Picky Eagle , livre ebook

313

pages

English

Ebooks

2020

Écrit par
W. Maass Richard

Publié par
Cornell University Press

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313

pages

English

Ebooks

2020

Lire un extrait

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 mai 2020

EAN13

9781501748776

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

3 Mo

The Picky Eagle explains why the United States stopped annexing territory by focusing on annexation's domestic consequences, both political and normative. It describes how the US rejection of further annexations, despite its rising power, set the stage for twentieth-century efforts to outlaw conquest. In contrast to conventional accounts of a nineteenth-century shift from territorial expansion to commercial expansion, Richard W. Maass argues that US ambitions were selective from the start.By presenting twenty-three case studies, Maass examines the decision-making of US leaders facing opportunities to pursue annexation between 1775 and 1898. US presidents, secretaries, and congressmen consistently worried about how absorbing new territories would affect their domestic political influence and their goals for their country. These leaders were particularly sensitive to annexation's domestic costs where xenophobia interacted with their commitment to democracy: rather than grant political representation to a large alien population or subject it to a long-term imperial regime, they regularly avoided both of these perceived bad options by rejecting annexation. As a result, US leaders often declined even profitable opportunities for territorial expansion, and they renounced the practice entirely once no desirable targets remained.In addition to offering an updated history of the foundations of US territorial expansion, The Picky Eagle adds important nuance to previous theories of great-power expansion, with implications for our understanding of US foreign policy and international relations.

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Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 mai 2020

EAN13

9781501748776

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

3 Mo

THEPICKYEAGLE

How Democ rac y and Xenophobi a L i mi t e d U. S. Te r r i t or i a l E x pa nsi on

R i c h a r d W. M a a s s

CORNELLUNIVERSITYPRESSIthaca and London

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2020 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Maass, Richard W., author. Title:Thepickyeagle:howdemocracyandxenophobialimited U.S. territorial expansion / Richard W. Maass. Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers:LCCN2019025912(print)|LCCN2019025913(ebook) | ISBN 9781501748752 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501748769 (epub) | ISBN 9781501748776 (pdf ) Subjects: LCSH: Democracy—United States—History. | Xenophobia—Political aspects—United States— History. | United States—Territorial expansion— History. | United States—Foreign relations. Classification:LCCE179.5.M1242020(print)|LCC E179.5 (ebook) | DDC 320.0973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019025912 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2019025913

For Etuna

Contents

Acknowledgmentsix List of Abbreviationsxiii

1. The Limits of U.S. Territorial Expansion2. Explaining Annexation

3. To the Continent: European Empires and U.S. Annexation4. To the West: Native American Lands and U.S. Annexation5. To the North: Canada and U.S. Annexation6. To the South: Mexico and U.S. Annexation7. To the Seas: Islands and U.S. Annexation8. The International Implications of U.S. Annexation

Notes215 Index285

1 23

121

156

199

Acknowledgments

“Ask big questions.” If there is one piece of advice I’ve taken to heart, this is it. Big questions concern important sub-jects; their answers profoundly shape how we understand the evolution and operation of the world around us. Furthermore, big questions end in big question marks. We genuinely don’t know the answers when first undertak-ing to study them. As a result, big questions offer both the opportunity to make a scholarly contribution and the intellectual motivation for a curious mind to persevere through an objectively daunting amount of research. This book was born from my nagging unease that the modern world would look very different if its first unrivaled superpower had continued pursuing con-quest instead of outlawing it. It stemmed as well from my curiosity about why the most powerful country in the history of the world had lost interest in something that many other great powers as well as its own early leaders found so appealing. After devoting a decade of work to this book, I am deeply grateful for the support of mentors, colleagues, friends, and family who have helped me see it through. Mike Desch’s genuine interest in this question and his open-mindedness in pursuit of accurate answers reinforced my own, and his con-sistently thoughtful guidance helped me navigate through early drafts. This book has also benefited immensely from Dan Lindley’s unceasing skepticism and ruthless attention to detail, Sebastian Rosato’s infectious ambition and “read everything” thoroughness, and Walter Nugent’s enthusiasm and care for historical research. MikeDesch,DanLindley,WalterNugent,GeorgeHerring,andJoshShi-frinson each read a heavily revised and expanded draft manuscript, providing valuable feedback at a book conference made possible thanks to funding from the Notre Dame International Security Center and an Alumni Research and Scholarly Activity Fellowship from the University of Evansville. After its sub-mission to Cornell University Press, two anonymous reviewers (who turned out to be Peter Liberman and Scott Silverstone) each read multiple iterations of the full manuscript. Their diligence and insightful recommendations were

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