Navy Lands, Muka Set Ablaze

1838

Sumatra

A naval force landed in Sumatra again at the town of Quallah Battoo and also Muka to punish the natives for plundering the American ship Eclipse, plundering its cargo and killing its crew. Muka was set ablaze.

1839

Hawaii

The king (Kamehameha III), the chiefs, and their advisors convened to draft a declaration of rights and laws. The declaration secured the rights of each Hawaiian citizen to "life, limb, liberty, the labor of his lands, and productions of his mind" and represented a critical concession to the king's subjects. The language ensured that native and non-Native Hawaiian citizens enjoyed equal protection under the law.

1840

Fiji

In July, an expedition landed in the Fiji islands to punish natives for attacking the American exploration and surveying parties of the USS Vincennes. Several villages were destroyed.

Samoa

On February 24, a naval party landed on Samoa to punish natives for the murder of an American seaman on Upolu Island the previous year. Over 100 huts were burnt along with all the canoes.

1844

China

Troops from the USS St. Louis landed in Canton to crush a Chinese riot against imperialists.

1845

Mexico

The US annexes Texas from Mexico. This led to unresolved border disputes.

1846

Mexico

The US seeks to purchase what is now New Mexico when this failed the US decided to take the region by force under the emerging doctrine of "Manifest Destiny". Mexico declared war on the US on April 23. Despite the objections of a new Congressman from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln, the US won the war. The cost was 13,780 US troops killed and over 25,000 Mexican troops killed.

1848

USA

The 13-year-old son of a Scottish immigrant named Andrew Carnegie worked as a bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh textile mill for 20 cents a day.

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