War and
Diplomacy:
Change over time
This theme will explore armed
conflict, American foreign policy
and their impact on American
politics, society, and the economy;
excluding battles and militarized
strategies.
Alexsis Castillo
Cassandra Orozco
Cody Barton
Luis Arroyo
Period 1600s
During the French and Indian War, also known as the seven years’ war, involved when
England’s monarchy trade system interfered with colonial affairs. Colonists were fueled with
revolutionary attitudes when the monarchy attempted to gain total power of the colonies.
Colonies were growing up and felt that the British were giving SALUTARY NEGLECT.
Ranging from the periods 1650-1750 colonists felt the fiery to revolt and shed blood for
independence. Planter Nathaniel Bacon resented Virginian governor William Berkeley for
friendly policies towards the Native Americans. Berkeley’s capter of twenty rebels became
known as BACON’S REBELLION during the 1670s.
In the DECONSTRUCTION OF POWHATAN CONFEDERACY BY ENGLISH IN
1644 resulted when the English took advantage of the Powhatans and resulted by “indian
fighters”, the English perishing the tribe. In the PEQUOT WAR Pequots were destroyed when
English attacked their village for peuots resisting English resistance. In KING PHILIP’S WAR
attacks were led to the pokanoket territory then seventy years later the STONO UPRISING dealt
with a slave rebellion up in the Stono river outside of Charleston, South Carolina.
Period 1700s
PONTIANCS REBELLION became its landmark when Owatta war chief Pontiac rallied
his group in the Ohio valley and attacked English colonists. George Washington led the
CONTINENTAL ARMY because he was well liked as a war hero and it was assembled after the
battle of Lexington and Concord in preparation for war. THOMAS PAINE wrote the COMMON
SENSE where he argued democracy over monarchists. THOMAS JEFFERSON was the author
of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE which is basically a letter stating how a
government should act upon the government and listed grievances towards the wrong doing on
the British government. In the FRANCO ALLIANCE, the French sided with the U.S. in war
after the battle of Saratoga hoping that the French would gain new territory even though there
was resentment towards the English in English victory of the French and Indian War. In
SHAYS’ REBELLION Massachusetts’ farmers protested on unfair political and economic
policies that the British had enforced causing a riot such as the WHISKEY REBELLION
resulted in anger from farmers who did not favor the elite. Lastly, the XYZ AFFAIR had to do
with Adam’s reports involving with the French alliance. The change over time can be seen as
how the U.S. was in favor of protecting their neutrality and soon would tie into the isolationism
the U.S. practiced.
Period 1800 to 1850
The time period of 1800 to 1850 was not a time when America was a war stricken nation.
Most of the fighting that took place during this time was small conflicts over land acquisition.
During these altercations, such as the War of 1812 and Tecumseh’s war, our president, James
Madison, expanded the size of the army and increased arms production which created both jobs
in the army and in manufacturing. He also put the country in a state of war time economy which
means that there were high taxes and tariffs to fund the military. At the time, America wanted to
see a strong political leader who demonstrated courage and determination to establish America
as a dominant nation and the way Madison handled his self and the country during these times
illustrated these factors.
In the later parts of the half-century our leaders were still demonstrating strong executive
power and continued to place tariffs and taxes on items to fund numerous government jobs like
the army. Although there were no major wars during these times, besides the Mexican-American
war, it still affected the country. American’s were still strongly supporting Manifest Destiny so
many were in favor of the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American war. President Polk
followed in Madison’s footsteps and implicated similar tariffs and taxes to fund the war. There
were also many foreign wars that were taking place that cause nations to impose taxes on their
exports which affected America. In the period from 1800 to 1850 there were few altercations that
set the tone for political, social, and economic factors to change drastically, however they still
caused high tariffs and a sense of patriotism while finding strong presidential leaders. In later
half of the century, there was a drastic change in these three factors because of the civil war and
other altercations.
During the 1850’s conflicts between the South and North had opposing views on slavery,
Situations and events contributed to the growing tension such as the KANSAS-NEBRASKA
ACT 0F 1804 which opened two territories to slavery and repealed the MISSOURI
COMPROMISE leading to bloody Kansas. In the ruling of DRED SCOTT V. SANDFORD
CASE made matters worse after declaring Scott’s property. All this drastic events began to stir
up to the CIVIL WAR in 1861. While dividing the country, the North and South were split to the
UNION and the CONFEDERACY with the exception of BORDER STATES such as,
MISSOURI, KENTUCKY, MARYLAND AND DELAWARE; slave states that fought for the
war excluding abolitionists. The purpose of this war was to preserve the union and the South’s
privilege to states’ rights.
