Foreign Policy
• You are going to learn how the United
states responded to early foreign policy
challenges and discuss how much the
nation should have become involved in
world affairs.
U.S. Foreign Policy
• Definition: A country’s actions, words, beliefs
toward/about other countries
• Goals:
• 1.) Protect U.S and Americans
• 2.) support economic growth and human
rights
• 3.)increase support of values like democracy
and freedom
Key players
• President and Executive Branch begin policy
• Legislative (Congress) carries out the policies.
Treaties
• Def: Formal agreement between countries
• Who? – President –negotiates and signs
• Senate approves with a 2/3 vote
• Example: Alliance between two countries to
protect one another
Pg. 225
• Read Section 1. Based on what you just read,
propose some possible answers to the
Essential Question –
• To what extent should the United states have
become involved in world affairs in the early
1800’s?
President Washington Creates A
Foreign Policy
Unfriendly neighbors
the country
Foreign Threats in
1789
The British refused to
leave the Ohio Valley
The U.S. was still allied with
France, which was at war
with Great Britain
George Washington has just given his
farewell address.
• Complete the statement to explain the foreign
policy he thinks the United States should
pursue.
I have declared a policy of neutrality
and isolationism. This means
We will stay out
of the affairs of
other nations
and avoid forming alliances
Dilemma 1
• In this activity, you will play the
role of foreign policy advisors to
four U.S. presidents.
• You will be summoned to the
White House to make
recommendations on how to
respond to four foreign policy
dilemmas faced by the United
states.
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
• Before you can make your
recommendations, you’ll have to
do some background reading.
James Madison
James Monroe
Read Section 3, President Adams’s Dilemma:
Protecting U.S. Ships
• What did the Jay Treaty Resolve?
The British agreed to pull their troops from the Ohio
Valley.
• How did the French respond to the treaty?
The French viewed the Jay Treaty as a violation of its own
treaty with the United States and began to attack U.S.
ships
How did Congress react to the XYZ affair?
Congress recruited an Army, built new ships for the Navy and
authorized war ships and privateers to launch a half war on the
seas.
Step 4 & 5
For each dilemma, your group will:
1. Discuss all of your options.
2. Prepare arguments in support of one
option and in opposition to the other
options.
3. Choose a spokesperson to present your
group’s recommendations to the
President.
President Adams’ Foreign Policy Dilemma
What should President Adams do
to protect U.S. Ships?
Option A – Declare war on France
immediately
Option B – Form a military alliance
with Great Britain and declare war
on France together
Option C – Do not go to war but
try to negotiate with France
Option D – End all overseas
shipping
Dilemma 1
• You will now meet with
President Adams to
advise him on how to
respond to this foreign
policy dilemma.
Esteemed Advisors,
thank you for meeting
with me. I am
interested in your
recommendations
about how I should
respond to this foreign
policy dilemma. We will
discuss each option.
• Each spokesperson who supports Option A,
please stand.
• Each spokesperson who supports Option B,
please stand.
• Each spokesperson who supports Option C,
please stand.
• Each spokesperson who supports Option D,
please stand.
Thank you advisors, I will
take your recommendations
into account as I make my
decision.
Now read section 4, WHAT HAPPENED
• Adams Pursues Peace in the Student Text on
page 229.
Complete the Reading Notes for this section in
your packet.
• Describe what President Adams did to protect
U.S. ships in the Atlantic Ocean. Then explain
whether you think he pursued the best foreign
policy option.
President Adams sent a peace mission to France.
French Leader Napoleon had already ended seizing
American ships. U.S. made a treaty with France to end
1778 treaty in exchange for U.S. paying cost of ships
seized by France.
Dilemma
• Mark an X along the spectrum to indicate
where President Adam’s response to attacks
on U.S. ships falls.
