Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

TheSerpentandtheDove 1°9

could."Ihaveaboutthesamedesiretoannex[theDominicanRepub-
lid," saidTeddyRoosevelt,"asa gorgedboaconstrictormighthaveto
swallowa porcupinewrong-end-to."3
Whentheimperialisticmaniawasatitsheight,andtheideaofan
opendoorfortradebegantolookutopianina worldincreasinglydivided
intoquarrelingempires,Hamiltonianswantedtomakecertainthatthe
UnitedStatesgotitsfairshare.Hamiltonianbrainsbrieflyteemedwith
schemestoannexeverythingfromCanadaandBajaCaliforniatothe
unclaimedbitsofAfrica,butthisfitsoonpassed.Thebasicviewthat
dominatedHamiltonianopinionthroughmostofourhistorywas that
theUnitedStateshadfewterritorialambitionsbeyondwhatbecamethe
forty-eightcontiguousstatesandthecentralandnorthernPacific, but
thatwewantedverymuchtoenjoyopencommercialrelationswithall
theworld.
Thisdidnotnecessarilymeanthatwewantedtherestoftheworldto
enjoyopencommercialrelationswithus.Itwasclearlyinthenational
interestoftheUnitedStatestoopenforeignmarketstoAmerican-made
goods;itwasmuchlesscleartoHamiltonianmanufacturers.andbankers
thatitwasinthenationalinteresttoallowforeigngoodstotradefreely
intheUnitedStates.Itwascertainlynotinthesectionalinterestofthe
northeasternstates,orintheclassinterestofHamiltonianmanufactur-
ers.ThezenithofHamiltonianpowerintheUnitedStateslastedfrom
AbrahamLincoln'selectiontotheoutbreakoftheGreatDepression;of
theseventeenpresidentialelectionsheldbetweenLincoln'snomination
in 1860 andHoover'sdefeatin1932,theRepublicanswonallbutfour.
ThiswasalsotheperiodinwhichAmericantariffswereatthehighest
levelsinourhistory.
Duringmostofthattime,mostBritishstatesmanbelievedthatfree
tradebenefitedGreatBritainevenifothercountriesdidnotreciprocate.
ItwasBritain'swillingnesstoallowAmericangoodsreasonablyfree
accesstoitsmarketwithoutreciprocationthatallowedtheUnitedStates
a freerideintermsofinternationaltrade.WhenBritainrespondedtothe
Smoot-HawleyTariffintheUnitedStatesbyraisingreciprocaltariffs
againstAmericangoods,thegamewasup.
TheweightofHamiltonianopiniongraduallyshiftedfromprotec-
tionismtowardfree tradeasthelessonofreciprocitysankin. Inthe
aftermathofWorldWarII,Hamiltonianopinionwouldshiftevenfur-
ther,ultimatelyreachingtheoldBritishviewthatfreetradewouldbene-
fittheAmericaneconomyevenifothercountriesfailedtoopentheir