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

"VindicatorOnlyof HerOwn" 183

foryou,hetoldtheclamorousassembly,"Hewilltakethebestofyour
fieldsandvineyardsandoliveorchardsandgivethemtohisservants.He
willtakethetenthofyourgrainandofyourvineyardsandgiveittohis
officersandtohisservants.Hewilltakeyourmenservantsandmaidser-
vants,andthebestofyourcattleandyourasses,andputthemtohis
work.Hewilltakethetenthofyourflocks,andyoushallbehisslaves.
Andinthatdayyouwillcryoutbecauseofyourking,whomyouhave
chosenforyourselves;buttheLordwillnotansweryo,uthatday."3
ThefirstIsraelhadlostitslibertytoa centralizing,tax-gathering,
bureaucracy-building state. What guaranteecould be givenfor the
second?
Libertyisinfinitelyprecious,andalmostasinfinitelyfragile;thatis
thecorebeliefofthejeffersonianmovement.Inthisit differsfromallthe
othermajorpoliticalforcesinAmericanlife.Hamiltoniansbelievethat
commercialdevelopmentcansecuretheblessingsoffreegovernment;
jeffersoniansnotethatinonedemocracyafteranother,greatcommercial
interestshavesubvertedthepoliticalprocesstoitsdestruction,andthat
theambitiousrichmancanbethegreatestdangertoa democraticsys-
tem.Wilsoniansbelievethattheforceofprogressandenlightenmentis
moving mankind toward a reign ofpeace and reason; jeffersonians
believethathistorygoesbackwardaswellasforward,andthatambition
andthelustforwealtharetoodeeplyembeddedinhumannaturetobe
easilyharnessedbyjustandrationallaws.jacksonians,asweshallsee,
believethatthedeep,goodheartoftheAmericanpeoplewillinstinc-
tivelyrepelanythreattotheircherisheddemocracy;jeffersoniansknow
toowellthedegreetowhichanunchecked,unbridledpopularpassion
canendangertheverydemocracythatitwantstoprotect.
jeffersoniansthereforefindthemselvesinanoddanddifficultposi-
tion.Theybelieve,perhapsmorethananyoneelse,thatdemocracyisthe
bestpossibleformofgovernment,buttheyconstitutetheonlymajor
Americanschoolthatbelieveshistoryisnotnecessarilyonthesideofthe
Americanexperiment.

JeffersonianForeignPolicyDoctrine

Fromthissenseofdemocracyasuniquelypreciousburachinglyvul-

nerablehasdevelopedthejeffersonianapproachtoforeignpolicy.The

jeffersonianminddoesnotscantheforeignpolicyhorizonina searchfor

opportunities;rather,itmostlyseesthreats.