Abstract
This chapter explores the evolution of what could be termed the “historical repertoire” of American foreign policy and grand strategy through an examination of the interaction between systemic change and American political culture from the Founding of the Republic to the Polk administration (1844–1849). In particular, this chapter highlights the early dominance of “exemplarist” traditions of statecraft (particularly those associated with Washington and Jefferson) from the Founding to the middle of the nineteenth century. I argue that the core policy preferences of “exemplarist” statecraft (e.g. aloofness from the great power politics of Europe, claims to hegemony in the western hemisphere, and rhetorical championing of republicanism) were not sui generis but were the product of efforts to mediate between the systemic realities confronting the new republic—notably geographic isolation/insularity and the threat posed by British hegemony—and the Whig anti-statism and republicanism that had guided the Revolution and the construction of the Republic’s architecture of limited government.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Clarke, M. (2021). Before Primacy: American Grand Strategy from the Founding to “Manifest Destiny”. In: American Grand Strategy and National Security. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30175-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30175-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-30174-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30175-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)