Neither the Union nor the Confederacy initially declared war to be a war of slavery. The
constitution protected slavery where it already existed. Many opponents including the
Republicans were opposed to the extension of slavery into new territories. In September 1862,
following the Union victory at ANTIETAM, Lincoln issued the EMANCIPATION OF
PROCLAMMATION. However, not all slaves were freed but stated in January 1, 1863 the
government liberated all slaves in the states whom are still in “rebellion”.
The immediate effect on war resulted in escaped slaves and freed blacks to join the Union
Army which took the war two more years to last. In the SHERMAN’S PATH the Union had won
the war after burning down everything in their path as they marched directly to the South with a
force of aggression.
Period 1900-1920
Roosevelt in 1903 administrated strong armed forces in Cuba based on the Platt
Amendment in which committed Cuba into American semi-control. In the beginning
America had a strict foreign policy known as isolationism. Americans avoided being
involved within foreign affairs. Although, when all the great nations ended built into
power the U.S. began to fear if they did not participate in the worldwide competition
the U.S. would right away be over powered. Thus, due to the rapid growth of American
production America began to look overseas where businesses began developing market
and facilities in Latin America; American practice to expand their power resulted in
expansionism. Conflict aroused in Cuba that Mckinley sent the Maine (a war ship) to
Cuba to protect American interest. February 15, 1898 the U.S. Maine exploded. The
outcry of Americans caused an assumption that Spain had sabotaged the Maine
influencing McKinley to declare war on Spain. The United States drove Spain out of Cuba
and ended the war with the Treaty of Paris. Spain renounced claim to Cuba, seceded
Guam and Puerto Rico to the U.S. 1901, war included a series of provisions in the Teller
Amendment in which placed a condition on U.S. military presence at Cuba. Troops had
no permission to leave Cuba unless they agreed by the Platt Amendment which gave the
United States control of Cuba’s foreign relations and operation to naval stations at
Guantanama Bay. After the Roosevelt COROLLARY TO THE MONROE DOCTRINE, troops
intervening in Latin American affairs claiming that Latin America’s domestic instability
constituted a threat to American security known as the BIG STICK POLICY. The United
States would only intervene in the western hemisphere when its national security was
at the stake and gave no part of Europe’s international disputes. When war had broken
out in the East in August 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared America’s
NUETRALITY. America would treat all those involved in war fairly and without favoritism
to avoid tensions. Problems arose immediately considering their close relationship with
England and the seemingly distant relationship with Germany and Austria-Hungary.
England’s strategic location and superior navy allowed it to BLOCKADE on shipment
headed towards Germany, particularly those of American shipments. The British
government confiscated American ships paid for cargo reducing the pressure the
American merchants would have put on the U.S. government to action against the
blockade. In 1915, the LUSITANIA was sunken beneath waters in which provoked the
government and people to act upon war for believing Germans had a part of
ammunition. The ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM, a British innovation raged American support
for war with the Germans bribed Mexico assistance to regain lost territory from the
Mexican War if Mexico declared war on the U.S. Wilson then established his FOURTEEN
POINTS for world peace including THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS which rallied for
international cooperation making U.S. the policy force of foreign relations. Congress
refused and wanted to remain in isolationism and concluded the world war to end with
the TREATY OF VERSAILLES. Consequently, the Germans were forced to pay all damage
done from World War 1.
