HIST 274 - Friend or Foe: China and the United States in Trade, War, and the Missionary Movement

The growing tension between China and the US has been much in the news, the latest episode in a multifaceted relationship that began in the eighteenth century. The US was a young nation; China was a declining empire. Yankee merchants were eager to make a fortune in the China trade, and missionaries were eager to take the Gospel to “China’s millions.” As the young nation became the leader of the free world, and revolutionaries turned China into a Communist state, the two countries have been both allies and enemies, and their citizens have regarded “the other” with curiosity, benevolence, suspicion, admiration, contempt, or hostility at different points in the two countries’ relationship. This course offers a historical overview of this evolving relationship.

Credits: 3
Terms Offered: As Needed
Attributes: Arts and Humanities II (AH2), Historical Perspectives (HST)