106 SPECIALPROVIDENCEthis involvesthefreedomofAmericancitizens,Americangoods,and
Americanshipstotravelwherevertheywishintheworldintheinterests
ofpeacefultrade.Nosea,noocean,nostraitshouldbeclosedtoAmeri-
canships.Piracymustbesuppressed,andforeignnationsmustabideby
internationallawintheirtreatmentofneutralshippingduringwar.
Freedomoftheseasineventhisnarrowsenseremainsthesinglepoint
onwhichAmericaninterestsaremostlikelytocomeintoconflictwith
thoseofotherpowers.ThomasJefferson,noHamiltonianandoneofthe
mostpacific presidentsinAmericanhistory,sentexpeditionstofight
theBarbarypirates,whowereseizingAmericanships.Toprotectthis
freedomwefoughtundeclarednavalwarswithbothBritainandFrance
and,ofcourse,theWarof 1812 duringtheNapoleonicWarsinEurope,
asbothsidessoughttorestrictthetradeofneutralnationswiththeir
enemIes.
TheinterestinsafeguardingAmericancommercehadgrowneven
strongerbythetimeoftheCivilWar."Itwouldbesuperfluousinme,"
CharlesFrancisAdams,Lincoln'sministertoGreatBritainduringthe
CivilWar,remindedtheBritishprimeminister,LordPalmerston,asa
seriesofConfederateshipspreparedtoleaveBritishharborstoattack
Unionshipping,"topointouttoyourLordshipthatthisiswar."rAtthe
heightoftheCivilWar,whenvictorywas anything butcertain,the
Northbelievedthatits maritimeinterestswereimportantenoughto
forceittotakeontheworld'sgreatestmilitarypower.
Thetwentiethcenturysawa continuationandevenanexpansionin
theimportanceofthisprinciple.InWorldWarI shippingquestions
causedustoquarrelseriouslywithBritainandultimatelytoenterthe
waragainstGermany.InWorldWarII wewerealreadyfighting an
undeclarednavalwarwithGermanyintheNorthAtlanticwhenJapan
attackedPearlHarbor.Interferencewithshippingled PresidentGer-
aldR.Ford-whentheVietnamsyndromewasatitspeak-tolauncha
rescueattemptwhenCambodianscapturedanAmericanshipin1975.
TheNorthKoreanseizureoftheUSSPuebloin 1968 createda serious
internationalcrisiS.^2 PresidentReagansentAmericanshipsintothePer-
sianGulftoprotectneutralshippingduringtheIran-Iraqwarandcon-
frontedLibyawiththe threatofwarwhenthatcountrytriedtobar
Americanshipsfromcrossingits"lineofdeath"ininternationalwaters.
In 1996 PresidentClintonsenttheSeventhFleetinto theTaiwanStraits
toasserttherightoffreepassageduringChinesemissiletestsaimedat
intimidatingTaiwan.Thereis littledoubtthatfuturepresidentswill
respondtosimilarchallengeswithsimilarlystrongmeasures.