From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (158 page)

1815–1861:
Charles Sellers,
The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1815–1846
(New York, 1991) and Daniel Walker Howe,
What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848
(New York, 2007) provide detailed and lively accounts of the period with sharply divergent interpretations. Paul A. Varg,
United States Foreign Relations, 1820–1860
(East Lansing, Mich., 1979) is still useful. Noble Cunningham Jr.,
The Presidency of James Monroe
(Lawrence, Kans., 1996), Mary Wilma Hargreaves,
The Presidency of John Quincy Adams
(Lawrence, Kans., 1985) and Donald R. Cole,
The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
(Lawrence, Kans., 1993) are scholarly analyses of these administrations. The activities of Adams, the most important figure in foreign policy, are discussed in the still-valuable Samuel Flagg Bemis,
John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy
(rev. ed., New York, 1973) and the more critical William Earl Weeks,
John Quincy Adams and American Global Empire
(Lexington, Ky., 1992)
and James E. Lewis Jr.,
John Quincy Adams: Policymaker for the Union
(Wilmington, Del., 2001). Robert V. Remini's
Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union
(New York, 1991) and
The Life of Andrew Jackson
(New York, 2001) are scholarly, highly readable biographies of two key leaders. Bradford Perkins discusses the budding Anglo-American accord in
Adams and Castlereagh: England and the United States, 1812–1823
(Berkeley, Calif., 1964). The Monroe Doctrine not surprisingly has inspired a sizeable literature. The background in terms of Russia can be found in the excellent Norman E. Saul,
Distant Friends: The United States and Russia, 1763–1867
(Lawrence, Kans., 1991) and in terms of Greece and Turkey in James A. Field Jr.,
America and the Mediterranean World, 1776–1882
(Princeton, N.J., 1969). Arthur P. Whitaker,
The United States and the Independence of Latin America, 1800–1830
(New York, 1964) remains the standard work. Dexter Perkins's extensive writing on the subject is conveniently summarized in
A History of the Monroe Doctrine
(Boston, 1963). William W. Kaufman,
British Policy and Latin America, 1800–1830
(New Haven, Conn., 1951) is still useful. Ernest R. May,
The Making of the Monroe Doctrine
(Cambridge, Mass., 1976) stresses domestic politics. John M. Belohlavek,
"Let the Eagle Soar!" The Foreign Policy of Andrew Jackson
(Lincoln, Neb., 1985) is an excellent "revisionist" study. John H. Schroeder,
Shaping A Maritime Empire: The Commercial and Diplomatic Role of the American Navy, 1829–1861
(Westport, Conn., 1985) appraises the role of the Navy in nineteenth-century expansion. Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green,
The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents
(Boston, 1995) compile varied perspectives on this tragic episode.

Administrations from 1841 to 1861 are covered in Norma Lois Peterson,
The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
(Lawrence, Kans., 1989), Paul H. Bergeron,
The Presidency of James K. Polk
(Lawrence, Kans., 1987), Elbert B. Smith,
The Presidencies of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore
(Lawrence, Kans., 1988), Larry Gara,
The Presidency of Franklin Pierce
(Lawrence, Kans., 1991), and Elbert B. Smith,
The Presidency of James Buchanan
(Lawrence, Kans., 1975). Edward P. Crapol,
John Tyler: The Accidental President
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 2006) is an excellent recent biography of a neglected figure. The classic analysis of Manifest Destiny remains Albert K. Weinberg,
Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism in American History
(Baltimore, Md., 1935). Other major works include Frederick Merk,
Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History: A Reinterpretation
(New York, 1966), Thomas Hietala,
Manifest Design: Anxious Aggrandizement in Jacksonian America
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1985), and Anders Stephanson,
Manifest Destiny–American Expansion and the Empire of Right
(New York,
1995). Reginald Horsman,
Race and Manifest Destiny
(Cambridge, Mass., 1981) is indispensable. For Anglo-American relations in the 1840s, see Reginald Stuart,
United States Expansionism and British North America, 1775–1871
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 1988), Howard Jones and Donald Rakestraw,
Prologue to Manifest Destiny: Anglo-American Relations in the 1840s
(Wilmington, Del., 1997), and Howard Jones,
To the Webster-Ashburton Treaty: A Study in Anglo-American Relations, 1783–1843
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 1977). The crises with Britain over Oregon and Texas are expertly covered in Norman A. Graebner,
Empire on the Pacific: A Study in American Continental Expansion
(rev. ed., Claremont, Calif., 1989) and David M. Pletcher,
The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon and the Mexican War
(Columbia, Mo., 1973). Thomas M. Leonard,
James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny
(Wilmington, Del., 2001) is an up-to-date study of that leading expansionist. Mexico's perspective can be gleaned from Enrique Krauze,
Mexico: Biography of a Nation-A History of Modern Mexico
(New York, 1997), Gene Brack,
Mexico Views Manifest Destiny, 1821–1846: An Essay on the Origins of the Mexican War
(Albuquerque, N.M., 1975), and William Depalo,
The Mexican National Army, 1822–1852
(College Station, Tex., 1997). K. Jack Bauer,
The Mexican War, 1846–1848
(New York, 1974) is a good military history. John M. Schroeder,
Mr. Polk's War: American Opposition and Dissent, 1846–1848
(Madison, Wisc., 1973) analyzes domestic opposition. Robert W. Johannsen,
To the Halls of the Montezumas: The Mexican War in the American Imagination
(New York, 1987) looks at literature, art, music, and the popular press to show the excitement and expansive vision aroused by the war. The most recent study of the Great United States Exploring Expedition is Nathaniel Philbrick,
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842
(New York, 2003). Arthur Power Dudden,
The American Pacific: From the Old China Trade to the Present
(New York, 1992) offers a readable overview of U.S. expansion into the Pacific region. Michael H. Hunt,
The Making of a Special Relationship: The United States and China to 1914
(New York, 1983) provides a good introduction to involvement in China. Jack L. Hammersmith,
Spoilsmen in a "Flowery Fairyland": The Development of the U.S. Legation in Japan, 1859–1906
(Kent, Ohio, 1998) is valuable for the Harris mission and its successors. For filibustering in South and Central America and the demise of Manifest Destiny, see Michael A. Morrison,
Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 1997), Joseph A. Stout,
Schemers and Dreamers—Filibustering in Mexico, 1848–1921
(Fort Worth, Tex., 2002), Robert E. May,
Manifest Destiny's Underworld: Filibustering in Antebellum America
(Chapel Hill,
N.C., 2002), and Joseph A. Fry,
Dixie Looks Abroad: The South and U.S. Foreign Relations, 1789–1973
(Baton Rouge, La., 2002).

