Download The History of American Foreign Relations Policy Course Themes

The History of American Foreign Relations Policy
Course Themes
Introduction
• What is foreign policy?
• Who makes American Foreign Policy?
Part I:
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The Early Years
Diplomacy during the American Revolution
Diplomacy in the New Republic
Challenge of the French Revolution
The question of neutrality
War of 1812
Part II: The U.S. Comes of Age and Divides Against Itself
• Territorial acquisition – Florida
• Latin America and the Monroe Doctrine
• Quiet years, 1825-1840
• War with Mexico
• Question of Oregon
• Interest in the Far East
Part III: From the Civil War to the End of the Century
• Confederate diplomacy
• Britain’s role in the war
• Territorial expansion
• Spanish-American War
• Plans for a canal
• Tensions with neighbors
• Involvement in Far Eastern affairs
Part IV: The World Wars
• Proclamation of neutrality
• Entry into World War I
• The European front
• 14 Points
• Conference at Versailles
• Return to isolation
• Neutrality challenged
• Attack on Pearl Harbor
• War in Europe
• War in the Far East
• The bomb
• Peace Conferences
Part V: The Cold War and After
• Beginning of the Cold War
• Containment policy
• Korean War
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Vietnam
Era of détente
Collapse of Communism
Peacekeeping efforts
War over Kuwait
War against terror
Conclusions
• Who makes American foreign policy?
• General principles
• Lessons learned
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The History of American Foreign Relations Policy:
Course Outline
Part I: The Early Years
I.
Introduction
A. What is foreign policy?
B. Who controls American foreign policy?
1. Role of Congress
2. Role of President
II. Diplomacy during the American Revolution
A. Delineation of need
B. Question of authority
C. Foreign Assistance
1. Role of France
2. Role of Spain
3. Support from other countries
D. Mediation attempts
E. Treaty of Paris
1. Terms
2. Legacy
III.
Diplomacy in the New Republic
A. Need for trading partners
B. Questions of Philosophy
i. Madison’s view
ii. Hamilton’s view
iii. Jefferson’s view
C. Role of Free Trade concept
D. Weaknesses of Articles of Confederation
E. Problems with Spain over boundaries
IV.
Challenge of the French Revolution
A. Proclamation of neutrality
i. Rights of neutrals
ii. Problems of Treaties of 1778
B. Citizen Genet
C. Difficulties with England
i. British Orders in Council
ii. Jay’s Treaty
D. French attacks on commerce
i. Attempts at negotiation
ii. XYZ Affair
iii. Convention of 1800
E. Pinkney’s Treaty with Spain
F. Diversion – War with Tripoli
G. Louisiana Purchase
i. Treaty of Ildefonso
ii. U.S. interests
H. Struggles with neutrality
i. Impressment
ii. Nonimportation Act
iii. Embargo Act
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I.
J.
iv. Non-intercourse Act
v. Macon’s Bill No. 2
The War of 1812
i. Causes
ii. Expectations
iii. Attempts at mediation
iv. Points of confrontation
v. Treaty of Ghent
Post-war agreements
i. Treaty of Commerce
ii. Great Lakes Agreement
iii. Further commercial agreements
Part II: The U.S. Comes of Age
I.
The acquisition of Florida
A. Difficulties with Spain
B. Adams-Onis Treaty
II.
Policy toward Latin America
A. Wars of Independce
B. Monroe Doctrine
1. Discussions with England
2. American declaration
C. Panama Congress
III.
