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Opening of Japan
The opening of Japan happened July 8th when they first arrived in 1853. On March 31 1854 representatives of Japan and the United States signed a historic treaty. A United States naval officer, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, negotiated tirelessly for several months with Japanese officials to achieve the goal of opening the doors of trade with Japan. It helped us economically by helping us expand our trade. -
United States Purchases Alaska
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of Russian America by the United States from the Russian empire in the year 1867 by a treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate. Russia's major role had been getting Native Alaskans to hunt for furs, and missionary work to convert them to Christianity.Originally organized as the Department of Alaska, the area was successively the District of Alaska and the Alaska Territory before it was admitted as a state in 1959. It helped us politically by giving us more land. -
Spanish American War
Following its declaration of war against Spain issued on April 25, 1898, the United States added the Teller Amendment asserting that it would not attempt to exercise hegemony over Cuba. Two days later Commodore George Dewey sailed from Hong Kong with Emilio Aguinaldo on board. Dewey did not have enough manpower to capture Manila so Aguinaldo's guerrillas maintained their operations until 15,000 U.S. troops arrived at the end of July. It helped us socially because we freed people of Cuba. -
Annexation of Hawaii
America’s annexation of Hawaii in 1898 extended U.S. territory into the Pacific and highlighted resulted from economic integration and the rise of the United States as a Pacific power. For most of the 1800s, leaders in Washington were concerned that Hawaii might become part of a European nation’s empire. During the 1830s, Britain and France forced Hawaii to accept treaties giving them economic privileges. It helped us economically because it opened up trading routes. -
US annexes the Philippines
On February 4, 1899, just two days before the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, fighting broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists led by Emilio Aguinaldo who sought independence rather than a change in colonial rulers. The ensuing Philippine-American War lasted three years and resulted in the death of over 4,200 American and over 20,000 Filipino combatants. This helped us politically by giving us more land. -
Open Door Policy with China
Open Door policy, statement of principles initiated by the United States for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. The statement was issued in the form of circular notes dispatched by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. It helped us economically by giving us our goods. -
Boxer Rebellion
Beginning in 1898, groups of peasants in northern China began to band together into a secret society known as I-ho ch'üan ("Righteous and Harmonious Fists"), called the "Boxers" by Western press. Members of the secret society practiced boxing and calisthenic rituals (hence the nickname, the "Boxers") which they believed would make them impervious to bullets. It helped us politically because it helped people stand up to the government. -
Panama Canal
President Theodore Roosevelt oversaw the realization of a long-term United States goal—a trans-isthmian canal. Throughout the 1800s, American and British leaders and businessmen wanted to ship goods quickly and cheaply between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. To that end, in 1850 the United States and Great Britain negotiated the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty to reign in rivalry over a proposed canal through the Central American Republic of Nicaragua. This helped us economically by opening trade routes. -
Platt Amendment
Approved on May 22, 1903, the Platt Amendment was a treaty between the U.S. and Cuba that attempted to protect Cuba's independence from foreign intervention. It permitted extensive U.S. involvement in Cuban international and domestic affairs for the enforcement of Cuban independence. It helped us economically by opening up trade. -
Roosevelt Corollary
President Theodore Roosevelt’s assertive approach to Latin America and the Caribbean has often been characterized as the “Big Stick,” and his policy came to be known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Although the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 was essentially passive, by the 20th century a more confident United States was willing to take on the role of regional policeman. This helped us economically because it gave us policemen and law enforcers.
