202 SPECIALPROVIDENCE18°9.^40 JeffersonianRepublicansintroducedandcarriedthechartering
oftheSecondBankoftheUnitedStates;ifweweretoproceedclosely
withBritainweneededa nationalfinancialsystemsuitablefora com-
mercialandmaritimepower. AtthesametimeleadingJeffersonians
foundthemselvesendorsingprotectivetariffsandinternalimprovements
distressinglysimilartothoseoriginallyproposedbyHamilton.Atatime
ofBritishtechnologicalandfinancialsuperiority,a systemofprotective
tariffswastheonlywaytoensurethattheUnitedStateswouldnotsink
utterlyinto theroleofa providerofrawmaterialsfortheBritishindus-
trialmachine,andanoutletforitsfinishedproducts.Inthelastanalysis
thelesserevilwasthedevelopmentofa domesticmanufacturingsector;
thegreaterevilwas toremaina permanentappendagetotheBritish
dynamo.
Throughoutthenineteenthcentury,rightuptothefreesilverfight
underWilliamJenningsBryan,Jeffersonians wouldtrytolimitthe
scopeoftheseconcessionsandpreserveasmuchmonetaryindependence
from Britainas possible.Itmightbenecessarytooperatewithinthe
Britishinternationalorder,butonecouldstilltestthelimits.Atthe
sametime,Jeffersoniansdidtheirbesttolimitthetarifftothelevel
genuinelyneededtofoster"infantindustries,"andtopreventthesys-
temfrom becominga form ofpermanententitlementfor influential
industrialists.
Ontheotherhand,thegreatadvantageoftheMonroesystem,from
theJeffersonianpointofview,atleast,wasthedegreetowhichitfreed
theUnitedStates fromthedistastefulnecessityofmaintaininglarge
militaryforces.ThenineteenthcenturysawJeffersonianstryingwitha
greatdealofconsistencyanda reasonableamountofsuccesstoholdthe
levelofAmericanforcesattheabsoluteminimumrequired.
InthedecadeprecedingtheCivilWar,theUnitedStateshad27,95841
menunderarms,comparedto293,224^42 forGreatBritain,39°,000for
France, 35°,000forAustria, 220,000forPrussia, and550,00043 for
Russia.AlthoughAmericanmilitarystrengthrosetounprecedentedlev-
elsduringtheCivilWar,thedemobilizationafterwardwasthoroughand
swift.In 1877,theyearinwhichfederal troopswerefinallyremoved
fromtheSouth,armyenrollmenthadfallenbackto34,094.^44 In 1881
theU.S.Navywaswidelybelievedtobeinferiortothenavalforcesof
Chile.45Animportantelementinthisprogramofminimummilitary
force was thedemilitarizationofthe UnitedStates-Canadafrontier.
ThankstounderstandingswithBritain,beginning in 1817 withthe
Rush-BagotConvention~demilitarizingtheGreatLakes,4^6 thefrontier