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Eyes on the Pacific
Guided 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 noninvolvement 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, Hawaii
Pago-Pago, American Samoa
Midway Islands
Puerto Rico
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Spreading American Values
In the late 1800s, many Americans
believed that Americans of the “AngloSaxon” 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 Annexation
King 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.
The Open Door Policy
THE OPEN DOOR POLICY:
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.
THE BOXER REBELLION OF 1900
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.