Lesson 4: Global Interests

Lesson Focus

With continental expansion complete, the U.S. looked outward. This lesson explores how “manifest destiny” extended American interests south to Cuba and west across the Pacific to China and Japan, shaping its new role on the world stage.

People to Know

Commodore Matthew C. Perry, Narcisco López

Learning Objectives

• Explain the events, driven by competing interests in Central America, that resulted in the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty for a future canal.
• Compare the different motivations, from trade to expansion, driving American foreign policy in Cuba, China, and Japan during this era.

The U.S. wanted ports for its ships trading with China. Japan's location was ideal, but it had been isolated for centuries.
In 1853, Commodore Matthew C. Perry sailed a fleet into Tokyo harbor, using a mix of diplomacy and military threat to deliver a presidential request for trade.
This display of power persuaded Japan to open its ports, which sparked a rapid push for Japan to adopt Western technology and industrialize. Pay special attention to this turning point.

After the Mexican War, Southern states wanted to add new slave territory to maintain political balance. They targeted Cuba for its sugar plantations.
First, the U.S. tried to buy Cuba. When that failed, expansionists supported filibusters like Narcisco López who tried to seize it by force.
This effort culminated in the Ostend Manifesto, a secret plan to take Cuba by force that was leaked, causing outrage in the North and ending the effort.

The California Gold Rush of 1848 created a massive wave of migration to the West Coast. The journey overland was long and dangerous.

Many fortune seekers chose to save time by sailing to Panama, crossing the narrow isthmus by land, and then catching another ship to California.

This difficult process created a strong demand for a faster, all-water route, reigniting interest in building a canal across Central America to connect the oceans.

Following the renewed interest in a canal, both the United States and Great Britain had rival plans to control a route through Central America.

To avoid conflict, diplomats from both nations met in Washington, D.C., in 1850.

They signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, an agreement to jointly support the construction of a future canal. Note that this treaty prevented either nation from seizing exclusive control over this vital potential waterway.

American merchants desired access to China's huge market and valuable goods. However, China had long restricted foreign trade.

After Britain defeated China in the First Opium War (1839-1842), the U.S. sent diplomat Caleb Cushing to negotiate.

In 1844, Cushing secured a treaty granting the U.S. trade rights and extraterritoriality, meaning Americans in China would be tried under U.S. law. This opened the door for more American trade and influence.