602 Chapter 22 From Isolation to Empire
American warships in the area provided a needed
measure of political stability. In the long run, how-
ever, the Roosevelt Corollary caused a great deal of
resentment in Latin America, for it added to national-
ist fears that the United States wished to exploit the
region for its own benefit.
Activities of the United States in the Caribbeanat
http://www.myhistorylab.com
The Open Door Policy in China
The insular cases, the Platt Amendment, and the
Roosevelt Corollary established the framework for
American policy both in Latin America and in East
Asia. Coincidental with the Cuban rebellion of the
1890s, a far greater upheaval had convulsed the
ancient empire of China. In 1894–1895 Japan easily
defeated China in a war over Korea. Alarmed by
Japan’s aggressiveness, the European powers has-
tened to carve out for themselves new spheres of
influence along China’s coast. After the annexation of
the Philippines, McKinley’s secretary of state, John
Hay, urged on by business leaders fearful of losing
out in the scramble to exploit the Chinese market,
tried to prevent the further absorption of China by
the great powers.
For the United States to join
in the dismemberment of China
was politically impossible because
of anti-imperialist feeling, so Hay
sought to protect American inter-
ests by clever diplomacy. In a series
of “Open Door” notes (1899) he
asked the powers to agree to
respect the trading rights of all
countries and to impose no dis-
criminatory duties within their
spheres of influence.
The replies to the Open Door
notes were at best noncommittal,
yet Hay blandly announced in
March 1900 that the powers had
“accepted” his suggestions! Thus
he could claim to have prevented
the breakup of the empire and pro-
tected the right of Americans to do
business freely in its territories. In
reality nothing had been accom-
plished; the imperialist nations did
not extend their political control of
China only because they feared
that by doing so they might precip-
itate a major war among them-
selves. Nevertheless, Hay’s action
marked a revolutionary departure
SeetheMapfrom the traditional American policy of isolation, a
bold advance into the complicated and dangerous
world of international power politics.
Within a few months of Hay’s announcement the
Open Door policy was put to the test. Chinese
nationalists, angered by the spreading influence of for-
eign governments, launched the so-called Boxer
Rebellion. They swarmed into Peking and drove for-
eigners behind the walls of their legations, which were
placed under siege. For weeks, until an international
rescue expedition (which included 2,500 American
soldiers) broke through to free them, the fate of the
foreigners was unknown. Fearing that the Europeans
would use the rebellion as a pretext for further expro-
priations, Hay sent off another round of Open Door
notes announcing that the United States believed in
the preservation of “Chinese territorial and adminis-
trative entity” and in “the principle of equal and
impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire.”
This broadened the Open Door policy to include all
China, not merely the European spheres of influence.
Hay’s diplomacy was superficially successful.
Although the United States maintained no important
military force in East Asia, American business and
commercial interests there were free to develop andGrace Service, a YMCA missionary, explained that these porters worked at the base of Mount
Omei in Szechwan, China, a favorite site for Buddhist pilgrims. Upper-class Chinese women’s
feet were bound to keep them small. The deformities that resulted limited the distance they
could walk, so they hired men such as these to carry them to the summit.