Eyes on the PacificGuided Reading Activity Answers

Commodore Matthew Perry, opening Japan by forcing them to sign the Treaty of Kanagawa

For centuries, Japan had remained an isolationist society. They refused to trade with nations outside of their islands, and had no relationship with the United States. In order to gain economic markets, the United States sought to trade throughout Asia. Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to trade with others with the Treaty of Kanagawa in the early 1850s – by threat of armed intervention.

The Purchase of Alaska

•Purchased from Russia, which controlled the area as a colonial possession.

•US Secretary of State William Seward purchased the area for $7.2 Million, or a little more than 2 cents an acre.

•Seward purchased the area in 1867.

Alaska

•“Seward’s Folly”

•“Seward’s Icebox”

•“Polar Bear Garden”

•Alaska, fortunately for William Seward, was found to be rich in natural resources including gold, oil, fishing, and lumber.

•The Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s was a huge migration through the Alaska Territory and the Yukon River valley.

ISOLATIONISM

Isolationism is a national policy of non-involvement in world affairs. In other words, a nation decided to remain neutral and uninterested in affairs outside its own boundaries. They concentrate on their own concerns, their own economy, and their own society, but they do not interact with other nations through trade, military involvement, treaties, or alliances.  

IMPERIALISM

When a larger, stronger nation attempts to take over a smaller, weaker nation, either economically, or politically. Anytime a nation goes to war to gain land, it can be called “expansionist imperialism.” Economic imperialism can take place as well. For example, if a wealthy, powerful nation forces the citizens of a smaller, weaker nation to work for them, or attempts to take over all of the smaller nation’s natural resources (like oil, or staple crops) then it called economic imperialism.

The Turner Thesis

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner idea that the United States major values – principles like representative government and equality – had been developed by life on the Western Frontier. This thesis caused some to feel great concern, since the Frontier had been officially “closed” during the 1890s, as Americans came to control all of the land in the west and Native American tribes were confined to reservations.

Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History

Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that the future economic and military strength of the United States would be dependent upon building overseas trade and protecting American interests across the globe with a strong Navy. In order to accomplish this, Americans would need to have ports and naval bases across the world. Mahan encouraged the United States to acquire ports like:

Pearl Harbor, HawaiiPago-Pago, American SamoaMidway IslandsPuerto RicoGuantanamo Bay, Cuba

Spreading American Values

In the late 1800s, many Americans believed that Americans of the “Anglo-Saxon” race were superior to “lesser races” in other nations. Therefore, the argument went, Americans had a divine duty to spread Christian values and western civilization around the world. The core of this belief was the racist thought that white Europeans were superior to all other types of people world wide. The notion that Christianity was the one true faith also colored American’s behavior – and proselytizing groups like Christian missionaries therefore played an important role in the expansion of American trade in the Pacific in places like Hawaii, China, and the Philippines.

American Samoa

Britain, Germany, and the United States all sought to control the Samoan Islands of the Pacific, since they were excellent stopover points to facilitate trade with the Far East. After coming close to going to war over who should possess the region, Americans and Germans eventually managed to negotiate an agreement over trade rights. The people of Samoa, however, had no say in the matter.

Hawaii’s Early History

The Hawaiian islands were settled by Polynesian islanders during the early 600s AD. They lived on the islands undisturbed by anyone until around the year 1778, when they were discovered by Captain James Cook, an Englishmen. He named the islands the “Sandwich” Islands, in honor of the Earl of Sandwich. When American missionaries arrived in the early 1820s, they began to change the islands both culturally and economically – investing in sugar and plantations.

Hawaiian AnnexationKing Kalakaua Pearl Harbor

Queen Liliuokalani

She was the last reigning monarch of Hawaii, and a strong opponent of annexation by the United States of America. During her time in power, she refused to accept the 1887 Constitution which had been imposed on King Kalakaua. Although she wanted to restore the Hawaiian Islands to Hawaiian people, she was eventually overthrown by a combination of Christian Missionaries, plantation owners, and United States Marines.

President Grover Cleveland

President Cleveland refused to annex Hawaii in 1893, mostly because he was so disgusted by the role Americans had played in overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy. He felt that Americans had imposed a constitution on Hawaiians unwillingly, and did not consider the new government representative of the true values of Hawaiian people.

When William McKinley, an imperialist president who wanted to convert all Hawaiians to Christianity, took office in 1897, he moved forward with the American annexation o f Hawaii. Hawaii became a US Territory in 1898 and a state in 1959.

Spheres of Influence

Areas within one nation, in this case, China, were other nations maintained economic and political control. The United States, Germany, Russia, England, France, and Japan all sought to have “spheres of influence” in China during the late 19th Century – much to the displeasure of Chinese people.

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US Secretary of State John Hay claimed that all of the nation which had created “Spheres of Influence in China should be able to trade on an equal basis in China – without regard for which nations Sphere of Influence they were in.

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Chinese martial artists and “boxers” fought during this unsuccessful war in order to kick out of China all foreign influence. The uprising lasted for months and was partially successful – before being crushed by combined imperialist forces. After the “Boxer Rebellion,” Secretary of State John Hay’s Open Door Policy was more commonly accepted by other imperialist powers.