Building the Continental Empire: American Expansion from the Revolution to the Civil WarIvan R. Dee, 1996 - 177 pages In this fresh survey of foreign relations in the early years of the American republic, William Weeks argues that the construction of the new nation went hand in hand with the building of the American empire. That empire, he maintains, was of fundamental importance to the new nation, and he shows how a dispute over the future of the empire led the nation to civil war. Mr. Weeks traces the origins of the imperial initiative to the 1750s, when the Founding Fathers began to perceive the advantages of colonial union and the possibility of creating an empire within the British Empire that would provide security and the potential for commerce and territorial expansion. After the adoption of the Constitution - which brought a far stronger central government than had been popularly imagined - the need to expand combined with a messianic American nationalism. The result was Manifest Destiny, a complex of ideas and emotions that rhetorically justified both the nation and the empire. With aggressive diplomacy by successive presidential administrations, the United States built a transcontinental empire and achieved supremacy in the Western Hemisphere. From the acquisition of Louisiana and Florida to the Mexican War, from the Monroe Doctrine to the annexation of Texas, Mr. Weeks describes the ideology and scope of American expansion. Relations with Great Britain, France, and Spain; the role of missionaries, technology, and the federal government, and the issue of slavery that forced a breakdown of the expansionist consensus - these are key elements in this succinct and thoughtful view of the making of the continental nation. |
Contents
Hemispheric Supremacy | 30 |
The Age of Manifest Destiny | 59 |
Texas and Oregon | 86 |
Copyright | |
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Building the Continental Empire: American Expansion from the Revolution to ... William Earl Weeks No preview available - 1996 |
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abolitionist acquired acquisition Adams's Ameri American empire American nationalism Andrew Jackson annexation of Texas army asserted boundary Britain British Buchanan Calhoun California Central China claim Clayton-Bulwer Treaty coast colonies colonists command commercial Congress Constitution continent Creek Cuba declared Democrats diplomatic economic efforts European expansion expansionist exports fears federal government filibusters force foreign France Frémont French imperial domain independence Indians interests island Jackson Jefferson John Quincy Adams land Lopez Louisiana Purchase Louisiana territory Manifest Destiny Massachusetts ment Mexican Mexico minister mission missionary Mississippi Monroe navy negotiations Nicaragua North American Northern offer Oregon outrage Pacific peace political Polk Polk's population President principle proslavery province pushed region Republic Republican revolutionary River Secretary seemed Seminole Seminole War Senator slave power slavery Slidell South Southern Spain Spanish territory Texas annexation threatened tion trade transcontinental treaty Union United Walker West Florida Western Hemisphere Whig York