The diplomacy of involvement : American economic expansion across the Pacific, 1784-1900 / David M. Pletcher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pletcher, David M.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Commercial policy.

History.

International relations.

International economic relations.

United States--Foreign economic relations--Pacific Area.

United States.

Pacific Area--Foreign economic relations--United States.

Pacific Area.

United States--Foreign relations--Pacific Area.

Pacific Area--Foreign relations--United States.

United States--Commercial policy--History.

Physical Description:

xi, 379 pages : maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri Press, [2001]

Summary:

Like its predecessor, this important new work is focused on the connection between trade and investment on the one hand and U.S. foreign policy on the other. David Pletcher describes the trade of the United States with the Far East, the islands of the Pacific, and the northwest coast of North America from 1784 (the year of the first American trading expedition to China) to 1844 (the year of the first trade treaty with China, followed immediately by the U.S. acquisition of Oregon and California). He then traces the growth of trade and investment in Alaska, Hawaii, and the South Pacific from 1844 to 1890 and proceeds to do the same for China, Japan, and Korea. In the ensuing chapters, Pletcher covers the 1890s, including the annexation of Hawaii, the Sino-Japanese War, the acquisition of the Philippines, and the Open Door policy in China.

He concludes that the American expansion across the Pacific and into the Far East was not a deliberate, consistent drive for economic hegemony but a halting, experimental, improvised movement, carried out against determined opposition and indifference and dotted with setbacks and failures. Providing his own judgments about the wisdom and effectiveness of America's new endeavors, Pletcher summarizes the problems and handicaps involved, demonstrating that errors of the twentieth century were at least partly the result of poor preparation in the 1880s and 1890s.

Touching on every place where Americans undertook significant economic activity, The Diplomacy of Involvement will be an important aid for seasoned scholars, as well as an excellent introduction for the novice.

Contents:

I The Pacific and the Far East as Fields for Expansion, 1784-1890

1 The Chinese Magnet and the Pacific Distances 9

2 Alaska Commercial Gateway or Dead End? 33

3 Hawaii Sugar and Strategy 46

4 The Southwest Pacific Illusion Overcomes Reality 66

5 China I Four Hundred Million Customers 97

6 China II The Promoter's Dream, the Racist's Nightmare 134

7 Japan The Sincerest Flattery 153

8 Korea The Beginning of Political Involvement 179

II Economic Expansion Becomes Political Involvement, 1890-1900

9 The East Asian Cockpit of the 1890s 203

10 Contradictions in the Pacific 234

11 The Catalyst of War 258

12 Unfinished Business and New Directions 288

13 Conclusion

The Diplomacy of Involvement 306.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 318-368) and index.

ISBN:

0826213154

OCLC:

45829081