What Was the Purpose of the Open Door Policy?
After other nations claimed exclusive trading rights with regions in China, the United States declared the Open Door Policy toward China in the late 1890s to obtain access to China's lucrative market.
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Background
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During the 19th century, Great Britain won a war with China over the opium trade. Afterwards, the weakened Manchu Dynasty failed to prevent other nations from forcing favorable trading treaties onto China. The result was that Europe, in addition to Japan and Russia, divided China into "spheres of influence" by the end of the 1800s.
First Open Door Note (1899)
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The United States feared being shut out of China. President Theodore Roosevelt's secretary of state, John Hay, articulated the desire for unrestricted access to China's markets in the first Open Door note.
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Second Open Door Note (1900)
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After Russia occupied Manchuria, Hay asked all nations to respect the sovereignty of China in the second Open Door note.
Effects
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In practice, the United States did not oppose the European "spheres of influence." The United States did protest, however, when Russia and Japan took military action against China to obtain territory. While the United States gained limited access to Chinese markets, the Open Door policy failed to convince other nations to respect the sovereignty of China.
Significance
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The Open Door Policy symbolized the United States' ambivalent stance on imperialism. On one hand, the United States wanted access to overseas markets, but, on the other hand, the nation historically had opposed European imperialism.
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