HIST 3660 The U.S. and The Pacific

This course explores the cultural, political, and human intercourse between North America and East Asia across the broad highway of the Pacific. The Pacific Ocean has been, since the days of the New England whalers and clipper ships, both a frontier and an opportunity, attracting Americans. Examines American interests in the Far East, how the U.S. acquired territories as diverse as Hawaii and the Philippines, and emerging American ideas about worlds beyond the West Coast. Also considers how America’s interests have been reciprocated in Asia, Commodore Perry’s role in the opening of Japan, and why people from Japan, China, and the Philippines, the Pacific, and Southeast Asia have looked to America as a land of opportunity, a threat, a place of succor and a source of exploitation.
Credits: 3.0