University of Phoenix Material

American Imperialism

Part 1
Age of Imperialism: 1870 to 1914

Place | Why was there interest? | U.S. actions | Status today | Alaska | The purchase of Alaska in 1867 marked the end of Russian efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America and became an important step in the United States rise as a great power in the Asia-Pacific region. Beginning in 1725, when Russian Czar Peter the Great dispatched Vitus Bering to explore the Alaskan coast, Russia had a keen interest in this area, which was rich in natural resources and lightly inhabited. | Russia offered to sell Alaska to the United States in 1859. The looming U.S. Civil War delayed the sale, but after the war, Secretary of State William Seward quickly took up a renewed Russian offer and on March 30, 1867, agreed to a proposal from the Russian Minister in Washington, to purchase Alaska for $7.2 million. The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9; President Andrew Johnson signed the deal on May 28, and Alaska formally transferred to the United States on October 18, 1867. This purchase ended Russia’s presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim. | The Alaska Territory Constitutional Convention Adopted the Alaska Constitution on February 5, 1956. Alaska was inducted into the Union in 1959. President Eisenhower signed the official declaration, which made the territory of Alaska the 49th state. (Purchase of Alaska, 1867) | Hawaii | America's gaining Hawaii would extend U.S. territory into the Pacific and would result in economic integration and the rise of the United States as a Pacific power. For most of the 1800s, leaders in Washington were concerned that Hawaii might become part of a European nation's empire. During the 1830s, Britain and France forced Hawaii to accept treaties giving them