Reconstruction Era Foreign Policy (1865-1877)

Question 1

The Monroe Doctrine
(1865-1890)

Answer 1

• US policy of preventing any outside influence in the New World by any of the Great Power Countries of the Old World
• Declared that the US would oppose all further attempts by the European powers to try and colonise or have influence in both North and South America
• Introduced by James Monroe in 1823
• America did not have enough power to enforce this in 1823 therefore it being re-introduced in 1865

Question 2

US Isolationism
(1865-1890)

Answer 2

• USA wanted to detach themselves from foreign entanglements due to several reasons
• Europe, the home to many major powerhouses such as Britain, France and Germany were thousands of miles away
• The USA felt superior to those countries that took part in expansion and empire building
• USA had become populated by those trying to escape religious persecution and and discrimination from their own lands
• US had sufficient natural resources meaning they didn’t require imports from other countries
• They were naturally separated by the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans which were immense natural barriers
• Manifest Destiny: belief that God chose the Americans to populate the lands surrounding the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Question 3

US Mexican Relations
(1865-1890)

Answer 3

• US was never fully isolationist, prepared to intervene whenever American interests were directly threatened
• 1846: US went to war with Mexico to support a rebellion in California for independence from Mexican rule
• The Second Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867)
• Direct threat to the Monroe Doctrine
• France took advantage of the USA’s preoccupation with the Civil War to establish a puppet emperor, Maximillian, supported by French troops
• 1866: Seward (Secretary of State) demanded that the French withdraw
• US moved 50,000 troops to the borders
• French backed down and abandoned Maximillian
• Mexicans executed Maximillian in 1867

Question 4

Midway Island (1867)

Answer 4

• USA acquired the inhabited island in the West Pacific
• 1868: Burlingham Treaty was signed to promote trade with China
• Endorsed the free movement of people and free trade between China and the USA
• Wanted to stimulated Chinese immigration to work on railroad building in the USA

Question 5

The Alaska Purchase
(1867)

Answer 5

• Purchased by America from Russia for $7.2 billion
• Many could not understand Seward’s motives in buying the area
• Russia was keen to sell due to little settlers and resources
• Seward felt that the development of Alaskan harbours may 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 Britain out
• Made sense to maintain good relations with such a powerful nation as Russia

Question 6

The Dominican Republic
(1869)

Answer 6

• 1869: Dominican Republic offered to be colonised but Congress refused
• Following year, federal government attempted to annex the Republic, sparking debate
• Those in favour of the annexation argued that the US would be able to exploit the wealth/resources and sell its goods, ready to market there
• Those against the annexation argued that the USA wouldn’t deal with ‘savages’
• There was fear within the people that they may be admitted into the Union or former colonies may become states, reducing the influence of tradition
• Senate rejected the annexation of the Dominic Republic

Question 7

US & British Tensions Over Canada
(1872)

Answer 7

• Strained relations between Britain and Canada after the Civil War
• Due to the apparent support given by the British and the Canadians to the Confederacy during the Civil War
• US objected to the building of Confederate ships in British dockyards
• These ships wreaked havoc with Northern Union shipping, forcing an increase in insurance for merchant ships
• After the Civil War, the US demanded compensation from Britain
• Canada became a self-governing dominion after 1867, Britain continued to control their foreign and defence polices
• Britain agreed to pay $15.5 million to the US for the damage caused by Confederate commerce raiders built in Britain to the US merchant fleet during the Civil War