1861–1901:
James M. McPherson,
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
(New York, 1988) is a splendid survey of that epic struggle, Charles P. Roland,
An American Iliad: The Story of the Civil War
(Lexington, Ky., 1991) an excellent shorter study. Robert E. May, ed.,
The Union, the Confederacy and the Atlantic Rim
(Lafayette, Ind., 1995) includes essays by leading scholars on the international dimensions of the conflict. The best foreign policy survey is D. P. Crook,
Diplomacy During the American Civil War
(New York, 1975), a shorter version of
The North, the South, and the Great Powers, 1861–1865
(New York, 1974). The Union presidencies are covered in Philip S. Paludan,
The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln
(Lawrence, Kans., 1994) and Albert Castel,
The Presidency of Andrew Johnson
(Lawrence, Kans., 1979). Emory M. Thomas,
The Confederate Nation, 1861–1865
(New York, 1979) and Charles P. Roland,
The Confederacy
(Chicago, 1960) provide insights into southern diplomacy. Charles M. Hubbard,
The Burden of Confederate Diplomacy
(Knoxville, Tenn., 1998) is an up-to-date survey. Frank L. Owsley and Harriet C. Owsley,
King Cotton Diplomacy: Foreign Relations of the Confederate States of America
(2nd ed., Chicago, 1959) is the standard account. Howard Jones's
Union in Peril: The Crisis over British Intervention in the Civil War
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 1992) and
Abraham Lincoln and a New Birth of Freedom: The Union and Slavery in the Diplomacy of the Civil War
(Lincoln, Neb., 1999) are excellent, the latter especially on Lincoln's vision of a slavery-free Union. Doris Kearns Goodwin,
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
(New York, 2005) highlights the extraordinary working relationship between the president and his secretary of state. R.J.M. Blackett,
Divided Hearts: Britain and the American Civil War
(Baton Rouge, La., 2001) is very good on British public opinion, which, he argues, was important in determining policy. Saul's
Distant Friends
is excellent on the Russo-American relationship. Martin B. Duberman,
Charles Francis Adams, 1807–1886
(Boston, 1861) and Joseph A. Fry,
Henry S. Sanford: Diplomacy and Business in Nineteenth Century America
(Reno, Nev., 1982) are fine biographies of two key Union diplomats. Post–Civil War expansion is treated in Ernest N. Paolino,
The Foundations of American Expansionism: William Henry Seward and U.S. Foreign Policy
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1973), Ronald J. Jensen,
The Alaska Purchase and Russian-American Relations
(Seattle, Wash., 1975), and Paul Holbo,
Tarnished Expansion: The Alaska Scandal, the Press, and Congress, 1867–1877
(Knoxville, Tenn., 1983).

