Origin of the foreign policy of the United States of America.

One of America's leading diplomatic historians, Ernest May has characterized early
American foreign policy as pacifist and isolationist. As late as the 1840s, Americans
reverenced the policy of non-intervention and neutrality. As a result, America kept a tiny
army and navy. Europeans migrated in large numbers to the United States to avoid the
constant wars in Europe and the burden of compulsory military service. America,
however, was born in the crucible of war. After the cessation of the Seven Years War in
1763, the British government increased taxation, which led to unrest in the 13 colonies
on the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Fighting between the colonists and the
forces of Great Britain began in 1775. The revolutionaries declared independence from
Great Britain in 1776. The Nascent United States of America sought military help from
European powers. The French had suffered a defeat by the British during the Seven Years
War, including the loss of Quebec in what is now Canada. The Continental Congress
dispatched Benjamin Franklin to renegotiate an alliance with France, which was formed
in 1778. The French provided supplies, arms, ammunition, uniforms, troops, and naval
support to the American Armed Forces. The French Navy's blockade of British forces
was critical to the defeat of the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. The United
States, Spain, and France signed a peace treaty with Britain in 1783. The colonists in
Canada did not join the revolution, even though many Americans thought they would,
especially French speakers who remained after the British defeat of the French army in
Quebec in 1759. The desire to annex Canada is a constant theme in the early years of the
American Republic. In 1787, delegates to a constitutional convention in Philadelphia
drafted a constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation written in 1777. The
articles had established a confederation of 13 sovereign states. The Constitution formed
a single nation with sovereignty in the hands of the people of the United States. Foreign
policy was no longer made and conducted by Congress. It was now carried on by the
President. George Washington, the first president, took office in 1789. In 1789, revolution
broke out in France and the monarchy was overthrown. The French Revolution deeply
divided Americans. Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Democratic Republican Party,
favored the French revolutionaries. Alexander Hamilton, leader of the Federalist Party,
detested the Revolution and supported Great Britain and its war with the French
Republic. President Washington declared a policy of neutrality and established one of the
leading principles of American foreign policy. Avoid entanglement in European conflicts.
In his farewell address, written upon ending his second term as president in 1796,
Washington emphasized the dangers of permanent alliances between the United States
and foreign nations, which he viewed as foreign entanglements. He argued that it made
no sense for the American people to become embroiled in European affairs when their
isolated position and unity allowed them to remain neutral and focus on their own
affairs. The United States did not enter into any permanent military alliances with foreign
nations until the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, which formed NATO. Washington concluded
his foreign policy advice by advocating free trade with all nations from 1798 to 1800, the
United States fought an undeclared quasi war with the French First Republic. The
Supreme Court upheld the ability of Congress to authorize military action without a
formal declaration of war, which formed the basis for many similar actions since,
including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and most recently the war in
Afghanistan. The conflict with France led to the growth of the US Navy and to American
neutrality in the war between Napoleonic France and Great Britain. In 1805 Napoleon
Bonaparte, Emperor of France, sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States to raise
money to finance his war against Britain and other members of the coalition. The
purchase doubled the size of the United States. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British
Royal Navy attacked American shipping and impressed American sailors as part of its
war against France. In 1812, the United States declared war against Britain. Tensions
originated in long standing differences over territorial expansion in North America and
British support for Native American tribes who opposed US colonial settlement in the
Northwest Territory. The Indian barrier state or buffer state was the British proposal to
establish a Native American state in the portion of the Great Lakes region of North
America, west of the Appalachian Mountains and bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers and the Great Lakes. After the region was assigned to the United States in the
1783 treaty ending the American Revolutionary War, British officials pursued efforts to
organize the various tribes within it into a sort of confederation that would form the
basis of an Indian state, independent of the United States and under their tutelage as a
way to protect their fur trade ventures in the region and to block American expansion
westward. President James Madison hoped to seize Canada still under British rule. The
War of 1812 lasted until 1815. The status quo was restored in the Treaty of Ghent and
Canada remained a British colony. Borders were kept as they were before the war. No
Indian barrier state was established. The Americans purchased land from the Indians
and pushed them further west. No one actually won the War of 1812. It was a draw.
Relations between the United States and Britain remained peaceful until the present day.
The two countries became close allies in the 20th century and are even closer allies
since the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020. The Rush Bagot treaty
between the United States and Britain in 1817 demilitarized the Great Lakes and became
the basis of the longest demilitarized border in the world between the United States and
Canada. In January 1815, forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the British at
the Battle of New Orleans. Many Americans believed that American heroism and skill
had forced the British to surrender and sign a peace treaty ending the war. They were
convinced that they had defeated one of the world's most powerful nations. After the
cessation of the War of 1812, the United States could largely ignore threats from Britain,
France, and Spain, and focus on westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean. Britain shifted
its attention from North America to India. We have traced the origin of the foreign policy
of the United States to its war for independence from the British Crown. We saw how the
alliance with France was critical to the rebel’s success in gaining independence in 1783.
We also saw how the French Revolution of 1789 led President George Washington to
declare neutrality and establish the long-standing policy of avoiding entanglement in
European conflicts. Finally, we saw how the outcome of the War of 1812 with Britain
allowed the United States to focus on its westward expansion.

Compiled by Asim Arif