AP US History Crash Course on the Open Door Policy

Open Door policy is an important topic you have to understand before writing your AP US History exam. Our crash course is a great starting point for your Open Door policy APUSH prep. 

Here is your first insight: you don’t have to memorize every single event. No need to cram! Instead, focus on understanding the major themes and trends that have shaped American history. 

This approach allows students to get high AP grades, and it is applicable across other AP exams. Once you grasp these big ideas, you will fill in most of the details automatically. 

What Is the Open Door Policy?

Let’s start with the Open Door policy definition. Simply put, the Open Door policy was a set of rules created by the United States in 1899. Its main goal was to ensure that all countries trading with China, including the US itself, had equal rights. It also aimed to keep China’s territories and government untouched and coherent. This raises a logical question – why would the US care about China’s economy at all? This is where it gets interesting. 

The US Secretary of State, John Hay, spread this American foreign policy through letters to major countries: Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. While this policy was met with mixed reactions, overall most countries approved the idea. Therefore, it became a tool the United States used to deal with East Asia for over 40 years. 

John Hay, source: Britannica

What were the US interests here? After the economic depression of the 1890s, Americans became more interested in exporting their goods. Besides, after winning the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States gained new territories (the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico), annexed Hawaii, and established a significant presence in Cuba. 

This made Americans even more curious about China because they found new customers for the Chinese low-cost cotton products. The main goal of the Open Door policy was to prevent any single country from monopolizing trade with China. The US offered a seemingly fair rule: China must allow its officials to regulate trade and impose tariffs. Thus, the US intended to appease opponents of total imperialism by maintaining Chinese sovereignty. 

The Importance of the Open Door Policy 

What was the significance of this historical concept? Imagine a big market sale with amazing deals, but only a few powerful countries get to shop there. That’s what was happening in China during the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

But the issue was that most (if not all) key players wanted to extend their political and economic power. Basically, foreign countries (mainly Russia, France, Germany, Japan, and Great Britain) tried to establish their own sphere of influence in China. They all wanted a piece of the action – a chance to trade and make money in China’s rich market. 

Things got so intense that China became a stage for competition among global powers. These countries basically divided China among themselves, each getting its own unique area to control trade. 

Of course, the Open Door policy wasn’t the reason for that. It was the age of imperialism, and everyone tried to gain as much influence as they could. The Open Door policy was meant to improve the situation and prevent the division of Chinese territory. Did it manage to accomplish this? Hardly.

Source: Britannica 

Who Violated the Policy? 

To answer it shortly – Japan. In 1915, Japan ignored the Open Door policy by issuing Twenty-One Demands to China that were harsh. The Japanese wanted the following: 

• The confirmation of their rights to railways and mining in Shandong province;
• Special privileges in Manchuria; 
• Joint control with China over a mining base in central China;
• Access to coastal areas; 
• Regulation of trade and setting rules on financial, political, and police matters through advisors. 

Being under pressure, the Chinese government agreed to most of these demands. Imperial powers established areas where they had exclusive trade rights and control over local resources, significantly undermining China’s sovereignty. At that point, the US and Japan focused on creating relatively equal spheres of impact. 

But let’s get back to the law and political debate that were important aspects of the Open Door policy.  During the Washington Naval Conference of 1921-22, which was focused on Pacific security issues, countries (including the United States) agreed to stick to the Open Door principle again. 

Yet, Japan kept pressuring China to have more strict political and economic control. Tensions were rising for years, leading to the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Still, the United States firmly stood by the Open Door policy. They even banned key exports, such as oil and scrap metal, to Japan. These bans could be some of the key reasons Japan decided to engage in the war with the United States in late 1941, an event that further shaped world history. 

After Japan lost in World War II in 1945 and due to the Communist victory in China’s Civil War in 1949, special treatment for foreigners ended, which made the Open Door policy lose its meaning. China distanced itself from the capitalist and colonial powers, aligning more with the Soviet Union. 

How to Prepare Well for AP US History Exam: Best Practices

This is the question that interests any student, and no matter how far you are on your preparation journey, it is always up-to-date. No wonder! While every student is unique, we can offer you some generic best practices to ace your AP US History exam. 

Start With the US History Crash Course 

APUSH crash courses (like the one you’ve read today on the Open Door policy) are a great way to quickly learn the main things and critical context you need to know. It allows you to study only the information you need, especially if you lack time. Crash course is also a great supplement to the APUSH prep courses that offer more in-depth analysis.

Use Expert Test-Taking Strategies

The best way to succeed on the exam is to use proven test-taking strategies. Here are some approaches: 

• Sample AP US History exams. Gain invaluable experience with official AP materials and other AP US History practice tests. The more of them you do, the better and more confident you will feel.
• Focused practice. Don’t multitask. Hone your skills with targeted practice questions and ensure you’re completely up-to-date on the latest test revisions. Choose only what you’ll really need on the exam.
• Structure overview. To get acquainted with the test’s structure, take a full-length practice exam or a mini practice test. And try to replicate real exams as much as you can.
• Timed testing practice. Any exam has time limitations. Simulate the actual exam experience with timed testing conditions. This approach is not exclusive to US History; you can apply it to European History or Biology exams. 

Use the College Board Resources 

One of the main resources is the AP US History course and exam description provided by the College Board. You can find all the information on their website, including exam scores and helpful materials. The AP US History exam covers centuries of events, so check the structure provided by the College Board to know what you should focus on. 

Conclusion

Try practicing for the Open Door policy AP US History to do well on the exam. However, you may not always feel like preparing by yourself. In this case, consider working with a History teacher or hiring a tutor. Thus, you’ll have more guided practice. A tutor will help prepare for exam essays and document-based questions, as well as ace APUSH exam multiple-choice questions. Be consistent, practice a lot, and you will succeed!