After WWI, American foreign Policy fell back to primarily promoting an “independent
internationalism” (Isolationism) since congress refused to join the League of Nations. Because of this
decision, the United Nations was powerless when Japan went to war with China in 1937. At first the U.S
sold arms to the Chinese and called for an Embargo on arm sales to Japan, but fearful of provoking a war
with Japan, the government didn’t ordered an embargo on commercial shipments to Japan from the
U.S, hoping to stay isolated and away from conflict. Congress eventually responded to the fear by taking
precautions and passing a series of neutrality acts, prohibiting sales of arms to either sides involved in
the war. Later on, when war broke out in Europe in 1937 congress put in action the “Cash N’ Carry”
policy, which required the allies to pay cash for their weapons and then carry out their shipments
themselves from the U.S. However, Roosevelt found ways to assist the allies while staying within
boundaries of the neutrality acts, like the “Lend n’ Lease Act” passed in 1941, which permitted the U.S
to lend firearms to England who no longer had money to buy the tools for war. Despite the regulations
on foreign affairs, in 1940 when Japan had agreed to an alliance (the Tripartite Pact) with Italy and
Germany, America was prepared to enter the war but was still held back by the neutrality act and the
unpopularity of the involvement in the war. But in 1941 America finally responded to Japans aggression
when France had fallen to Eastern Europe, leaving the British the only ally left, by cutting off trade to
Japan by joining the war. And despite previous peace talks between Japan and the United States, on
December 7 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying most of America’s arm power. After
this the first big meeting was the meeting of the “Big Three” in 1943 which took place in the Iranian
capital of Teheran in November. It was here that they planned the Normandy invasion, D-Day and
agreed to divide a defeated Germany into occupational ones after the war. The allies fought the
Germans mostly in the Soviet Union and in the Mediterranean until early 1944 when allied forces
invaded occupied France. Once defeated all was left was Japan and in 1945 the allied leaders met at
Yalta where the Big Three made compromises with Stalin to convince him to join the war by giving him
freehand in eastern Europe and letting him be a major factor in the United Nations, which was similar to
Wilson’s idea of the League of Nations. But after Roosevelt had died later on that April, President
Truman had later on made the decision to drop the atomic bomb (the Manhattan project) on Japanese
islands Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus using a brand new type of weapon no one had ever used before. It
was the use of this invention that ended WWII.
1951-Present
The late 20th century would demonstrate how the U.S. had established itself as a permanent
world leader. Throughout the years 1951 to present day, the U.S. was involved in various wars and
diplomatic relations with other countries. The primary reason for the start of the U.S.’s involvement in
many of the events to come throughout these years would be the start of the Cold War which would be
the competition between the U.S. and Russia to prove which form of government was more successful
and also the competition for the leading role as the World’s major superpower. One of the first events in
which there would be competition between the two countries was the Korean War in which the U.S.
would support the South Korean Army defend itself from the invasion of the North Korean side
supported by the Soviets. Another form of completion between the two countries was Sputnik which
was the launch of the first artificial space satellite sent by the Soviets in 1957 and would become the
start of the space race between both countries. The Bay of Pigs Invasion would also take place which
was the act of training Cuban troops and sending CIA agents to attempt the assassination of Fidel Castro.
A short time after the U.S. would detect the stationing of Soviet Missile bases with the pointed toward
the U.S. and would cause President Kennedy to come to a very close start of a third World War and
would be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. would be involved in the first steps toward the
Vietnam War, which were helping the French try to keep control of their territory in Vietnam. This would
lead to the Geneva Accords in which Vietnam would be divided into two parts, one led by the Viet Minh
and Ho Chi Minh and the other by the Republic of Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem. The U.S. would be
involved in helping elect Ngo Dinh Diem who would serve as a better candidate just for not being a
communist. As Diem started to become less popular in the South the U.S. would also help in the act of
getting rid of him. As North Vietnam effort to unite both the south and north into one whole the aid
from the U.S. to South Vietnam would gradually increase. By 1962, President Kennedy would initiate the
help by first sending American advisers in order to start training the South Vietnamese troops. It wasn’t
until 1964 that in the Gulf of Tonkin where an American ship was pursued by three North Vietnamese
torpedo boats went into combat resulting in a U.S. win that caused the involvement of U.S. military
troops to set foot in Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution would then be passed in order to give
President Johnson any necessary actions against any armed attack from the North Vietnamese on U.S.
troops. It wasn’t until 1965 that the first American troops were stationed in Vietnam in order to protect
the airbase. In 1968, North Vietnam would set The Tet Offensive in order to invade South Vietnam and
the American Embassy in Saigon. This offensive would demonstrate the South Vietnamese’s capability to
attack any part of South Vietnam. As people were finding out about these events back at home the war
would start to lose its support from the people at home to keep fighting it. Richard Nixon would then
pass the policy of Vietnamization which would be set in order stop increasing, equipping, and training
South Vietnamese troops and start reducing the number of U.S. combat troops. When Nixon’s secret
Cambodia bombings were revealed to the public the War Powers Act ordered to check the president's
power to commit the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. After these
events the fall of communist Russia wouldn’t take place until Ronald Regan’s presidency and in the year
1991.