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

120 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

DEFENCEOFTHECALIFORNIABANK

Thiscartoonappearedearlyin 1849 andshowshowAmericansunder-

stoodtherelationshipbetweeninternationalpoliticsanddomestic

events.TherulersofBritain,Russia,France,andSpainareshownas

attemptingtotakeCalifornia-newlyinterestingbecauseoftheGold

Rush-fromtheUnitedStates.ZacharyTaylor(shownasaneagle)

responds,"RetreatyoupoorD[evil}s!nora squabbleengender.Forour

Golduntoyouwewillneversurrender."Tothetuneof"0Susanna!,"

Victoriasings,"Oh,DearAlbert[herPrinceConsort},don'tyoucryfor

me.I'mofftoCaliforniawithmyshovelonmyknee."Americanfears

forthesecurityofCaliforniawerenotatallfar-fetched.Neitherthe

transcontinentalrailroadnorthePanamaCanalthenexisted,andthe

westcoastoftheUnitedStateswaseasiertoreachbyseafromEurope

thanfromBostonorNewYork.

S.LeePerkins.LibraryofCongress,PrintsandPhotographsDivision,LC-US2 62 -7 212

wouldbeabletomaximizetheadvantagesofwhatwouldbecomeacen-
trallocationbetweenthetwocoastsofthegreatEurasiansupercontinent.
Giventhestakes,andgiventheelementofrivalrythatalwaysinfused
thespecialrelationship,itisnotsurprisingthatBritainandtheUnited
Statesstruggledforyearstocontrolthecanal,oratleasttodenycontrol
toeachother.Inthefirstphaseoftherivalry,Britainwasstronger,and
BritishagentsstakedoutclaimstotheCaribbeancoastofNicaragua,
thenbelievedtobethemostpromisingstartingpointfora canal.But