Not surprisingly, the Gilded Age has drawn only modest attention from historians of U.S. foreign relations. Good surveys are John A. Garraty,
The
New Commonwealth, 1877–1890
(New York, 1968) and Mark Wahlgren Summers,
The Gilded Age, or, The Hazard of New Functions
(New York, 1997). Broad studies of U.S. foreign policy, all emphasizing expansionist tendencies, are David Healy,
U.S. Expansionism: The Imperialist Surge in the 1890s
(Madison, Wisc., 1970), Charles C. Campbell,
The Transformation of American Foreign Relations, 1865–1900
(New York, 1976) and Milton Plesur,
America's Outward Thrust: Approaches to Foreign Affairs, 1865–1900
(DeKalb, Ill., 1971). Robert L. Beisner,
From the Old Diplomacy to the New, 1865–1900
(2nd ed., Arlington Heights, Ill., 1986) develops an interesting interpretation of what he calls "old paradigm diplomacy." Walter LaFeber's
The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion, 1860–1898
(Ithaca, N.Y., 1963) and
The American Search for Opportunity, 1865–1913
(New York, 1993) emphasize economic forces, while David M. Pletcher,
The Diplomacy of Trade and Investment: American Economic Expansion in the Hemisphere, 1865–1900
(Columbia, Mo., 1998) questions the existence of a systematic policy of economic expansion. Eric T. L. Love,
Race over Empire: Racism and American Imperialism, 1865–1900
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 2004) is excellent. Ari Hoogenboom,
The Presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes
(Lawrence, Kans., 1988), Justus D. Doenecke,
The Presidencies of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
(Lawrence, Kans., 1981), Richard E. Welch Jr.,
The Presidencies of Grover Cleveland
(Lawrence, Kans., 1988), and Homer E. Socolofsky and Allan B. Spetter,
The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison
(Lawrence, Kans., 1987) cover the administrations. David M. Pletcher,
The Awkward Years: American Foreign Relations Under Garfield and Arthur
(Columbia, Mo., 1962) is a valuable monograph. Edward P. Crapol,
James G. Blaine: Architect of Empire
(Wilmington, Del., 2000) is a fine biography of the period's most colorful and dynamic figure; David F. Healy,
James G. Blaine and Latin America
(Columbia, Mo., 2001) is also useful. Joseph A. Fry,
John Tyler Morgan and the Search for Southern Autonomy
(Knoxville, Tenn., 1992) skillfully covers the career of a southern expansionist. Norman E. Saul,
Concord and Conflict: The United States and Russia, 1867–1914
(Lawrence, Kans., 1996), is excellent on U.S. business activities in Russia. David L. Anderson,
Imperialism and Idealism: American Diplomats in China, 1861–1898
(Bloomington, Ind., 1985) is good on China policy, Stuart Creighton Miller,
The Unwelcome Immigrant: The American Image of the Chinese, 1785–1882
(Berkeley, Calif., 1969) on Chinese in the United States. The missionary movement took off during the Gilded Age. Among the best studies are Jane Hunter,
The Gospel of Gentility: American Women Missionaries in Turn-of-the-Century China
(New Haven, Conn., 1984), Patricia R. Hill,
The World Their Household: The American Women's Foreign Mission
Movement and Cultural Transformation, 1870–1920
(Ann Arbor, Mich., 1985), and Sylvia M. Jacobs, ed.,
Black Americans and the Missionary Movement in Africa
(Westport, Conn., 1982). Wayne Flynt and Gerald Berkeley,
Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850–1950
(Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1997) emphasizes the missionaries' selling of their work at home.

Eighteen nineties expansionism has drawn a great deal of attention. A readable recent survey of the period by a specialist in U.S. foreign relations is H. W. Brands,
The Reckless Decade: America in the 1890s
(New York, 1998). Interpretive studies include Julius W. Pratt,
Expansionists of 1898: The Acquisition of Hawaii and the Spanish
Islands (Baltimore, Md., 1936), Ernest R. May,
Imperial Democracy
:
The Emergence of America as a Great Power
(New York, 1961) and
American Imperialism: A Speculative Essay
(New York, 1968), LaFeber,
New Empire
and
Search for Opportunity,
Beisner,
Old Diplomacy to the New,
and Thomas Schoonover,
Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization
(Lexington, Ky., 2003). Emily S. Rosenberg,
Spreading the American Dream: American Economic and Cultural Expansion, 1890–1945
(New York, 1982) covers a broader period and looks at cultural as well as economic and landed expansion. The once lampooned William McKinley has emerged as a key figure, the first modern president. Important works include H. Wayne Morgan,
William McKinley and His America
(Syracuse, N.Y., 1963) and especially Lewis L. Gould,
The Presidency of William McKinley
(Lawrence, Kans., 1980). Robert C. Hilderbrand,
Power and the People: Executive Management of Public Opinion in Foreign Affairs, 1877–1921
(Chapel Hill, N.C., 1981) is excellent on McKinley's innovations in management of the press.