1. Why was foreign policy so important to early American politics? Why does the American founding myth emphasize isolationism? (Mead) Why was trade/foreign investment so important to early USFP? What kind of FP did it require? Why did Congress so quickly yield power to presidents? Expertise, success, & our weak Constitutional design How did the US deal with Europe after the founding period? Western Expansion What methods did the US use to expand across the continent?: Genocide, buying,populating, and picking sides Why did we deal with non-whites differently? Individual rights, Racism, Christianity, and Manifest Destiny Was the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon (1803) legal? Texas (1845) & Mexican American War (1846)

2. Why did the US become an overseas imperialist? Latin America & Asia The Monroe doctrine (1823): Why? Could we enforce it? Why was the Civil War (1850s) was a critical turning point: Industrialization and the acquisition of a modern navy Gun boat diplomacy & the Pacific rim: “Opening” doors in Japan (1850s) & China (1850s). How was this type of imperial activity different (trade and religion vs. occupation)? War with Spain (1898): The strategic importance of Cuba & the Philippines The Roosevelt Corollary (1903), Panama Canal (treaty 1903), and Latin American relations in the “back yard” What do the Philippines and Nicaragua tell us about the nature of America’s imperial ambitions? The pattern: try to impose “democracy” and invest locally, provoke insurgencies and retreat, and support long-term dictators (Bender)

3. Why was the US successful as an emerging global power even when it claimed not to be one? (Mead’s article) Forget about limited government: The people and elites wanted power when things went easily We committed our best politicians to the cause of expanding US trade interests and acted in realist fashion We exploited splits in Europe with moving alliances Went toe-to-toe with European powers and won In the west, in Asia, and in Latin America we took advantage of power vacuums We understood early on the importance of economic control vs. occupation as the root of international power