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

14 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

tiedtointernationalaffairs,andtheconnectionwaslostneitheronthe
votersnoronthosewhohopedtowintheirsupportforoffice.
Statisticsfor the periodareinexact,buttheevidencesuggeststhat
theU.S.economywasatleastasdependentonforeigntradein 1790 as
itwas twohundredyears later.I3EconomicallytheUnitedStateswas
moredependentontherestoftheworldinthenineteenthcenturythan
itwasduringmuchoftheColdWar.From 1948 to1957,foreigntrade
accounted,onaverage,for7.3percentoftheGNP;from 1869 to1893,
for13.4percent. 14
Thistradewasnotsimplya concernofseaboardtowns:Agricultural
exportsstreamedfromAmericanfarmstoEuropeanmarkets.Between
1802 and 1860 cottonexportsrosefroma valueof$5milliona yearto
$192milliona year;between 1866 and 1900 thosesamecottonexports
hadanaverageannualvalueof$2I3 million.Theproportionofthevital
cottoncropexportedtoBritishmanufacturersroseashighas 64 per-
cent,lSWheatexports,whichwerenegligiblebeforetheCivilWar,had
jumpedtoa century-highvalueof$191millionby1880,andaveraged
$88millionperyearbetweenthenandtheendofthecentury. 16 Between
1850 and 1900 agriculturalproductsmadeupbetween 73 and 83 per-
cent ofallexportsfromtheUnitedStates^17 ata timewhenuptohalfof
theAmericanpopulationworkedinfarming.I8
Accesstoforeignmarketswasa requirementforAmericanfarmersin
remotesettlements.SomuchsothatmostprominentAmericanpolitical
leadersbelievedthatcontrolofNewOrleansanditsportwasessential,
notmerelytonationalhappiness,buttounity.WhileDavyCrockettand
DanielBooneroamedtheAppalachianwilds,informedopinioninthe
UnitedStatesandabroadheldthattheMiddleWestwouldnotremain
ina federalunionthatcouldnotprovideitsinhabitantswithsafeaccess
tointernationalmarkets.Thevolunteerbackwoodsmenwhofollowed
AndrewJacksontoNewOrleansknewwhythatcitywasfundamentally
importantto American prosp~rityand union, and they gra~ped the
importanceofthebattletheyfoughtthere.
Theirchildrenandgrandchildrenneverforgottheirdependenceon
foreign customersandonthemeansoftransportingtheirproduceto
market.Americanfarmerswereutterlydependentonexportmatketsfot
theirwheat,corn,tobacco,andcotton.Thecashincomeofa familyon
theIllinoisplainsdependedontheconditionsoftheEuropeanwheat
market. AsRep.Sidney Breeseremarkedonthefloor ofCongressin
1846, "Illinoiswants a marketfor heragriculturalproductions.She