Crossroads: High School Curriculum
Unit VIII: Waves of Reform: 1880s to 1921
Lesson 2
SITUATIONS IN BRIEF
China
The United States developed an active trade with China and other Asian nations beginning in the late 1780s, but this trade experienced a quantum jump in growth in the mid-nineteenth century. After the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States acquired control of the Philippines, Midway, Hawaii, Guam, and Samoa; these possessions made the United States an important Far Eastern power and increased American activity and involvement in the Pacific and in mainland Asia.
The United States was concerned that European powers would establish spheres of influence in the moribund Chinese empire, which had no power to resist European military might; these spheres, American policymakers worried, could cut off profitable areas of trade to American interests. Secretary of State John Hay announced that the United States favored an "open door" to China -- that is, that all nations would have equal opportunities to pursue trade in Chinese markets and goods. Even though the European powers never formally agreed to abide by the Open Door policy, they acknowledged that it was in effect.
For the last six months, all foreign diplomats have been under siege in Peking (Beijing) by gangs of young activists organized by Chinese secret societies. The diplomats are now running out of food and water. In addition to American diplomats, there are many Americans living and working in China, most of them missionaries; the secret societies regard missionaries as threats to Chinese culture and values and thus are particularly eager to kill them. The dream of these societies is to rid China of all foreign influences, so that the Chinese Empire may recover its might and restore its status as the central power in world affairs.
This "Boxer Rebellion" threatens the lives of all Europeans and Americans in China. To avoid more bloodshed and chaos, an international expedition has been sent to crush the Boxer Rebellion.