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

TheAmericanForeignPolicyTradition 19

endoftheWarofr8r2totheVenezuelaboundarycrisisofr895,there
wasscarcelyanadministrationora decadeinwhichtheUnitedStates
andGreatBritaindidnotfacea crisisorwarscareintheirtenseandtur-
bulentrelations.^39
WhiletheconventionalwisdomoftheColdWareraholdsthatthe
Americanpeoplehadlittletofearfromwarfareduringthenineteenth
century,thatisnotthewayAmericansthoughtatthetime.Duringthe
Revolution,Britishtroopsoccupiedeverymajorcityinthecolonies,and
did notabandon NewYorkuntilwellafterthedefeatatYorktown.
Throughoutthenineteenthcenturybothmilitaryplannersandpublic
opinionwrestledwiththepossibilityofforeigninvasion,andespecially
ofattacksonAmericancities.
Fromr8r6throughtheendofthecentury,boardsofengineersand
navalauthoritieswoulddevelopplansforcoastalfortifications,butfaced
widespreadskepticismthatfortificationsofanytypecouldpreventmod-
ernnaviesfrom takingandburningAmericancities.A millionmen
"armedwitha profusionofeveryapplianceofa modernfirstclassarmy
andintrenched(sic)aboutNewYorkCitycouldnotprotectitfromcap-
tureand destructionorcontributionbyevena second-rateEuropean
navalpower,"wroteHenryP.Wellsinanr886articleinHarper'smaga-
zine.^40 A substantialportionofAmericandefensespendingwentfor
coastalfortificationduringthecentury,withphysicalresultsthatcan
stillbeseenintheimpressivefortsfoundalongtheGulfandAtlantic
coastsoftheUnitedStates,butthegreatfortswereunabletoprevent
broadapprehensionabouttheconsequencesofwar. Confidenceinthe
systemfurtherdeclinedaftertheCivilWarexperience,wherefortslike
Moultrie,Sumter,andFisherfelltonorthernattack.
Thefollowing generationdrew the appropriate conclusions. The
UnitedStateswas,wroteU.S. Grantinr885,"withoutthepowerto
resistaninvasionbythefleetsoffourth-rateEuropeanpowers....We
shouldhavea goodnavy,andoursea-coastdefencesshouldbeputinthe
finestpossiblecondition."4^1
"Ourwealthyseacoastcitieslieatthemercyofanyhostilefleet,"said
navalengineerofficerEugeneGriffininanr888articleintheinfluential
NorthAmerican Review.^42 During theSpanish-AmericanWar, a great
panicswepttheAmericanEastas rumorsspreadthattheSpanishfleet
wassteamingnorthtowreakhavoconthedefenselessmetropolitanareas
ofthecoast.
In important respects the nineteenth-centurydebate over coastal