TheAmericanForeignPolicyTradition 17BritishinvestmentinIndia.3^3 In 1885 theNewYorkTimescalledforcon-
gressionalaction:"Webelievethatthebuildingupofgreatestatesby
Englishmenshouldbeprevented."34
ThegreatbanksoftheAnglo-AmericanestablishmentliketheHouse
ofMorgancontrolledthenation'smoneysupplyandhadthepowerof
lifeanddeathovermostbusinesses. Populistagitatorslambastedthe
"MoneyTrust";thenotedauthor,lecturer,andpoliticalcrusaderMary
Leaseattackedthepro-goldstandardpresidentGroverClevelandasan
agentof"JewishbankersandBritishgold."35 Likethird-worldpoliti-
cianswhocomplaintodayabouttheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF),
Americanpoliticianscouldmakelittleheadwayagainsttheentrenched
powerofforeigninvestorsintheAmericaneconomy.3^6 Asmanypop-
ulistssuspected,someofthiswasduetobribespaidtoAmericanpoliti-
ciansbyrepresentativesofBritishinterests.DanielWebster,forexample,
accepted a paymentofnine hundredpoundsfromthe Britishbank-
ingfirmBaring,tohelppushMarylandtoresumepaymentstoBritish
creditors.^37
Likeitornot,theUnitedStateswasinextricablyboundupinthe
Britisheconomicsystem.And,thoughtheabsenceofhistoricalpolling
datamakesthestatementimpossibletoprove,theaverageAmericanin
1845 or 1895 appearstohavebeenatleastasawareofthelinksbetween
domesticprosperityandtheinternationaleconomyashisorhercounter-
partis today,andperhapsmoreso.
Politicallythefirst 140 yearsorsoofAmericanindependencewere
notaquiettimeinAmericanforeignrelations.Virtuallyeverypresiden-
tialadministrationfromWashington'stoWilson'ssentAmericanforces
abroadorfacedoneormorewarcrises.witha greatEuropeanpower.Dur-
ingtheNapoleonicWars,ofcourse,theUnitedStatesfoughtanunde-
clared navalwarwithFranceand bothdeclaredandundeclaredwars
withGreatBritain.Thesewarsandtheirconsequences-includingJef-
ferson'sembargo,whichbannedalltradebetweentheUnitedStatesand
Europe-hadimmenserepercussionsondomesticsociety.Theembargo
wasperhapsthemostpainfuleconomicshocktheUnitedStatesever
experienced.^38
ThefederalunionalmostbrokeupovertheWarof1812,andthen
Britishtroops sacked Washingtonand attackedBaltimoreand New
Orleans.Theconsequenceswerenotlimitedtothebattlefield;American
foreigntradefellby 90 percentbetween 1807 and 1814 astheBritish
navyblockadedthecoastoftheUnitedStates.Theresultingcollapsein