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

TheAmericanForeignPolicyTradition 25

ingtheCivilWarandtomakethecasefora permanent,naturalalliance
betweenthetwoEnglish-speakingpowers.^48
Inadditiontothesediplomaticandmilitarycontretempswithgreat
Europeanpowersanditshemisphericneighbors,theAmericangovern-
mentinthenineteenthcenturytookanactiveroleinopeningupAsia
andAfricatotrade.AsAmericanwhalersandmerchantsspreadoutacross
theworldinsearchofprofitsandwhaleoil,diplomatsandnavalforces
followed.Sometimesthesevisitswerepeaceful.BythetimeoftheCivil
WartheUnitedStatesgovernmenthadsentofficialmissionstoVietnam,
Thailand,theOttomanEmpire,China, Sumatra,Burma,andJapan.^49
SometimesAmericanpresidentsdispatched more thandiplomats.
TheU.S.Marineshadalreadyventured"fromthehallsofMontezumato
theshoresofTripoli"bytheCivilWar.Themarinehymncouldinfact
havesaidmore;by 1860 themarineshadalreadybeenfartothewest
andsouthofMexicoaswellastotheeastandnorthofLibya.Jefferson's
dispatchtoTripoliandAlgiersofa punitivemissionagainsttheBarbary
pirateswasthefirstbutbynomeansthelastsuchexpeditionsentoutby
Americanpresidents. Thevillage ofQuallah Battooon thecoastof
SumatrawasshelledandburnedbyanAmericanforcesentbyJackson;
thevisitwasrepeatedwhentheinhabitantscontinuedobdurateintheir
disrespectfortheflag.In 1843 Americanmarinesfoughtwithvillagers
incoastalLiberiaafterComm.MatthewPerrywasattacked;themarines
returnedtoLiberiain 1860 toprotectAmericanlivesandproperty.
In 1843 AmericanmarineslandedinGuangzhou(Canton)toprotect
AmericansfromChinesemobs.Theyreturnedthirteenyearslaterand
defeatedfivethousandChinesetroopsinapitchedbattle.Apermanent
marinepresencewouldguardAmericantradersanddiplomatsinChina
andparticipate-underforeigncommanders-withEuropeanforces in
thesuppressionoftheBoxerRebellionin1900.
ChinaandSumatrawerenottheonlyplacesinAsiainwhichAmeri-
canforceswereengagedinconflictduringthe"virginalisolation"ofthe
nineteenthcentury.In 187 1 marinesretaliatedfora Koreanattackonan
Americanshipandadiplomatbyseizingtwofortsina punitiveexpedi-
tion. Commodore Perry'sorders directed him to shellJapan ifthe
mikadorefusedhisrequestfortradeanddiplomaticrelations.In1863,
attheheightoftheCivilWar,AmericanforceslandedinJapanandwhat
is nowPanama. 50 By 1900 Americanforceswereestablishedthroughout
theSouthPacific,andtheUnitedStateshadweathereda seriousinterna-
tionalcrisiswithGermanyoverthecontrolofSamoa.5'