USA 1865-90: Foreign Policy and The End of the Frontier

• Manifest Destiny


  - slogan coined in the 1840s

  - belief that continentalism was the God given right of the Americans

  - territorial consolidation 1865-90 paved the way for imperialism beyond
• Purchase of Alaska


  1867

  - Seward makes purchase from Russia for $7.2 mil

  - brought resources (e.g. Alaska -Yukon Gold Rush 1890s)

  - good relationship with Russia
• Burlingame Treaty


  1868- free movement of goods and people with China
• Hamilton Fish


  trade treaty with Hawaii 1875

  - similar treaty with Samoa in 1878 (paved the way for future expansionism)
• Pan-American conference


  1881

  - James Blaine

  - opens relations with the americas which leads to expansionism
• William H. Hunt


  1882

  - advocates for naval expansion after realising that only 42 ships were operational
• Monroe Doctrine


  1823

  - remained in place and was not broken until 1898 in Spanish-American war
• Dominican Republic offer themselves for colonisation


  1869

  - congress declines
• Demanded reparations from GB for Confederate Commerce Raiders built


  $15.5 mil in 1872
• End of 1880s navy ranking


  17th in the world
• 1885-87 harsh winters


  90% of cattle killed
• when did the US Census Bureau declare that the Frontier was officially closed


  1890
• Turner Thesis


  1893

  - described how laissez-faire had created hard working individuals and rejected European views and thinking

  - the west was responsible for these 'American' characteristics
• Granger Movement


  1877

  - small farmers enforced favourable legislation in Illinois
• by 1885 how many members did the Granger Movement have


  850,000
• American Economic Association


  1885

  - maximise economic practices
• .... States pass laws to limit cartels and trusts


  1880s 27 states
• Interstate Commerce Act


  1887

  - regulated railroad and other interstate businesses
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act


  1890

  - limit monopolies and take action against trusts