#5 U.S. Actions and Events.

The first event that I chose to cover would be Commodore Matthew Perry's opening of Japan to Western Trade in 1854. Up until this time, Japan had sealed off its borders and its ports to outside trade, as they were fearful of the Westerners.  It was not until Commodore Matthew Perry sailed to Japan and exhausted his diplomatic efforts unsuccessfully that Japan would consider opening its borders. When diplomatic measures failed, Perry used a tactic now affectionately known as "Gunboat diplomacy" to coerce the Japanese to open their borders. They resisted at first, but the wise elders of Japan recognized the fact that their defenses and coastal cities were no match for the advanced artillery of the United States navy, and accepted Perry's terms. This led to a western, modernized Japan.



The second event that I chose was the overthrow of Hawaii and the ousting of the royalty. The U.S. forced the King in 1887 to sign a new constitution, which became known as the Bayonet Constitution. It stripped most of the power from the royalty and the king reigned until his death in 1891, from whence his sister,  Liliʻuokalani, to take over the monarchy. She attempted to draft a new constitution when White business leaders formed the Committee of Safety, which wanted to overthrow the government and be annexed by the U.S. and they called for military back up. The military force prevented the monarchy from defending itself and the Committee over threw the government. They then filed for annexation.

I chose these events because they are as close as America came to being imperialistic during this time, however both events can relate to something the European's had done. The European conquest of Africa and Asia incorporated the same techniques that the United States had used, the difference being that the U.S. did not gut said countries of their goods. The United States opened Japan in much the same way that the British opened China, they both used the same tactic. They both offered something that the other could not resist, for the Japanese, it was the threat of war, for the Chinese, opium. The situation in Hawaii is akin to that of the Boers in Southern Africa, they settled and eventually took over the countries in which they settled in, before being controlled by a larger sovereign nation.