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In the early American republic, a sense of nationhood began to develop, primarily during and after the War of 1812. This perhaps was one of the only significant contributions made by that war to America and its politics. From this conflict and the nationalist mood it birthed, several factors grew to influence policy. The actions of militarists (both 'War Hawks' and supporters of the Florida acquisition), the inward focused American system, and the Monroe Doctrine clearly influenced an isolationist foreign policy between 1810 and 1830. After the war ended, the British attempted to suffocate new American industries by making massive numbers of imports. The American system was developed by Representative Henry Clay in 1815 to protect these infant industries. Its actions taken were threefold: first, an imports tariff gained revenue from all of the shipping. Second, the national bank was strengthened to provide easy credit. Finally, all of the generated revenue was diverted to infrastructure. Clay's tariff is perhaps the most isolationist of the three. In a speech in Congress in 1824, he stated that the tax was “exclusively leveled at foreign industry.” Before this he had stressed the need of “adequate protection” against “overwhelming [foreign] influence.” His aim with the tax was to hold at arms length foreign trading powers, and then focus on internal self-sufficiency with the other pillars of the American system. His actions in this clearly demonstrate an isolationist policy interested in avoiding foreign influence. A series of military developments also influenced foreign policy between 1810 and 1830. First and foremost stands the example of the War Hawks, who helped draw the nation to war with Britain to begin with. They advocated military action against Britain in the hope of clearing the frontier and leaving it more open to American expansion and settlement. The resulting war weakened the European hold on North America—if not by military victories then at least by influencing a Canadian sense of nationalism (which would have a diluting effect on British power). Also interested in the extraction of groping European tentacles from North America were the supporters of the acquisition of Florida, an action achieved by General Andrew Jackson (and by unauthorized force) in 1819. With this, the last European power was removed from what today are the current borders of the United States (apart from jointly-occupied Oregon). In doing this, the War Hawks and 'Acquisitionists' demonstrated an isolationist intent by seeking to remove foreign powers from North America. Most isolationist of all, however, was the Monroe Doctrine. As the Russian Empire gradually moved southward along the west coast in the first decades of the 19th century, President James Monroe of Virginia grew concerned that the possibility of American access to the Pacific Ocean would be ended, thus eliminating a potentially lucrative trade option. In 1823, he declared that foreign colonization had ended in the Americas, and that “any attempt on their part to extend their system” any further in North America would be “dangerous to [America's] peace and safety.” This denunciation of foreign imperialism fits in perfectly with his interest in “security against foreign dangers” expressed in his 1817 Inaugural Address. By demanding the end of European colonization, the Monroe Administration not only encouraged by also instituted an isolationist foreign policy. The War of 1812 rewarded America not in military victories, but in a victory that lay in an at least temporary unification of its people. Developed in the early republic because of the emergent nationalist sentiment, isolationism grew into a dominant theme. It was utilized militarily by the War Hawks and Acquisitionists, turned to economic ends through the American System, and used to condemn imperial encroachment by the Monroe Doctrine. These events clearly demonstrate the isolationist foreign policy of the American republic between 1810 and 1830. |