•
Dilemma 2
• To prepare for the next round, read Section 5,
President Jefferson’s Dilemma: Dealing with Pirates
• Complete the Reading Notes for the section in your
Interactive Student
1. Why did Great Britain impress U.S. sailors in
the early 1800’s.
Great Britain impressed U.S. sailors to serve in the
British Navy. They claimed the men were British
deserters.
• Create a simple drawing to represent the
problem of piracy by the Barbary States of
North Africa. Then explain President
Jefferson’s dilemma.
Jefferson had to decide whether to pay tribute to the
ruler of Tripoli or go to war with the Barbary States.
President Jefferson’s Foreign Policy
Dilemma
How should President Jefferson deal with
piracy in the Mediterranean Sea?
Option A: Pay the increased tribute to the
Tripoli ruler and avoid war.
Option B: Send a peace envoy to Tripoli to
negotiate
Option C: Send warships to the
Mediterranean Sea to protect U.S. shipping
interests.
Option D: End all U.S. shipping in the
Mediterranean Sea.
How did Jefferson respond to piracy in
the Mediterranean Sea?
• Jefferson sent a small fleet of warships to
protect American ships. America bombarded
Tripoli with cannons.
• A peace treaty was signed that ended Tripoli
asking for tribute in return for U.S. paying
60,000 in ransom for kidnapped crew
members.
• Mark an X along the spectrum to indicate
where President Jefferson’s response to piracy
in the Mediterranean falls, Mark an O to
indicate whether his response to seizures of
U.S. ships by Great Britain and France
reflected more isolationism or more
involvement.
Tombstones
•
•
•
•
•
Criteria for Each President
Name of President
Dates of Presidency
Explain presidential Dilemma
What was the President’s decision? Do you
agree or disagree? Why or why not?
• Symbol that represents the Foreign Policy
choice.
Tombstones?
Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone
• Here was buried Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of American
Independence…Father of
the University of Virginia
Jefferson Davis’ tombstone
• At rest
• an American soldier
• who defended the
Constitution
Benjamin Franklin’s tombstone
•
The Body of B. Franklin, printer
Like the Cover of an old Book
Its Contents torn out
And stripped of its Lettering &
guilding
Lies here food for worms
For, it will as he believed appear
once more
In a new and more elegant edition
Corrected and improved by the
Author."
Mel Blanc’s tombstone
• “That’s all, folks!”
Dilemma 3
• To prepare for this situation, read section 12:7
(pg. 232)—President Madison’s Dilemma:
Protecting Sailors and Settlers
• Complete the graphic organizer for section 7
about our reasons for going to war in 1812
Impressment of sailors
Reasons for
going to war
in 1812
National pride
Making the frontier
safe for settlement
President Madison’s Foreign Policy Dilemma
Video: The War of 1812
Dilemma 3: Resolution
• Now read section 12.8—What Happened: The
War of 1812
War of 1812: Timeline
1812
July 1812: Congress
declares war on
Great Britain
1813
1814
September 1813: U.S. Naval force captures a British
fleet on Lake Erie
August 1814: British army invades Washington, DC
1815
December 1814: U.S. and British diplomats sign
peace treaty in Belgium
January 1815: Battle of New Orleans
Dilemma 3: Spectrum
• Mark an X along the spectrum to indicate
where President Madison’s decision to declare
war on Great Britain falls. Make sure you write
a sentence justifying your placement.
Dilemma 4: President Monroe
• To prepare for this situation, read section 12.9
(page 235)—President Monroe’s Dilemma: A
New Foreign Policy Challenge
• Why might the U.S. have been interested in
supporting new Latin America nations in the
early 1800s?
– We were genuinely concerned for the well-being
of the new nations
Processing Activity: Foreign Policy Legacies
Events in Early American Foreign Policy
• Washington: Establishes neutrality and
isolationism
• Adams: Pursues peace
• Jefferson: Some military protection for ships,
but stayed isolated with Embargo Act
• Madison: Abandons isolationism and declares
War of 1812