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To what extent is American expansion, characterized by a series of incidents and not the pursuit of a specific foreign policy?

Introduction

The American expansion is termed as one of the most unique and unforgettable foreign policy event in the history of the United States. The American expansion also did not happen because a foreign policy was being planned or assessed but is culminated by a variety of spontaneous events whose result was a bigger size of the American land.

The American expansion was informal and consisted more of a series of incidents than pursuit of a specific foreign policy. First, the nature of the involvement derived more from domestic influences rather than a thorough assessment of the external reality. Second, the incidences were just too numerous and confusing and it is difficult to directly tie the incidents to steps towards foreign policy.

The nature of the involvement derived more from domestic influences rather than a thorough assessment of the external reality. As stipulated in history from his inauguration speech, President Woodrow Wilson took office expecting mainly to deal with domestic affairs but abrupt incidences resulted to foreign involvement. As a leader, the president had adequate training to solve domestic affairs although the foreign involvement can be looked at as a crisis that resulted from pressure within to react. For instance, in the Spanish-American was fueled from the Democratic side after the sinking of the U.S battleship Maine in Havana. The Spanish-American conflict over the Cuban independence was highlighted in yellow journalism which really angered the Americans who believed that it was being perpetuated by the atrocities.

On the other hand, critics argue that the historic American expansion is likened to imperialism in which the U.S demonstrated continuity of its foreign policy to the acquired land rather than focusing on an aberration. The critics allege that despite the events, the end result is that America extended its rule to the expanded boundary, and this is a showcase of foreign policy. For example, the Paris Peace treaty that required Romania, Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Finland to resume their sovereignty and qualify for membership in the U.S.

The incidences were just too numerous and confusing and it is difficult to directly tie the incidents to steps towards foreign policy. The American expansion was more of a series of abrupt events rather than a pursuit of a specific foreign policy; the events that occurred are investigated. The Tampico incident; the yellow journalism and Spanish-American war; the Paris peace treaty; the gunboat diplomacy; and Seward’s folly are likened to abrupt incidences that led to abrupt decisions and it is hard to understand how they were more of planned foreign policy. The Tampico incident in 1914 can be likened to an American overreaction to minor incident that occurred in the Gulf Coastal town of Tampico and involved U.S sailors and Mexican land forces that were loyal to their general. The arrest and parading of the U.S. sailors was later misunderstood by the U.S officials even after the General released the sailors and sent an apology to the U.S. The result was a breakdown of diplomatic relations and occupation of the port city of Veracuz for over six months. This incident lacks the weight of a real foreign policy issue and is more of a gunboat diplomacy in which the U.S wanted to showcase a show of power. Seward’s folly involves Seward signing a treaty to buy the Alaska region from Russia at a moment when there was triumph after America’s success in the Civil War. America had initially rejected to buy more land because there was no population to fill.

The 19th century American expansion is a serious foreign policy crisis of Wilson’s presidency and therefore it should not be viewed as a dedicated pursuit of foreign policy. The incidents were abrupt and the reactions were more of gunboat diplomacy rather than pursuit of foreign policy.