1865- 1890 The limits of foreign engagement and continuation of isolationism: the continuation of the Monroe Doctrine; territorial consolidation (Alaska) and tensions over Canada. Flashcards
What was The Monroe Doctrine?
In 1823, the Monroe Doctrine was announced by President James Monroe. The Doctrine stated that:
US policy was to avoid becoming involved in European wars unless American interests were involved.
The ‘American continents’ were not to be colonised by any European powers.
Any such attempts at colonisation would be regarded as ‘unfriendly’ acts.
The Doctrine seemed to indicate a disinterest in foreign affairs. Moreover, the USA did not fight in overseas wars until 1898.
To what extent did the USA carry out a policy of isolation in the years 1865-77?
In the nineteenth century, the USA seemed detached from foreign entanglements. This policy is generally referred to as isolationism. This isolationism was due to several reasons.
Europe, the continent that was home to other major powers such as Britain, France and Germany, was thousands of miles away. Some historians have argued that the USA felt superior to those countries that took part in expansion and empire building.
Moreover, when industrialisation began, America had sufficient raw materials available not to need imports. The Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans were also immense natural barriers and no state on America’s borders (Canada, Mexico, Central and South America) was a major threat to their interests.
However, the USA was never totally isolationist and was prepared to intervene when American interests were directly threatened.
How did the USA expand foreign policy to the Far East and the Dominican Republic in the years 1865-77?
Dominican Republic In 1867, the USA acquired the uninhabited Midway Island in the West Pacific, originally to obtain supplies of guano to be used in the manufacture of fertiliser and gunpowder. In the following year, the Burlingame Treaty was signed to promote trade with China. This endorsed the free movement of people and free trade between the USA and China, in part to stimulate Chinese immigration to work on railroad building in the USA.
In 1869, the Dominican Republic actually offered itself for colonisation but Congress refused. In the following year an attempt by the federal government to annex the Republic stimulated a debate on imperial expansion in Congress.
Those in favour argued that the USA would be able to exploit the wealth and resources of the Dominican Republic and sell its goods to a ready market there. However, those opposed to it argued that the USA would not deal with ‘savages.
There was a fear that people regarded as inferior might one day have to be admitted into the Union or that former colonies might become states and reduce the influence of traditional, mainly white, American states. The Senate rejected the annexation of the Republic.
How did the USA expand foreign policy in Alaska between 1865-1877?
There was no debate over Alaska, which was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million although many people could not understand the motives of Seward in buying the area which was referred to as ‘Seward’s icebox’ and Seward’s folly. Russia was keen to sell it because it had few settlers or resources. The USA was keen to acquire Alaska for a number of reasons:
Seward felt that the development of Alaskan harbours might provide a gateway to northern Asia where US merchant ships could fuel and make provision for the long journey across the Pacific Ocean.
It would expand the Pacific coastline of the USA, spread US rule and keep the British out.
Moreover, it made sense to maintain good relations with such a powerful nation as Russia.
To what extent did the USA remain isolationist in this period?
There was limited interest in foreign policy and imperial expansion in the 1870s and 1880s with isolationism continuing to dominate. However, there was increasing support for an expanded navy to protect US possessions and guarantee America’s position as a world power.
To what extent did relations with Britain change in the reconstruction period?
There were strained relations with Britain and Canada in the years after the Civil War. This was because of the apparent support given by the British and Canadians to the Confederacy during the Civil War. One aspect that the Union did object to was the building of Confederate ships in British dockyards.
At the end of the Civil War the USA demended compensation from Britain. Senator Charles Sumner,
originally wanted to ask for $2 billion or alternatively the ceding of all of Canada to the USA.
However, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while Britain continued to control its foreign and defence policies. Eventually the Anglo-American dispute was settled in 1872, when Britain agreed to pay $15.5 million to the USA for the damage caused by Confederate commerce raiders built in Britain to the US merchant fleet during the Civil War.
How did the Navy expand during the Gilded Age?
During Arthur’s administration politicians began to show a greater interest in foreign policy and called for an expanded navy to demonstrate American willingness to back it up with force if necessary. A nation without a navy, they argued, could make little headway in world affairs in an age of sea power.
As early as 1882 the Secretary of the Navy, William H. Hunt, was advocating naval expansion after a review he commissioned found that, of 140 ships on the naval list, only 42 were operational, and the navy still mainly comprised wooden sailing vessels as opposed to more modern steamships.
The most famous advocate of naval expansion was Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan who wrote two hugely influential books. Mahan argued that history proved that nations with powerful navies and overseas bases to maintain them would grow in strength. He advocated building a modern steam fleet, building coaling stations and bases in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean and cutting a canal across Latin America in order to facilitate communication and trade.
How did the USA expand foreign policy in Hawaii?
During the eighteenth century, the United States became interested in the Hawaiian Islands as a way station and provisioning point for shippers, sailors and whalers trading with Asian nations. Since 1875, the USA had imported Hawaiian sugar free of duty in return for the Hawaiian Government refusing concessions such as the importation of manufactured goods to other countries.
This meant that Hawaii was effectively reliant on the USA economically. In 1887, the Senate agreed to the renewed and expanded form of the 1875 treaty of friendship with Hawaii negotiated by Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard. Bayard had secured a new concession, permission to establish a naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu.
How did the USA expand foreign policy in Latin America?
In the 1880s, American politicians expressed particular interest in Latin America. President Garfield’s Secretary of State, James Blaine, first advocated a Pan-American conference in 1881. He believed that the USA should act both as a leader across the continent to prevent future wars and conflicts, and that all countries would benefit from greater trade links. His proposal came to nothing due to Garfield’s short-lived presidency. However, it was resurrected when Blaine became Secretary of State under Benjamin Harrison.
Delegates from eighteen countries met in Washington in October 1889 with two main aims - a customs union offering free trade across the continent and a system for international arbitration to avoid future wars. Delegates eventually settled for reciprocity agreements and a weak arbitration system.
However, they did agree to setting up an International Bureau of American Republics, also known as the Pan-American Union, to organise future conferences.
The Conference and its agreements had, at least, set the precedent for future conferences and co-operation.
