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

24 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

tox,dispatchedGen.PhilipSheridantotheRioGrandewithvictorious
CivilWartroops.45(AfterbeingabandonedbyhisFrenchpatrons,the
"Emperor"Maximilianperishedbeforea Mexicanfiringsquadinr 867.)
TheUnitedStateswasalsoheavilyinvolvedwithLatinAmerica.As
earlyas r832,theUnitedStatessenta fleettotheFalklandIslandsto
reduceanArgentinegarrisonthathadharassedAmericanshipping.The
MexicanWarwas,ofcourse,thegreatestexampleofAmericaninterven-
tion,butbytheCivilWar,Americanforces hadseenactioninHaiti
(1799, r800,r817-2r),Tripoli(r8r5),theMarquesasIslands(r8r3-
r4),SpanishFlorida(r806-ro, r8r2, r8r3, r8r4, r8r6-r8, r817),
whatis nowtheDominicanRepublic(r800),Curacao(r800),theGala-
pagosIslands(r8r3),Cuba(r822),PuertoRico(r824),Argentina(r833,
r852, r853),andPeru(r835-36).46BetweentheCivilWarand the
Spanish-AmericanWar,marinesweresenttoCuba,Uruguay,Argentina,
Chile,Colombia,andHaiti.47
Duringtherecurringgreat-powercrisesofthenineteenthcentury,
serious statesmen constantly saw war as possible, probable, oreven
inevitable.Publicopinionagreed,andinternationalcriseswereaccom-
paniedbyviolentwaves ofpopularagitation.Americans inthenine-
teenthcenturywerenostrangerstonewspaperswithwar-scareheadlines.
Foreignpolicyissuesloomedlarge inelections.Administrationswere
constantlyawarethattheAmericanpeoplewouldnotpermittheirgov-
ernmenttolookweakortoappeaseforeigngovernments.Often,indeed
usually,theAmericangovernmentwasmorepacifisticandisolationist
thanpublicopinion.AtseveraJpointsinthe nineteenthcentury,the
popularpressureforwaragainstBritainandFrancewasalmostover-
whelming.FurthermorepopularopinionoftenpressedtheAmerican
~overnmenttoinvolveitselfmoredirectlyinEuropeanaffairs.Suchagi-
tationwasparticularlystrongconcerningtheGreekwarforindepend-
ence,theHungarianrevolutionofLouisKossuth,andtheFenianrising
ofIrishimmigrantsagainstBritishruleinCanada,butthesewerefar
fromtheonlytimeswhensignificantpartsoftheAmericanpopulation
wantedtoseeAmericanarmsusedtovindicateAmericanprinciplesor
interestsinfar-flungcornersoftheworld.
Statesmendidwhattheycouldtodampenthepopularfervor.The
dyingGeneralGrantaddeda concludingsectiontohisMemoirsthatcon-
sistedlargely ofrecommendations forAmericandefense and foreigfi).
policyintheyearstocome.Muchoftheconclusionwasdevotedtoan
attempttosoftenpopularresentmentagainstBritainforitsconductdur-