (1904-1909)The Roosevelt Corollary was published on December 6, 1904 as an amendment to the Monroe Doctrine. It stated that the United States may be forced "to the exercise of an international police power" in the Caribbean, Central America, or South America.

Roosevelt opened negotiations with the Republic of Columbia to secure the right to build a canal across Panama. This canal could be used not only as a military passage, but also for commercial shipping, an important point to U.S. farmers, manufacturers, and shippers looking to expand their markets. However, the Colombian Senate rejected a treaty giving the U.S. a 99-year lease on a canal corridor across the Isthmus of Panama. Roosevelt defied the U.S. Congress and bent the rules of international law by backing a revolution in Panama. Panama seceded from Colombia, becoming the Republic of Panama. Within two weeks the United States had recognized the new "nation of Panama" and Panama had signed a treaty with the U.S. and a lease that allowed the construction of the Panama Canal.

Source: http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/big-stick-diplomacy

Panama (1903-1914)Throughout the 1800s, American and European leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

To that end, in 1850 the United States and Great Britain negotiated a treaty to build a proposed canal through Nicaragua, but the canal never went beyond the planning stages. French attempts to build a canal through Panama (province of Colombia) advanced more than the British and American first attempt. Led by Ferdinand de Lesseps—the builder of the Suez Canal in Egypt—the French began excavating in 1880. Malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases conspired against the French campaign and after 9 years and a loss of approximately 20,000 lives, the French attempt went bankrupt.

In spite of such setbacks, American interest in a canal continued. Following heated debate over the location of the proposed canal, on June 19, 1902, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of building the canal through Panama. Within 6 months, Secretary of State John Hay signed a treaty with Colombian Foreign Minister Tomás Herrán to build the new canal. The financial terms were unacceptable to Colombia’s congress, and Colombia rejected the offer.

President Roosevelt responded by dispatching U.S. warships to Panama in support of Panamanian independence. Colombian troops were unable to defeat the Panama and American forces and Panama declared independence from Colombia on November 3, 1903. The newly declared Republic of Panama immediately negotiated a treaty in 1903, which provided the United States with a 10-mile wide strip of land for the canal, a one-time $10 million payment to Panama, and an annual pension of $250,000 to Panama. The United States also agreed to guarantee the independence of Panama.

Completed in 1914, the Panama Canal symbolized U.S. technological prowess (ability) and economic power.

Source: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal

Dollar Diplomacy (1909-1912)Dollar Diplomacy was the foreign policy created by U.S. Pres. William Howard Taft to ensure the financial stability of a country while protecting and extending U.S. commercial and financial interests there.

In his message to Congress on December 3, 1912, in the course of a review of his foreign policy actions of the preceding year, Taft characterized his program as “substituting dollars for bullets.”

Under the name of Dollar Diplomacy, the Taft administration engineered such a policy in Nicaragua. It supported the overthrow of Nicaraguan President José Santos Zelaya and set up another president in his place. The resentment of the Nicaraguan people, however, eventually resulted in U.S. military intervention as well.Taft also attempted to use a Dollar Diplomacy in China, where it was even less successful, both in terms of U.S. ability to supply loans and in terms of world reaction. The failure of Dollar Diplomacy caused the Taft administration to finally abandon the policy in 1912.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Dollar-Diplomacy