The “open door” policy was introduced by President McKinley because he was an imperialist who believed that China had free trade opportunities that would greatly benefit Americans . Americans were convinced that there was a large market in China that could help lift the American economy out of the depression and bring about economic change, and therefore they saw the Far East as a vital area for the expansion of American trade. With the introduction of Open Door trading, this expansion could be achieved. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayAmerica knew that there was European interference in China and did not want to conflict with this, so by introducing free trade, American trade would benefit and therefore they would not come into contact with European powers since they all had right to trade. McKinley believed that by keeping the world's great powers in balance; with no power being more powerful than another, peace would be maintained, and therefore, because of this reduction in international competition, this added to why McKinley wanted an Open Door policy to be adopted. The American government assumed that if the policy was adopted, China and Japan should theoretically remain happy. If this policy were introduced, China would be happy as it would be free from the overbearing influence of rivals Japan and Russia, and thus McKinley would also be able to protect American interests in China. McKinley believed that Japan would remain happy as he knew that they too were trying to expand their markets and a free trade market would allow them to do so. Another reason why this principle was adopted was due to Alfred Thayer Mahan's influences in political decisions. Mahan was a close friend of the then president, Theodore Roosevelt, and so Roosevelt accepted Mahan's arguments that by investing in China, the United States could build naval bases and thus America would have a more "advanced" foreign policy based on modern maritime power. By expanding the US Navy, America would appear more powerful to other countries with great maritime power that would be able to defend itself against attacks from other powers, especially European ones, and could join the list of world powers. The "Boxer" rebellion led to great instability in China, and helping to restore order was the American government, which gave the impression that it was its duty to impose this open-door policy to protect China, since they had no no choice but to "help". The United States (along with foreign governments) worked to send an international force to China that eventually dealt with the Boxers. As a result, the open door policy was applied to all of China, as America felt that they needed to be protected because they were defenseless; however, in reality, China was actually colonized. Keep in mind: this is just one example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers of the open door was introduced as both McKinley and Roosevelt wanted America to become a superpower and knew that by imposing a foreign policy and thus expanding trade and naval bases, this could be achieved. China had a big market which was key to this and by imposing “free trade” theoretically everyone would be happy. Furthermore, by expanding naval bases, America gained modern power.