I know this topic has been brought up before, but usually in the post-1900 board. I got this from the 'Grand Restry of US expansion' thread.
"Part 4: Perry's and Nye's Grand Designs on Taiwan in the Mid-19th Century
In the 1850s, several far-sighted Americans planned to occupy or purchase Taiwan, or establish new settlements on the island. Among them were Commodore Matthew C. Perry, Commodore James Armstrong, Gideon Nye, Jr., Isaac J. Allen (U.S. Consul to Hong Kong), Townsend Harris (U.S. Envoy to Japan), and Peter Parker (U.S. Envoy to China).
Commodore Perry ardently urged the U.S. Government to occupy Taiwan and turn it into a permanent U.S. military, commercial, trading, and cultural stronghold in the western Pacific. He proposed to set up some indigenous organizations to promote the idea of statehood. He also proposed a "Joint Sino-American Economic and Administrative Program," by which a U.S.-Formosa integration project could be introduced, to implement a slow, smooth, and step-by-step transition of Taiwan to full statehood over the years.
Gideon Nye, Jr., an American merchant, also laid out an occupation and settlement plan and presented it to Secretary of State William L. Marcy of the Pierce Administration.
Commodore Perry and his contemporaries worked and pushed hard, but to no avail. The timing was bad -- the issue of slavery was torturing the American soul and the specter of a civil war was looming larger and larger. Understandably, Formosa, an island thousands of miles away, was definitely not seen as pressing business on the U.S. Government's agenda, and required no immediate attention."
Quick internet searches verify some of this information, so let's say the POD is that President Pierce has a bout of expansionist feelings, and decides to back Perry's proposal. What would the effects of an American attempt to colonize Taiwan be? It probably wouldn't effect the outcome of the Civil War, but it would really thrust the USA into the heart of Pacific World far earlier than IOTL. If the Spanish-American War goes at OTL and the USA gets the Philippines, then the USA will have quite a bit of holdings in the Pacific, making the USA in general far more Pacific focused. How would this effect relations with Japan and China?
"Part 4: Perry's and Nye's Grand Designs on Taiwan in the Mid-19th Century
In the 1850s, several far-sighted Americans planned to occupy or purchase Taiwan, or establish new settlements on the island. Among them were Commodore Matthew C. Perry, Commodore James Armstrong, Gideon Nye, Jr., Isaac J. Allen (U.S. Consul to Hong Kong), Townsend Harris (U.S. Envoy to Japan), and Peter Parker (U.S. Envoy to China).
Commodore Perry ardently urged the U.S. Government to occupy Taiwan and turn it into a permanent U.S. military, commercial, trading, and cultural stronghold in the western Pacific. He proposed to set up some indigenous organizations to promote the idea of statehood. He also proposed a "Joint Sino-American Economic and Administrative Program," by which a U.S.-Formosa integration project could be introduced, to implement a slow, smooth, and step-by-step transition of Taiwan to full statehood over the years.
Gideon Nye, Jr., an American merchant, also laid out an occupation and settlement plan and presented it to Secretary of State William L. Marcy of the Pierce Administration.
Commodore Perry and his contemporaries worked and pushed hard, but to no avail. The timing was bad -- the issue of slavery was torturing the American soul and the specter of a civil war was looming larger and larger. Understandably, Formosa, an island thousands of miles away, was definitely not seen as pressing business on the U.S. Government's agenda, and required no immediate attention."
Quick internet searches verify some of this information, so let's say the POD is that President Pierce has a bout of expansionist feelings, and decides to back Perry's proposal. What would the effects of an American attempt to colonize Taiwan be? It probably wouldn't effect the outcome of the Civil War, but it would really thrust the USA into the heart of Pacific World far earlier than IOTL. If the Spanish-American War goes at OTL and the USA gets the Philippines, then the USA will have quite a bit of holdings in the Pacific, making the USA in general far more Pacific focused. How would this effect relations with Japan and China?