American History II: Note Set #15: Imperialist Diplomacy

U.S.-Japanese Relations

  • Japan closed itself to outsiders in the late 1400s; held a strong mistrust of Western cultures
  • In the mid-1800s, US businesses began to view Japan as an untapped market for trade
  • In 1852, US President Franklin Pierce sent a naval expedition to force Japan to sign a trade treaty
  • Perry’s Trade Mission
  • US Navy under Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Tokyo Bay in July 1853
  • Japanese were awed by American technology (steam powered ships, naval firepower), and quickly realized that they could not compete militarily with the US
  • Japan reluctantly signed a trade agreement and opened its ports to US merchants
  • Japan learned quickly, however, and by the 1890s had adopted western technologies, industrialized, and completely modernized their military
  • US interference in the Russo-Japanese War
  • 1904-1905: Russia and Japan went to war over control of Korea and Manchuria
  • The world expected Russia to easily beat Japan, but Japan dominated Russia throughout the war
  • US President Theodore Roosevelt organized peace negotiations (Treaty of Portsmouth, 1905)
  • Japan was angered that Roosevelt favored Russia in the peace treaty; Japan gained no territory, Russia paid no war indemnities to the Japanese

U.S. Interest in Samoa

  • US, Britain, & Germany all competed for control of the Samoan Islands in the Pacific
  • After attempts to settle their disputes peacefully failed in 1887, war seemed imminent & was only prevented when a hurricane damaged all 3 nations navies
  • The Tripartite Convention of 1899 peacefully divided the islands between US and Germany (Britain received other islands in Pacific), giving all parties prime naval bases (Samoan people had no say in the arrangement)

US Interests in China

  • China had been shown as weak after being easily beaten in a war with Japan in 1894 and being bullied into “leasing” Manchuria to Russia in 1898
  • US exports to China were growing and the Chinese market held tremendous potential for American business & investment
  • Spheres of Influence in China
  • China was divided into economic spheres of influence by Russia, Germany, France, Japan, and Britain
  • The US was in danger of losing China as a market for US products and sought a way to protect its economic interests
  • The Open Door Policy
  • In 1899, US Secretary of State John Hay sent his “open door note”: notification to the other world powers that the US supported open trade in China
  • Foreign powers were angered over US demands, but were unwilling to risk a war (US had just beaten Spain in 1898), so they made no move to block US trade with China
  • The Boxer Rebellion
  • In 1900, Chinese nationalists, unhappy with foreigners’ influence on China, rose up in revolt
  • Hundreds of foreigners were killed and non-Chinese held businesses were destroyed
  • The US joined other world powers in contributing troops to a force which crushed the rebellion
  • After the rebellion, the US worked hard to prevent the division of China by angry foreign powers

Pan-Americanism

  • The US began applying pressure to Latin American states to buy manufactured goods from the US instead of Europe and to create an organization for settling disputes between nations in the Americas
  • In 1889, a conference in DC led to the creation of an organization which became the Organization of American States (OAS) which promotes peaceful cooperation among nations of the western hemisphere
  • The Baltimore Crisis
  • In 1891, the US Navy seized weapons headed to rebels in Chile
  • US sailors from the ship USS Baltimore were later attacked by a pro-rebel mob in Valparaiso, Chile
  • US threatened war unless Chile made amends; Chilean government paid $75,000 in damages
  • Venezuela Crisis of 1895
  • Venezuela and Great Britain disputed the border between Venezuela and the British colony of British Guiana in South America
  • Great Britain accepted the US as an arbitrator under the principles of the Monroe Doctrine, establishing the precedent of the US holding the final say in all affairs in the Americas

The Diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt (1858 – 1919): 26th President (1901-09), Republican

  • “Big Stick” Diplomacy
  • Roosevelt adopted the African proverb “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far” as his motto for foreign policy
  • Under Roosevelt, the US pursued peaceful negotiations, but would not hesitate to threaten use of its military strength to protect its interests
  • The Great White Fleet
  • Fleet of 16 US battleships sent out on a world tour to demonstrate America’s military might; the fleet was a major piece of Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” threat
  • The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904)
  • Roosevelt expanded the Monroe Doctrine by declaring that the US would intervene in Latin American affairs when necessary to maintain economic and political stability in the region
  • Roosevelt wanted to prevent European interventions in Latin America over unpaid debts
  • The Panama Canal
  • The US offered to buy the rights to build a canal across Panama from Colombia, but Colombia refused
  • Roosevelt responded by supporting a Panamanian rebellion against Colombia
  • Once Panama was independent, they agreed to allowing the US to build and operate a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
  • The Canal had been started by a French company in 1880, but then abandoned in 1889 after over 20,000 workers died from disease & accidents
  • The US bought out the French project & resumed work in 1904 (with new measures to control mosquito-borne diseases) and completed the canal in 1914

The Diplomacy of William Howard Taft (1857 – 1930): 27th President (1909- 13), Republican

  • “Dollar Diplomacy”
  • Taft chose to “buy” friendship with Latin American states by guaranteeing low-interest loans and paying off existing loans from European powers to Latin American countries
  • Taft’s policy successfully kept Latin American states from borrowing money from European powers

The Diplomacy of Woodrow Wilson (1856 – 1924): 28th President (1913-21), Democrat

  • Wilson abandoned both Roosevelt’s “Big Stick” policy and Taft’s policy of “buying” friends in Latin America
  • “Moral Diplomacy”
  • Wilson supported only Latin American states that were democratic and provided human rights protections or otherwise supported the interests of the US
  • Wilson hoped to influence other countries through economic pressure; nations which did not abide by the US's wishes did not receive financial support from the US
  • Problems with Mexico
  • During the Mexican Revolution, fighting spilled across the Mexican border into the US
  • When rebels like Francisco “Pancho” Villa (1878 – 1923) staged cross-border raids for supplies, Wilson ordered the U.S. Army under Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing (1860 – 1948) to cross into Mexico on the “Punitive Expedition” of 1916-1917
  • The Punitive Expedition’s target was to capture Pancho Villa
  • In 1916, Villa had raided into New Mexico to seize weapons and supplies for his fight against the Mexican government; Villa’s raid had killed 18 Americans
  • The Punitive Expedition ended when US became involved in World War I