America's Asian Foreign Policy from the 1820s Through 1900

Throughout the 1830s and 40s, the US came to view Asia less as the Far East and more as the "Far West": a continuation in its territorial expansionist goals and manifest destiny. (LaFeber, 101, 138) The United States' Asian policy throughout this period has been largely indicative of this goal, as well as the American desire to expand its economic and cultural sphere of influence.

In the case of China, the US had relied heavily on preexisting trade deals with the British up to the 1840s, even with regard to opium trafficking. American-Chinese relations were haphazard at best, though, as Oriental customs were largely alien to American businessmen. US-Chinese relations were further complicated by the British Opium Wars in 1839 and 1842. (LaFeber, 101-102)

The US had been in an economic depression from 1837-1841 resulting from an overabundance of consumer goods and insufficient markets to funnel them into. President Tyler recognized China as the solution to the United States' economic dilemma. He appointed Caleb Cushing as the first US minister to China in 1843. Cushing was able to gain "most-favored nation status" for the US, as well as extraterritoriality rights for American citizens in China, under the Treaty of Wangxia in 1844. The door to China opened, the US benefited immensely; however, the question of Christian missionaries remained an issue. The Emperor of China vehemently opposed their religious infiltration into as evidenced by the 1850 Taiping Rebellion to stamp out foreign influences. Most Americans viewed the infusion of Christianity into Chinese society as part and parcel with normalizing trade relations; one can't very well do business with a country who remains outside the "family of nations and the benign influence of Christianity." (LaFeber, 103) US diplomats were finally able to secure the Treaty of Tianjin in 1858, which secured tolerance for Christian missionaries, as well as allowed US diplomats into the capital of Peking (Beijing) for the first time. Tianjin and Wangxia, collectively, set the tone for US-Chinese relations for the next 90 years. (LaFeber, 102-104)

American attention then shifted to Japan, which up to this point had been largely closed off to foreign business. Japanese xenophobia and resistance to US trade were deemed unnatural by most Americans, so President Fillmore entreated the Japanese emperor to open his ports to American business and technology in exchange for Japanese coal to power its steamships. Commodore Matthew Perry was thus dispatched to Japan in 1852. A showing of force was necessary on his second visit, however, to broker certain trade and commerce deals; American consul Townsend Harris signed a treaty to open five major Japanese ports and extend extraterritoriality rights to American citizens in Japan. (LaFeber, 136)

The Japanese were viewed by many Americans much in the same way as they had seen the Native Americans: barbaric and operating outside the law; therefore it was an underlying goal of the Japanese venture to "civilize" their society according to American standards. (LaFeber, 137) The Japanese - as well as the Chinese - were cognizant of this intent, but largely didn't care; they viewed American society as uncivilized as well. Nevertheless, Japan and China did play along for the sake of their own investments.

WORKS CITED

LaFeber, Walter.The American Age: US Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad: 1750 to the Present. Second Edition. W. W. Norton & Company. New York. London. 1994.