Frontier and Manifest Destiny and the end of American isolationism (Pogranicze i Objawione Przeznaczenie a koniec amerykańskiej polityki izolacjonizmu) 4219-SG051

Frontier and Manifest Destiny were two concepts that were critical in shaping of the American idea of mission and the U.S.’ role in the world at the turn of the 19th through the 20th centuries, a time when a young nation was taking on new responsibilities on the international stage, which eventually led to the end of American isolationism.
The end of the 19th century marked dynamic internal changes in the U.S. Mass immigration of Europeans and Asians to the U.S. in the 1880s and the 1890s, the psychological effect of the lack of the frontier and free land in the West, the economic crises of 1893 and 1897 all affected Americans’ perception on the condition of their country. War with Spain was the most distinct manifestation of the Manifest Destiny spirit in late 19th century America. The decision to declare war, and the war’s course and consequences were rooted in the spirit of its times and the belief of the elites, who claimed leading role of the United States on the North American continent, in the Western Hemisphere and in the world.
This later manifested itself in the idea of “mission” and “mission to the mankind” as developed by President Woodrow Wilson, which was founded on the belief on moralism and internationalism. The originator of the idea for the League of Nations and a promoter of collective security founded his beliefs on the conviction that universal moral principles can and should be respected in the sphere of international relations. Wilson’s policies and decisions (WWI) were a significant step towards the end of American isolationism. However, after Wilson’s defeat in the U.S. Senate, which meant that the U.S. did not join the League of Nations, the U.S. returned to its policies of neutrality and isolationism in the interwar period. The WWII and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 changed these realities. When the war ended, America entered the international stage as an important powerful player, which was also the final step of the process of shifting away from founding principles towards the end of American isolationism.
The student will learn about the roots of the ideological background and the processes that led to this point. We will also look at the 20th and 21st centuries’ history to analyze the sentiment of isolationism as it returned in some post-Cold War concepts.
We will study the subject in the following thematic blocks:
A: Roots of American isolationism: key principles and founding documents; George Washington’s Farewell Address, the Monroe Doctrine.
B: Shifts in approaching American isolationism: 19th century territorial expansion, relations with the Western Hemisphere.
C: Manifest Destiny and Frontier: the climax of early US foreign policy, John O’Sullivan, mid-19th century expansion and Manifest Destiny sentiment; F.J. Turner and the “end of the frontier”, debating American imperialism after Spanish-American War.
D: Breaking up with isolationism and the way forward: WWI, Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations; the interwar period, WWII and the post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy.

Rodzaj przedmiotu

fakultatywne

Tryb prowadzenia

w sali

Założenia (opisowo)

The goal of the course is to understand the processes that led to the end of American isolationism, which has been the guiding principle for U.S. foreign policy in the 18th and 19th centuries. It aims at presenting students with knowledge of the internal and external factors that contributed to the decisions, which made America a player on the world stage. Walking away from the isolationist principle was a process rather than a single event or a fixed date. We will look at these steps, in order to see how the shifting away from isolationism was taking place.

Koordynatorzy przedmiotu

Justyna Bartkiewicz-Godlewska

Efekty kształcenia

After the course, student:
- is able to name and understand major developments and processes that led to the end of American isolationism.
- understands the role of two key concepts - Manifest Destiny and Frontier -which shaped American expansionist sentiment and provided legitimization for U.S. expansionist foreign policy at the turn of the 19th through the 20th.
- can explain major factors (internal and external) that shaped the process of walking away from the isolationist principle.
- understands and can describe contemporary references to isolationism in American politics.

Kryteria oceniania

Accreditation:
- in-class written test (50%);
- in-class presentation on a subject-related topic (20%)
- term-paper (20%)
- participation in class discussion (10%)

Literatura

Anti-Imperialist Reader. A Documentary History of Anti-Imperialism in the United States, vol. I Philip S. Foner and Richard C. Winchester (eds.), Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., New York, London 1984.
Bartkiewicz-Godlewska, Justyna, Amerykańskie Przeznaczenie. Rola Frontier i Manifest Destiny w polityce zagranicznej USA 1898-1921, Wydawnictwo Neriton, Warszawa 2019.
Blower, Brooke L., “From Isolationism to Neutrality. A New Framework for Understanding American Political Culture, 1919–1941”, Diplomatic History, Vol. 38, No. 2 (APRIL 2014).
Boyle, Peter G. Boyle, “The Roots of Isolationism: A Case Study”, Journal of American Studies , Apr., 1972, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Apr., 1972).
Braumoeller, Bear F. “The Myth of American Isolationism”, Foreign Policy Analysis , OCTOBER 2010, Vol. 6, No. 4 (OCTOBER 2010).
Dunn, David Hustings, “Isolationism Revisited: Seven Persistent Myths in the Contemporary American Foreign Policy Debate”, Review of International Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Apr., 2005).
Graebner, Norman A., Manifest Destiny, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis and New York 1968.
Heidler, David S., Jeanne T. Heidler, Manifest Destiny, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT. 2003.
Hietala, Thomas R., Manifest Design. American Exceptionalism and Empire, Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London 2003.
LaFeber, Walter, The American Age. United States at Home and Abroad since 1750, WW Norton & Company, New York, London, 1989.
Lipset, Seymour Martin, American Exceptionalism. A Double-Edged Sword, W.W. Norton & Company, New York 1997.
Merk, Frederick, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History, Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1970.
Scott, James Brown, President Wilson’s Foreign Policy. Messages, Addresses, Papers, Oxford University Press, New York, 1918.
Stephanson, Anders, Manifest Destiny, American Expansion and the Empire of Right, Hill and Wang, New York 2000.
Turner, Frederick Jackson, Frontier in American History, RE. Krieger Pub. Co., Huntington, NY 1975.
Williams, William Appleman, The Shaping of American Diplomacy: Reading and Documents in American Foreign Relations 1750-1955, Rand McNally, Chicago 1964.
Zakaria, Fareed, From Wealth to Power. The Unusual Origins of American World Role, Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey 1999.
Zimmermann, Warren, First Great Triumph,. How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2002.
Michael E. Brown, Owen R. Cote, Jr. Sean M. Lynn-Jones and Steven E. Miller (eds.), America’s strategic choices, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London: The MIT Press, 2000.

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Strona przedmiotu 4219-SG051 w USOSweb