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

TheSerpentandtheDove I I I

mustbeanauthoritytoensurethatcurrencieskeeptheirvalueandto
guaranteeliquidityfor internationalcapitaltransactions. Courtsmust
treatnoncitizensona levelwithcitizenswhenitcomestotheenforce-
mentofcommercialcontracts.
These considerations have been central to Hamiltonianthinking
sincetheeighteenthcentury-sincetheeraoftheArticlesofConfedera-
tion.TheneedfortheUnitedStatestomaintainsoundpublicfinance
wasoneofthereasonsthatHamiltonandhisassociatesfavoredtheestab-
lishment ofa constitutionand a strong national government. The
assumptionofthepublicdebtandtheestablishmentoftheFirstBank
oftheUnitedStateswerethedirectandimmediatecausesofthefirst
greatfightbetweenthepartiesthatbecameknownasHamiltoniansand
JeffersoniansduringtheWashingtonadministration.Theneedtohonor
and enforce debts owed to British subjects in American state and
nationalcourtswaspartofthewrenchingdebateovertheJayTreatywith
GreatBritain,one ofthefirstfull-scale battlesoverforeignpolicy in
Americanhistory.
From 1789 untilWorldWarI theneedfora soundinternational
mediumofexchangewasfeltprimarilyintheformationofHamiltonian
domestic policy. The fightsover theFirstand Second Banksofthe
UnitedStateswerecriticalbattlesbeforetheCivilWar;thecontroversies
overgreenbacksandfreesilverdidmuchtoshapedomesticpoliticsin
thefollowinghalfcentury.ForHamiltonians,theimportanceofthese
battleslayonlypartlyindomesticquestionsoverpricesandinflation.
AnunstabledollaragainstthepoundwouldcurtailtheflowofBritish
investment,whichremainedcrucial toAmericaneconomicexpansion
untilthetwentiethcentury.Thegoldstandard,attackedbyBryanasa
"crossofgold"onwhichevilbankerswishedtocrucifymankind,wasfor
Hamiltoniansthenecessaryinstrumentofinternational-andtherefore,
ofnational-business.Moderate Hamiltoniansrepeatedlyproclaimed
theirreadinesstoconsidersilvercoinageifBritainandtheotherleading
countrieswouldagree,butnoagreementonthispointwaseverforth-
coming.Foreignanddomestic policywereinextricablymixed;great
domesticbattleshadforeignpolicyimplicationsandviceversa.
TheshiftinfinancialpowerawayfromGreatBritainandtowardthe
UnitedStatesintheearlydecadesofthetwentiethcenturymeantthat
thecontinuingHamiltonianconcernfora stableinternationalfinancial
systemwouldthenceforwardinvolvea moreactiveinternationalrolefor
theUnited States. Throughoutthe "isolationist" 1920S, the Federal