Chapter 23: Section 1, Part 1: A Pacific Empire

Main Idea: At the end of the 1800s, the United States became a world power,

acquiring new territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

A. A Tradition of Isolation For the 1st 75

years, America kept to itself and had little to do with foreign nations

This was good for a young nation, since we were busy developing

B. Dealing with Japan Japan had closed its doors to

“Westerners” since the 1600s (feared foreign influence)

Commodore Matthew Perry sailed to Tokyo in 1853 with four warships and a letter from Pres. Fillmore asking Japan to open trade with the U.S.

A year later they signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, which opened two ports for trade and agreed to help shipwrecked sailors

- President Fillmore sent Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853.

Commodore Matthew Perry

Japanese portrayal of Commodore Matthew Perry

- Perry arrived with four steam-powered warships, impressing the Japanese.

(Above) Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships in 1853

(Left) a Japanese ship, 1850’s; made so Japanese sailors would be unable to sail beyond the shores of Japan

Perry’s Visit

C. “Seward’s Icebox” Secretary of State William Seward

bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million = $.02/acre

Most Americans thought this was a foolish buy (worthless land) & called it Seward’s Folly

Alaska turned out to be a wise purchase. It was rich in natural resources (gold, oil, etc.)

Seward’s Folly

1867 map from U. S. Coast Survey Office

· Many Americans referred to the purchase as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”, thinking Alaska was a barren wasteland.

Thomas Nast ridicules the purchase of Alaska from Russia by depicting Secretary of State William H. Seward as an elderly mother caring for her child, a small version of Pres. Andrew Johnson dressed as Uncle Sam. On the wall poster in the cartoon’s background, Uncle Sam is shown trudging in snowshoes across the icy tundra, planting American flags on Alaskan mountaintops, as polar bears and walruses watch. A picture of an Eskimo family is sarcastically labeled “One of the Advantages.”

* Alaska, however, turned out to be rich in fish, gold, copper, timber, oil and coal.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline transports oil, Alaska's most important export.. It runs 800 miles, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Alaska at Valdez.