American Foreign Policy Doctrines and Reality
I. The American Revolution “All men are created equal” Invasion Canada Dispossession Indians
II. Early Republic Northwest Ordinance: “empire of liberty” G. Washington (Farewell Address, 1796): “The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible… Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course.” Isolationism
Empire of Liberty? Haiti: 1798 slave insurrection US refuses recognition, undermines Indian Removal
III. Monroe Doctrine 1823: “the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain are henceforth not to be considered for future colonization by any European powers…” “…we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”
1846: Mexican-American War 1836: annex Texas 1844: 54’40” or fight! 1846: Mexican-American War Fabricated cause
IV. Roosevelt Corollary “Big Stick” in Panama 1904-5: “international police power” “Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere, require intervention by some civilized nation…” Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic
V. Dollar and Moral Diplomacy Taft: military hegemony Wilson: idealism