内战结束后,掌管美国外交事务的国务卿威廉.亨利.西沃德继续推行被内战严重妨碍的扩张政策。1867年10月,为了在西印度群岛建立一个海军基地,实现西沃德“太平洋商业帝国”的伟大梦想,与欧洲争夺在加勒比海地区的霸权,美国与丹麦签订了购买西印度群岛的条约。由于各种原因,该条约最终流产。 After the civil war, William Henry Seward, the secretary of state in charge of U.S. foreign affairs, continued to pursue the policy of expansion that was seriously hampered by the civil war. In October 1867, in order to establish a naval base in the West Indies, to realize the great dream of Seward “Pacific Business Empire,” to compete with Europe for supremacy in the Caribbean region, the United States signed a contract with Denmark for the purchase of the West Indies treaty. For various reasons, the treaty eventually aborted.