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

TheAmericanForeignPolicyTradition 27

Thenineteenthcenturysawmoreofthesame.Evenaftertheconclu-
sionoftheNapoleonicWars,wheninternationalrelationsingeneral
assumeda lessdramaticcast,foreignpolicyquestionsremainedatthe
heartofAmericanpolitics.Therewerefourgreatissuesinnineteenth-
centuryAmericanpolitics:slavery,westwardexpansion,thetariff,and
monetarypolicy.Oftheseonlyslaverywasa purelydomesticissue,butit
shouldbenotedthatforeignpolicyissueswereabsolutelycriticaltothe
courseoftheCivilWarinwhichtheslaverycontroversyclimaxed.Secre-
taryofStateWilliamSewardplannedforatimetocutshorttheCivil
Warbyprovokinga warwiththeEuropeanpowersthatwouldrallythe
NorthandSouthtoa jointeffort.Europeaninterventionwasthestrate-
gicgoaloftheConfederacythroughout,andthebattleforforeignpublic
opinionwasfora reluctantLincolna decisiveconsiderationinfavorofhis
issuingthe Emancipation Proclamation. "To proclaim emancipation
wouldsecurethesympathyofEuropeandthewholecivilizedworld....
Nootherstepwouldbesopotenttopreventforeignintervention,"wrote
Lincolnin1862.^53
Oftheremaininggreatissues,westwardexpansionwasobviouslya
foreignpolicyissue;thetariffquestionthenas nowhadbothdomestic
andforeignpolicyimplications,andthedebateoverwhethertokeepthe
goldstandardortopermitthefreecoinageofsilverwasfundamentallya
questionabout therelationoftheAmericaneconomytotheBritish-
dominatedinternationalsystem.AsWilliamJenningsBryansaidinthe
concludingperorationofhis"CrossofGold"speech,"Itistheissueof
1776 overagain....insteadofhavinga goldstandardbecauseEngland
has,wewillrestorebimetallism,andthenletEnglandhavebimetallism
becausetheUnitedStateshasit."54
DespitethelongrecordofvigorousU.S.activityandintenseinterest
intheworldbeyond itsshores,despitetheenormousimpactforeign
policyhashadondomesticpoliticsthroughoutU.S.history,anddespite
itsunparalleledrecordofsuccess ininternationalaffairs,the United
Statescontinuestoenjoybothathomeandabroadakindofhayseed
imagewhenitcomestoforeignpolicy,thatofaninnocentbarefootboy
unaccustomedtothewilesandwaysofthesharpinternationaloperators.
Yettimeaftertimeithasbeenthisinnocentwhohastakenthepot-
perhapsafterspreadinghiscardsonthetable,scratchingunderhisover-
alls,andnaivelyinquiringifhisfullhousebeatstheotherfellow'stwo
palfs.
ThemoreI studythehistoryofAmericanforeignpolicy,themore
deeplyconvincedI becomethatournationalforeignpolicytraditionhas