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Others in the Pacific Wake, Midway, and Guam (and Samoa too)

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Secretary of State William H. Seward Secretary of State under Lincoln Johnson He envisioned a GREAT EMPIRE and wanted to annex Canada Hawaii Several Caribbean islands Virgin Islands Dominican Republic Several Pacific islands Alaska Our population is destined to roll its resistless waves to the icy barriers of the north, and to encounter oriental civilization on the shores of the Pacific. ~William Seward

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What do you think almost happen to him? Had been in serious carriage accident just nine days earlier - close to death - bedridden Night of Lincolns assassination (PLAN included hitting top officials in administration) One of the co-conspirators - Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Paine) Talked his way into the Seward house - Pretending that he was delivering medicine - Stopped on the stairs by Seward's son, Frederick Lewis Panicked attacking Frederick and dashing into the Secretary of State's bedroom. He stabbed Seward multiple times, injured another of Seward's sons and his bodyguard, and retreated into the night thinking he had mortally wounded the Secretary of State. It was only after Powell was captured the next day that he discovered that Seward was still alive; Seward went on to make a full recovery

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US claimed the islands of Midway (1867) and Wake* (1899) in the Pacific. * The claim is currently disputed by the Republic of Marshall Islands - sovereignty over Wake (boundary dispute)

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1)Northwest of Hawaii and approximately half way between the West coast of the United States and Japan 2)Perfect way station for both military and merchant vessels. 3)Islands uninhabited little stood in the way of the United States annexing the islands 4)Established Naval and Air bases - airstrip and a few Air Force buildings Why Midway and Wake? LOCATIONPRIME LOCATION! This marks Americas first annexation of a territory not on the North American continent 3

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Island WAS occupied however escalating tensions between competing Samoan warlords AND it wasnt only US looking there - Britain and Germany - Three powers met in Berlin - Split the islands into three different protectorates. *To diffuse tensions, and possibly war All this was done without consulting the local Samoans. HistoriansHad the United States not previously expanded its control into Hawaii and Midway they would not have had the leverage and strength within the region grab themselves a share of these valuable islands. American Samoa still exists as a territory of the United States (Refueling Station) Samoa Annexed the area in 1889.

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Guam Why? 1)The strategic position 2)Nature of the land itself. 1)Northern half - plateau of coral formation, 2)Southern half - hilly Guam mattered to Spain, the country that had claimed the island since 1668 Inhabited primarily by the native Chamorro While President McKinley unabashedly admitted he couldn't find the Philippine Islands on a map "within 2,000 miles", Guam was even harder to find

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Guam was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish American War in 1898 and formally purchased from Spain for $20 million in 1899. At the time of the turnover, the local population of Guam about 10,000 inhabitants. U.S. President William McKinley issued an executive order placing Guam within the administration of the Department of Navy. Under Navy administration, Guam experienced many improvements in the areas of agriculture, public health, sanitation, education, land management, taxes, and public works. The U.S. Navy continued to use Guam as a refueling and communication station until 1941, when it fell to invading Japanese forces shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Still a territory of the US today

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Nowlets turn our attentions to another attention-grabbing area

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Purchase of Alaska March 30, 1867 Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for bargain price $7.2 million ($0.02 per acre). At the time, critics thought Seward was crazy and called the deal "Seward's folly." Seward was laughed at for his willingness to spend so much on "Seward's icebox"

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Background Why buy an ice box? Seward had wanted to buy Alaska for a long time. #1 - so large would increase the size of the U.S. by nearly 20 percent. Who was there already? Russia FIRST OFFER TO SELL during President James Buchanan's administration...But the Civil War stalled negotiations. After the war, it was not easy for Seward to convince the Senate that Alaska would be an important addition to the United States.

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