The quiet years, 1825-1840
A. Trade with England
B. Insurrections if Canada
C. Aroostoock War
D. Webster-Ashburton Treaty
E. Difficulties with Mexico
1. Rebellion in Texas
2. Question of annexation
IV. War with Mexico
A. Role of England
B. President Tyler and annexation
C. Rupture of diplomatic relations
i. Zachary Taylor to Texas
ii. John Slidell to Mexico
iii. Attempt to claim California
iv. Declaration of War
v. Negotiations with Santa Anna
vi. Peace feelers
vii. Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
D. Question of Oregon
a. Conflicting claims
b. American settlement
c. Oregon Treaty
E. Interest in the Far East
a. China
i. Opportunities for trade
ii. Role of Opium War
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iii. Treaty of Wanghia
iv. Treaty of Tientsin
b. Japan
i. Desire for access
ii. Matthew Perry sent to Japan
iii. Harris Treaty
c. Hawaii
i. regular contacts
ii. push for annexation
d. Guano Act
F. Latin America
a. Interest in canal building
i. Competition with England
ii. Treaties with Nicaragua
iii. Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
b. Cuba
i. Rivalry with England
ii. Tension with Spain
iii. Ostend Manifesto
G. Negotiations with neighbors
a. Gadsden Treaty with Mexico
b. Canadian Reciprocity Treaty
Part III: The Civil War and the End of the Century
I. Confederate diplomacy
II. Neutrality
A. English proclamation of neutrality
B. Recognition options
III. Blockade
A. Role of Union
B. English response
C. Privateers
IV. End of British neutrality
A. Alabama
B. Laird rams
C. Diplomatic crisis of 1862
V. Foreign interference in Western Hemisphere
A. Spanish involvement
B. French in Mexico
i. European actions
ii. American reaction
VI. Postwar relations with England
A. Alabama claims
B. Other grievances
C. Treaty of Washington
VII. Territorial Expansion
A. Dominican Republic
B. Alaska
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C. Interest in canal building
D. Chile and the Baltimore Affair
E. Venezuelan boundary dispute
F. Interest in Samoa
VIII. Spanish-American War
A. Hawaii
1. Treaty of Reciprocity
2. Virtual U.S. protectorate
3. Plans for annexation
B. Cuba
1. Virginius Affair
2. Revolution of 1895
3. De Lome Letter
4. Sinking of Maine
C. Philippines
D. Guam
E. Puerto Rico
F. Treaty negotiations
G. Platt Amendment
IX. Latin America
A. Panama Canal
1.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
2.
Hay-Pauncefote Treaty
3.
Decision for Panama
B. Roosevelt Corollary
X. Tensions with China
a. Burlingame Treaty
b. Chinese Exclusion Act
XI.
Tensions with Canada
XII.
McKinley Tariff
XIII. Tensions with Mexico
A. Refusal of recognition
B. U.S.S. Dolphin
C. Pancho Villa
XIV. Far East
A. China
1. Open Door Policy
2. Boxer Rebellion
B. Japan
1. Russo-Japanese War
2. Treaty of Portsmouth
3. Root-Takahira Agreement
Part IV: The World Wars
I.
World War I
A. European background
1. Two alliances
2. Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
3. Outbreak of war
B. U.S. Proclamation of Neutrality
1. British search and seizure
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II.
III.
IV.
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2. German submarine warfare
C. Road to War
1. Sinking of Lusitania
2. Mediation attempts
3. Unrestricted submarine warfare
4. Zimmerman Telegram
D. The War
1. European front
2. Wilson’s 14 Points
3. Armistice
E. Versailles Conference
1. Role of President Wilson
2. League of Nations controversy
3. Ratification failure
Return to isolation
A. Washington Naval Conference
B. Geneva Conference
C. World Disarmament Conference
D. Kellogg-Briand Pact
E. London Economic Conference
F. Recognition of the Soviet Union
G. Latin America
1. Pact of Montevideo
2. Platt Amendment abrogated
3. Buenos Aires Conference
Prelude to World War II
A. Rise of Fascism
1. Italy
2. Germany
3. Japan
B. Challenges to Peace
1. Manchuria
2. Ethiopia
3. Austria
4. Czechoslovakia
5. Albania
C. War in Europe
U.S. Response
A. First Neutrality Act
B. Second Neutrality Act
C. Spanish Civil War
D. Third Neutrality Act
E. Act of Panama
F. Fourth Neutrality Act
G. Act of Havana
H. Destroyer-Bases Deal
I. Lend-Lease
J. Atlantic Charter
Attack on Pearl Harbor
A. War in Europe
B. North Africa
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VI.
C. Second Front
D. Pacific War
The Peace
A. Teheran
B. Yalta
C. Potsdam
PART V: The Cold War
I.
