US Foreign Policy Before World War II

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CINC Scores as measures of power concentration,
1816-2000
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"International finance has become so
interdependent and so interwoven with trade and
industry that ... political and military power
can in reality do nothing.... These little
recognized facts, mainly the outcome of purely
modern conditions (rapidity of communication
creating a greater complexity and delicacy of the
credit system), have rendered the problems of
modern international politics profoundly and
essentially different from the ancient. Norman
Angell, 1910
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Average IGO Memberships / State 1816 - 1910
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States Democratic 1816 - 1913
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Per Capita GDP By Region 1820 - 1913
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World Trade Dependence 1816 - 1913
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Interdependence?

• Exports as of GDP
• 1913 13
• 1992 14
• FDI as of GDP
• 1914 11
• 1993 11
• British-German trade was high
• Lloyds insured Germanys ships!

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US Foreign Policy Before World War I

• Rhetoric vs. Reality

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I. Analysis of Rhetoric

• Rhetoric affects perception of reality ? often
  means rhetoric determines reality
• Tools of Rhetoric
• Audience analysis Every speech or writing has a
  target in mind. Who is the target?
• Elements of Persuasion -- Repetition, Association
  (esp. analogies), Omission
• Framing Choice of words causes people to
  evaluate facts in a different context (guerillas,
  insurgents, terrorists, rebels, or freedom
  fighters)

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C. Foreign Policy Rhetoric

• Audience
• Domestic Supporters, Opponents, and
  Fence-Sitters
• International Allies, Enemies, and Neutrals
• Elements
• Use of historical analogies some analogies
  dominate others (e.g. Pearl Harbor, Vietnam)
• Repetition of key themes

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II. Debates Over American Foreign Policy Before
World War I
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The First Debate (1780s 1820s) Jeffersonians
vs Hamiltonians
American Society Economy Trade Policy Defense Policy Alliances
Jefferson Rural Farming Free Trade Defend exports France
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The First Debate (1780s 1820s) Jeffersonians
vs Hamiltonians
American Society Economy Trade Policy Defense Policy Alliances
Jefferson Rural Farming Free Trade Defend exports France
Hamilton Urban Industry Protection Defend territory Britain
Note that different views of American domestic
politics led to different foreign policies!
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B. The Second Debate (1830s-1850s) Manifest
Destiny vs Sovereign Equality
Domestic Freedom Sovereignty View of Expansion
Manifest Destiny Slavery Unequal US Chosen People Liberation Rescue inhabitants from misrule

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(No Transcript)
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B. The Second Debate (1830s-1850s) Manifest
Destiny vs Sovereign Equality
Domestic Freedom Sovereignty View of Expansion
Manifest Destiny Slavery Unequal US Chosen People Liberation Rescue inhabitants from misrule
Equality Abolition (Gradual) Equal Expansion Aggression Oppression Desire to seize land and extend slave power
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C. The Third Debate (1870s-1910s) Imperialism
vs Anti-Imperialism
American Society Economy Trade Policy Colonies
Imperialists Urban Industry Mercantilism Tariffs and Open Door Ensure respect Spread US values

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Imperialism The Proud View
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Imperialism The Practical View

• Map of the Orient showing Manila, P.I. as the
  Geographical Center of the Oriental Commerce
  Field
• Published By Republican National Committee, 1900

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C. The Third Debate (1870s-1910s) Imperialism
vs Anti-Imperialism
American Society Economy Trade Policy Colonies
Imperialists Urban Industry Mercantilism Tariffs and Open Door Ensure respect Spread US values
Anti-Imperialists Rural Farming Free Trade Create conflict Corrupt US values
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Anti-Imperialists Questioning Anglo-Saxon
Superiority
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Anti-Imperialists Will the World Corrupt America?
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III. Beyond Division Recurring Frames of US
Foreign Policy Rhetoric

• American Exceptionalism Are we different from
  all the other countries?
• City on a Hill as an image New England as a
  Puritan model to Christianity (1630)
• Washingtons Farewell Address Avoid entanglement
  with the corrupt Old World
• Monroe Doctrine Different systems

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Monroe Doctrine (1823)

• The political system of the allied powers is
  essentially different in this respect from that
  of America. we should consider any attempt on
  their part to extend their system to any portion
  of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and
  safety.

