AFP NOTES 1/30

Anglophobia & the Monroe Doctrine

A) France vs Britain
Macon's Bill No. 2
revised version of the first bill, not even supported by macon
-text of bill was that if one country- britain or france- stopped harassing american ships, america would cut off trade with the other
-napoleon immediately agreed to this (he had less to lose)
-however, he didn't actually stop harassing american ships
-this put the ball firmly back into the british court
-irony here was that from Nov 1807- July 1812 the French took many many more american ships than did the british
-another problem here- the british were in fact the lords of the sea
-every neutral country depended on the british navy to ensure their safety on the seas
British Neo-Mercantilism
-Americans felt like the british were sucking them into another system of mercantilism through the seas
-there were many problems with resisting the french
-any attack on the french would necessitate an alliance with the UK
-the french were also one of the most rapacious empires under napoleon, americans bore them no love
The War Hawks
-war was rapidly rising to the forefront
-many southerners and westerners in this camp
-one of the huge issues was the british relationship with the indians
-british were hoping that the indians would unite together in a confederation powerful enough to fight off the americans
-Nov 1811- the battle of Tippecanoe showed that the british were supporting the indian tribes, and this threat would have to be addressed
-the most logical target owned by the british was canada
Canada
-historically we like to invade canada
-before even the declaration of independence, there was an american invasion into canada
-war hawks figured that it'd be easy to invade and take canada
-it was figured that it would only be a 'matter of marching'- US troops would just march straight into canada, canada would surrender
-this just didnt happen
-June 1- Madison sends to congress a request for a declaration of war
-grounds for complaint
-british were still attacking american ships on the open seas
-June 4 the declaration of war was approved by the house
-June 17 the declaration of war was approved by the senate
-first actual declaration of war in american history, also by the closest margin ever, especially in the senate (19-13)
-the vote was extremely divided along party lines
-in London on June 16- 'the order in council' will be suspended
-in London on June 23- the new british government repealed the order in council
-the order in council was the actual main reason that they went to war in the first place, but the americans didn't find out until more than a month later

B) The War of 1812
Stalemate of Britain
-american invasion of canada was a massive failure
-american general in the west was actually thrown out of canada and forced to surrender, and lost detroit and parts of the american northwest
-why did we fail?
-the army was tiny, because the very idea of a standing army was unpalatable
-the militia (backbone of the army) was extremely unreliable
-many state militias refused to serve outside their states
-no money for the war
-republicans had killed the first bank of the united states in 1811, so there was no way to raise money centrally
-most of the big money men who could lend the US money were federalists, who wouldn't lend them anything at all
-there was some success- naval engagements
-on the great lakes and at sea, americans kept winning naval battle
-basically a stalemate for a few years
-august 4, 1814 the british actually invaded washington dc, looted and burned all of the city
-september 13- they try to move to baltimore
-baltimore holds at fort mchenry
-situation got so bad in new england that five states called a convention (hartford convention)
-came really really close to demanding outright secession from the US, ended up sending a list of grievances to the federal government
-meanwhile, american ambassadors had been meeting with british ambassadors in Ghent
-they agree to a treaty on a status quo ante
-nobody gains or loses any territory
-the treaty got signed before january 8, 1815
-british forces tried to invade New Orleans after it was signed- andrew jackson shanks them
-didn't know the war was already over
-what did the war do?
-settled the secession crisis in New England, they weren't gonna secede any time soon
-huge territory gains in the west
-Jackson, prior to the battle of New Orleans, was very active against the creek indians
-Harrison destroys the confederated thames
Pacifying the Frontier
-huge territory gains in the west
-Jackson, prior to the battle of New Orleans, was very active against the creek indians
-Harrison destroys the confederated thames
US Emancipation
-settled the matter of independence
-US was actually recognized as a sovereign state
-all future disputes in the region would be settled by arbitrage
-democratic peace theory was started here, the two democracies didn't really go to war with eachother again
C) US Assertion
Latin American Revolution
-shitloads of revolutions going on in latin america as well
-main instigators:
-simon bolivar
-jose de san martin
-mexico underwent a separate process of revolt 1810-1821
-for a long time, all of south america through half of north america were controlled by spain, all of a sudden they just became independence
-the new states were weak, the holy alliance monarchies decided to re-impose monarchical control over the region, and reestablish european domination
The Holy Alliance
-Russia, Austria, Prussia, France
-these states felt that with their authority they could establish a peace on their terms
-they were anti-democratic, anti-secular, and anti-revolutionary
-congress of verona of 1822
-the other powers in europe greenlighted french intervention in spain to restore spain's king ferdinand VII
-he was thrown off originally, put back so that they could safeguard monarchical power
-the british disagreed with these guys, turned her back on europe
-policy of 'splendid isolation'

Britain Proposes Cooperation
-british prime minister George Canning had huge interests in south/latin america (mostly trade)
-made an ultimatum to the rest of europe, saying that any intervention in the americas would lead to war with britain
-made an offer to the US
-stated that the spanish position was hopeless
-denied any ambition in the region- said that all they wanted was their trade rights to be secured
-opposed any european intervention
-proposed that the US and UK should put forward a joint statement opposing any european intervention in the americas
The Monroe Doctrine
-James Monroe was urged to accept this offer by Jefferson
-a meeting was held on Nov 23, 1823
-british offer would have been accepted right then if not for John Quincy Adams
-adams said that american power was so minimal that it wouldn't really add much to the british declaration, makes US look like britain's bitch
-another agenda was at stake here
-americans were supportive of greek independence
-july 4, 1821- Adams makes some remarks- the DEFINITIVE statement of american exemplaraist foreign policy
-'goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy', etc
-didnt matter, monroe made a statement anyways
-Dec 2, 1823- Monroe Declaration, which became the Monroe Doctrine
-adams thought that the pledge to britain meant that our own expansion would be halted in the western hemisphere, and this would be unacceptable
-specifically texas and cuba

D) The Atlantic System
US Sovereignty
-america was not really extended an invitation into the 'republic of europe'
-UK and US tried to erect a state system similar to the system used in europe (not within states, but the international system)
-there were three main differences between US and europe, though
-slavery
-indian dispossession
-expansion at the expense of their neighbors
-this couldn't happen in europe, happened anyways in the americas
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