FRQ Question: Early United States foreign policy was primarily a defensive reaction to perceived or actual threats from Europe. Assess the validity of this generalization with reference to United States foreign policy on TWO major issues during the period from 1789-1825.
Between the time period of 1789 -1825, the early United States prolonged foreign policy as a means of defense and protecting themselves from perceived or actual ultimatums from Europe. During the early 18th century Thomas Jefferson believed that keeping the U.S. from getting involved with other countries would be best, thus enforcing the Embargo Act of 1807. This idea of isolationism continued during the 19th century as the Monroe Doctrine avoided meddling with European countries and their conflicts in order to prevent America from becoming a battleground for European countries. These ideals were enforced with the idea of avoiding conflicts and war.
During Jefferson's time in office, France declared war on Europe while Britain declared war on France. Having all of this war, the amount of trade was lowering which caused oppression on the United States. Napoleon created a blockade of Great Britain, and then Great Britain created a blockade of Europe. These blockades were not very sufficient, but during the process 1500 American ships were abducted and the sailors were forced into the British navy. From this happening, Jefferson ordered the Embargo Act, which ended the trading with foreign countries from U.S. merchants. This act was used in order to keep the U.S. out of war by keeping American ships away from the blockades. This act was not obeyed entirely because many Americans would smuggle goods to different ports. From 1804-1809, the Embargo and Non-Intercourse Acts were passed.
These acts were passed to prevent America from entering the war with France and the British. The Embargo Act didn't allow any trade between America and any foreign countries in order to prevent American ships from being abducted in the blockades being formed. Many being disobeyed this act, which then lead to the Non-Intercourse Act in 1809. This act allowed American merchants to trade with ports other than British. In 1809, the act was discarded but was then replaced by the Non-Intercourse Act, which stated that Americans could trade with foreign nations other than the nations in Europe. This act still failed to keep American ships out of the European ports
When Jefferson learned that Spain had secretly ceded Louisiana to France in 1800, he instructed his ministers to negotiate the purchase of the port of New Orleans and possibly West Florida. Jefferson strategically made this move in order to insure that American farmers in the Ohio River Valley had access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River—the river was a key to the farmers' economic well-being, as they needed a vent for their surplus grain and meat. Even before the French took over Louisiana, the Spaniards had closed the Mississippi River in 1802. While Jefferson was known to be partial to the French, having the Emperor Napoleon's driving interests for world domination next door was not an attractive prospect; thus, Jefferson acted swiftly.
To his surprise, Napoleon, needing funds to finance a new European war with England, offered to sell Jefferson most of the land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. His price of $15 million amounted to approximately four cents per acre for 828,000 square miles, doubling the size of the nation. Although Jefferson understood that the U.S. Constitution said nothing about the purchase of foreign territory, he set aside his strict constructionist ideas to make the deal—Congress approved the purchase five months after the fact. Jefferson then outfitted a twenty-five man expedition to explore the new lands. Led by his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and Army Captain William Clark, these adventurers took two and one-half years to cover 8,000 miles. They traveled up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and down the Columbia River to the Pacific before retracing their steps to St. Louis. The expedition is considered one of the great exploratory quests in human history.
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