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III. Beyond Division Recurring Frames of US
Foreign Policy Rhetoric

• American Exceptionalism Are we different from
  all the other countries?
• City on a Hill as an image New England as a
  Puritan model to Christianity (1630)
• Washingtons Farewell Address Avoid entanglement
  with the corrupt Old World
• Monroe Doctrine Different systems
• Used by both sides support or oppose expansion

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Anti-Imperialists Will the World Corrupt America?
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B. Nonaggression Are we a peaceful people?

• Declaration Of Independence Emphasis on Pattern
  of Grievances

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Declaration of Independence Text

• Such has been the patient sufferance of these
  Colonies and such is now the necessity which
  constrains them to alter their former Systems of
  Government. The history of the present King of
  Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries
  and usurpations... To prove this, let Facts be
  submitted to a candid world.
• (A list of 27 grievances)
• In every stage of these Oppressions We have
  Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms
  Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by
  repeated injury.

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B. Nonaggression Are we a peaceful people?

1. Declaration Of Independence Emphasis on Pattern
   of Grievances
2. Declarations of War even when not attacked!

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1898 McKinley asks Congress for an ultimatum to
Spain over Cuba

• The spirit of all our acts hitherto has been an
  earnest, unselfish desire for peace and
  prosperity in Cuba, untarnished by differences
  between us and Spain and unstained by the blood
  of American citizens
• The present condition of affairs in Cuba is a
  constant menace to our peace
• In the name of humanity, in the name of
  civilization, in behalf of endangered American
  interests which give us the right and the duty to
  speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop

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B. Nonaggression Are we a peaceful people?

• Declaration Of Independence Emphasis on Pattern
  of Grievances
• Declarations of War even when not attacked!
• Key Phrases
• Peaceful people
• Slow to anger
• Patient suffering
• Repeated injury

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C. Benevolence Are we selfless moral crusaders?

1. Mexican-American War, 1847

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Mexican-American War (1847)

• Belief that Mexicans wanted (US-ruled) liberty
  instead of (independent) despotism
• Aftermath and payment We take nothing by
  conquestThank God.

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C. Benevolence Are we selfless moral crusaders?

1. Mexican-American War, 1847
2. Strongs Our Country Bestseller, 1885

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Strong, 1885

• This race has been honored not for its own sake
  for the sake of the world. It has been made . . .
  powerful not to make subject, but to serve . . .
  free not simply to exult in freedom, but to make
  free exalted not to look down, but to lift up.

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C. Benevolence Are we selfless moral crusaders?

1. Mexican-American War
2. Strongs Manifest Destiny writings
3. McKinley and Acquisition of the Philippines

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McKinley Refuses Filipino Independence

• When I next realized that the Philippines had
  dropped into our laps I confess I did not know
  what to do with them. . . . I went down on my
  knees and prayed Almighty God for light and
  guidance And one night late it came to me this
  waythere was nothing left for us to do but to
  take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and
  uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by
  God's grace do the very best we could by them, as
  our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.

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Filipino War of Independence (1898-1902)

• US suffers 4324 dead, rebels suffer 20,000 dead.
  Civilian deaths are more than 200,000.

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C. Benevolence Are we selfless moral crusaders?

1. Mexican-American War, 1847
2. Strongs Manifest Destiny writings, 1885
3. McKinley and Acquisition of the Philippines
4. Wilsons 14 points

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Wilsons Fourteen Points Speech

• What we demand in this war, therefore, is
  nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the
  world be made fit and safe to live in and
  particularly that it be made safe for every
  peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes
  to live its own life...

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D. Summary of US Foreign Policy Rhetoric

• America is exceptional Light unto the world
• America is not aggressive Slow to anger
• America is selfless Seeks only the best for
  others
• Example Clinton Speech
• Well, are we?