Containment Policy
A. Truman Doctrine
B. Marshall Plan
C. NATO
D. Berlin
E. Korean War
F. U-2 Incident
G. Unrest in Eastern Europe
II.
Communism in the Western Hemisphere
A. Cuba
B. Central America
III.
Vietnam
IV.
Relations with China
V..
Challenges in Africa
VI..
Middle East
A. Iran Hostage Crisis
B. Israel
VII. Latin America
A. Panama Canal
B. Central America
VIII.. Collapse of Communism
IX. International Peacekeeping
A. Africa
B. Middle East
C. Yugoslavia
X.
War on Terror
A. 9/11
B. Afghanistan
C. Iraq
CONCLUSIONS
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The History of American Foreign Relations Policy
Suggested Reading and Writing Assignments:
Text: Thomas G. Paterson, J. Garry Clifford, Shane J. Maddock, Deborah Kisatsky, Kenneth J.
Hagan, American Foreign Relations: A History, Brief Edition, Vol. I and II, (Houghton Mifflin,
2006), ISBN 0618382216 (640 pages)
Introduction:
Reading Assignment:
The U.S. Constitution
Michael J. Hogan, Ed., Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, (Cambridge
University Press, 2004), ISBN 0521540356 (380 pages)
Chapter 1: “Introduction”
Chapter 2: “Defining and Doing the History of American Foreign Relations: A Primer”
Chapter 3: “Toward a Pluralist Vision: The Study of American Foreign Relations as
International and National History”
Chapter 4: “Theories of International Relations”
Writing Topics:
1. To what extent did the founding fathers “balance” foreign policy power in the U.S.
Constitution? Why might they have distributed the power as they did?
2. In your opinion, what role should the president play in the making of foreign policy?
Part I: The Early Years
Reading Assignments:
Patterson text: Volume I Chapter 1 “Embryo of Empire: Americans and the World Before
1789”
Chapter 2: “Independence, Expansion, and War, 1789-1815”
Hogan: Chapter 5: “Bureaucratic Politics”
Chapter 6: “Psychology”
Chapter 7: “National Security”
Chapter 8: “Corporatism”
Writing Topics:
1. What challenges did the American colonies face in trying to secure assistance during the
American Revolution? To what extent were they successful in obtaining aid? Why?
2. How did the U.S. seek to rebuild ties with England after the revolution? To what extent
were those efforts successful?
3. Why did Washington proclaim his neutrality policy? What would the risks of European
involvement have been?
4. What led to the failure of neutrality? Why did we choose the side of France in the
European struggle?
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5. What challenges did the War of 1812 pose to the United States? What lessons did we
learn from this war?
Part II: The U.S. Comes of Age and Divides against Itself
Patterson text: Volume I Chapter 3 “Extending and Preserving the Sphere, 1815-1848”
Chapter 4 “Expansionism, Sectionalism, and Civil War”
Hogan: Chapter 9 “World Systems”
Chapter 10 “Dependency”
Chapter 11 “Considering Borders”
Chapter 12 “The Global Frontier: Comparative History and the Frontier-borderlands Approach”
Chapter 13 “”Modernization Theory”
Writing Topics:
1. What factors brought about the acquisition of Florida? To what extent might this have
served as a model for the acquisition of future territories?
2. What led to the proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine? Could it have been enforced?
3. What tensions existed between the United States and its immediate neighbors? How
were these resolved?
4. Why did the United States develop an interest in the Pacific? How was this interest
asserted? What was the response?
5. What was the foreign policy of The Confederacy? To what extent was it successful?
6. What role did Britain play in the Civil War? Why was its position important to both
sides? What issues remained after the war ended?
Part III: From the Civil War to World War I
Patterson text: Volume I Chapter 5 “Global Rivalry and Regional Power, 1865-1895”
Chapter 6 “Imperialist Leap, 1895-1900”
Chapter 7 “Managing, Policing, and Extending the Empire, 1900-1914”
Hogan: Chapter 14 “Ideology”
Chapter 15 “Culture and International History”
Chapter 16 “Cultural Transfer”
Chapter 17 “Reading for Meaning: Theory, Language, and Metaphor”
Writing Topics:
1. What led the United States to become involved in the affairs of Cuba? How was that
involvement continued after the end of the Spanish-American War?
