During the second half of the 19th century, the United States was not concerned much with events in other countries. It was too busy dealing with events inside its own borders. At that time, the nation was recovering from its civil war. It was expanding to the west. It was developing industries
Driven mostly by commerce, the maritime westward expansion of the United States during the 19th century included an ongoing push to establish a stronger U.S. presence in and across the Pacific Ocean.
As production increased, the United States began trading more and more with other countries. And it needed a new foreign policy to defend its interests.
The appeal of profits to be earned from the China trade served as the initial impetus to motivate U.S. citizens and officials to enter into the Pacific region.
Following U.S. independence, U.S.-based merchants continued to seek opportunity in China.
During the first decades of the 19th century, U.S. merchants amassed sizable fortunes that they subsequently invested in the development of their homeland. As this trade grew, U.S. traders built a small outpost in China and their interactions with Chinese subjects became more complex and occasionally contentious.
U.S. expansion across the Pacific fundamentally changed the global position of the United States. By 1900, the United States was a recognized world power with substantial commercial, political, and military interests and territorial holdings throughout the Pacific region.
To learn more, see links below:
www.manythings.org - Trade Drives America's Foreign Policy in the Late 1800's
history.state.gov - United States Maritime Expansion across the Pacific during the 19th Century
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