Foreign Policy History of the United States

 

I. Revolutionary Beginnings:

            A. French and Indian War 1754-1763 and Change in British Policy      

            B. Franco-American Alliance 1778      

            C. Paris Peace Treaty 1783

 

II. Washington and Adams Set the Course

            A. Land Ordinance of 1785 and Northwest Ordinance of 1787

            B. General Wayne and the Treaty of Greenville

            C. Jay’s Treaty, Pinckney’s Treaty and Genet Affair

            D. Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality

            E. XYZ Affair and Undeclared Naval War with France

 

III. Jeffersonian Republicans Take the Helm

            A. Louisiana Purchase and Barbary Pirates

            B. Embargo and the Nonintercourse Act

            C. War of 1812: Causes and Effects, Hartford Convention, Treaty of Ghent

            D. Rush-Bagot Agreement, Purchase of Florida

            E. Missouri Compromise and Slavery Issue

            F. Monroe Doctrine and Its impact

 

IV. Jacksonians and Manifest Destiny

            A. Indian Removal and the Influence of the West

            B. Polk and Oregon, California, Texas

            C. Mexican War: Causes and Effects

            D. 49er’s and Compromise of 1850

            E. Perry Opens Japan, Latin America: Ostend Manifesto, Walker in Nicaragua, Gadsden

            F. Kansas-Nebraska Act Reopens Slavery Issue

 

V. Civil War and Gilded Age

            A. Trent Affair and Union Blockade

            B. Blockade Runners and The Laird Rams

            C. Purchase of Alaska, French in Mexico

            D. Interests in Hawaii, Samoa; Venezuelan Boundary Dispute

            E. Alfred Thayer Mahan and Big Navyism

           

VI. Imperial America

            A. Cuban Revolution and Spanish American War: Causes Effects

            B. Platt Amendment, Annexation of Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico

            C. Insular Cases, Building the Canal: Hay-Paunceforte Treaty, Hay-Banau Varilla Treaty

            D. Open Door, Russo-Japanese War, Big Stick Policy

            E. Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy

 

VII. Wilson to the 1920’s

            A. Mexican Problems, Moral Diplomacy in the Caribbean

            B. World War One: Armed Neutrality to Reasons We Entered

            C. Fourteen Points, Treaty of Versailles, Failure of Internationalism at Home

            D. Isolationism of the 20’s, Washington Naval Conference, Kellogg-Briand Pact

 

VIII. FDR Era

            A. Good Neighbor Policy and Recognition of Soviet Union

            B. Isolationism and the Neutrality Acts

            C. Destroyers for Bases, Lend-Lease

            D. Pearl Harbor and American Entry: Hitler First

            E. Atlantic Charter, Casablanca, Yalta

           

IX. The Cold War Begins:

            A. Potsdam Conferece and the Atomic Bomb

            B. Berlin Crisis, Airlift, NATO formed

            C. United Nations, Korean War

            D. Truman Doctrine and Containment

            E. Eisenhower, Massive Retaliation and the Arms Race

            F. SEATO and the Domino Theory

            G. Peaceful Co-Existence, Suez Crisis, U2 Incident

 

X. The 60’s and 70’s

            A. Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis

            B. Esclation in Vietnam: Tonkin Gulf Resolution

            C. Berlin Wall and Test Ban Treaty

            D. Nixon Visits China, Soviet Union

            E. Yom Kippur War and Arab Oil Embargo, Camp David Accords

            F. SALT Treaties, Iran Hostage Crisi, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

 

XI. The 80’s:

            A. Star Wars and the “Evil Empire”

            B. Intervention in El Salvador, Grenada, Panama, Nicaragua

            C. Gorbachev and Ultimate Collapse of Communism

            D. Terrorism and Attack on Libya, Persian Gulf War