2. To what other territories did the United States expand in 1898? What was the motivation
for the expansion? What was the process by which it took place? What was the response
of the inhabitants?
3. What factors led to the choice of Panama for the building of a canal? What obstacles had
to be overcome?
4. What was the Open Door Policy? Why did it benefit the United States? How did other
powers respond to it?
5. Why did the United States serve as mediator in the Russo-Japanese War? What benefit
did this role bring to the U.S.?
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6. What role did Teddy Roosevelt play in setting the foreign policy agenda for the 20th
century?
Part IV: The World Wars
Patterson text: Volume II Chapter 3 “War, Peace, and Revolution in the Time of Wilson, 19141920”
Chapter 4 “Descending into Europe’s Maelstrom, 1920-1939”
Chapter 5 “Asia, Latin America, and the Vagaries of Power, 1920-1939” Chapter 6 “Survival and
Spheres: The Allies and the Second World War, 1939-1945”
Hogan: Chapter 18 “What’s Gender Got to do with it?”
Chapter 19 “Race to Insight: The US and the World, White Supremacy and Foreign Affairs”
Lloyd E. Ambrosius, Woodrow Wilson and His Legacy in American Foreign Relations,
(Palgrove Macmillan, 2002) ISBN 1-4039-6009 256 pages
Writing Topics:
1. What was the response of the United States to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914?
Was this a good response?
2. What led to U.S. involvement in World War I? Could the war have been avoided? Why
or why not?
3. What was the significance of Wilson’s Fourteen Points? To what extent did other nations
support the Fourteen points? Which ones were actually carried out?
4. How did Wilson shape the foreign policy of his day? What is his legacy?
5. What was the foreign policy stance of the United States between the two world wars? To
what extent did the U.S. withdraw from the world scene? Why?
6. What was the response of the United States to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939?
How did the initial response change? Why?
7. Could the attack on Pearl Harbor have been prevented? If so, how? Was it necessary to
bring the U.S. into the war?
8. Why was the decision made to pursue the war in Europe before turning to the war in the
Far East? Was this a good decision?
9. What led to the decision to drop the bomb in 1945? Did it accomplish its intended result?
What were the advantages and disadvantages of this decision?
10. To what extent did the peace conferences at the end of the war lay the groundwork for the
Cold War? Are the criticisms of Roosevelt at Yalta justified?
Part V: The Cold War and After
Patterson text: Volume II Chapter 7 “All-Embracing Struggle: The Cold War Begins, 19451950”
Chapter 8 “Global Watch: The Korean War and Eisenhower Foreign Relations, 1950-1961”
Chapter 9 “Passing the Torch: The Vietnam Years, 1961-1969”
Chapter 10 “Détente and Disequilibrium, 1969-1977”
Chapter 11 “To Begin the World Over Again: Carter, Reagan, and Revivalism, 1977-1989”
Chapter 12 “Imperial America: The United States and the World Since 1989”
Hogan: Chapter 20 “Memory and Understanding US Foreign Relations”
Writing Topics:
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1. What was the Containment policy? Was it based on accurate assumptions? To what
extent was it a success?
2. Why did the United States become involved in Vietnam? Why were we unable to
triumph in the war? What was the legacy of our involvement?
3. How did the United States respond to the infiltration of communism into the Western
Hemisphere? Was the response justified?
4. To what extent did Reagan’s policies contribute to the collapse of communism in Russia
and Eastern Europe?
5. What tensions existed between the United States and the Muslim world prior to 9/11?
How did we deal with the Middle East?
6. How did 9/11 change American foreign policy? What is the War on Terror? Is it
winnable?
7. How is the United States perceived in the world in 2006? Why?
Concluding Writing Topics:
1. Throughout U.S. history, which branch of government has played the greatest role in
making foreign policy? Why?
2. What general principles have guided the making of U.S. foreign policy?
3. Discuss the theories of foreign policy outlined in the Hogan book Which of these
theories best fits the history of U.S. foreign relations?
Total pages of reading: 1276
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