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Incorporating Diplomatic History into the American History Survey
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by Scott Kaufman
Francis Marion University
Florence, South Carolina
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| | National Ideals and Global Relations
In their preface to Explaining the History of American Foreign Relations, Michael J. Hogan and Thomas G. Paterson note that U.S. diplomatic history has been regarded as a dying field of study. They point out, however, that this field is in fact very much alive and heading in new directions. That alone makes it a worthy area of study. But maybe even more important, one cannot fully understand U.S. history without looking at America's foreign policy. Several foreign policy themes can easily be incorporated into a college-level survey course, greatly improving the structure and impact of other survey topics.
Many survey topics involve the way that American ideals of government and economics have been promoted through international relations. For example, one theme that runs through the survey course is American support for a world based upon free trade. This idea can be traced to at least as far back in American history as the Revolution, when Thomas Paine, in Common Sense, called for a world without mercantilist trade barriers. The idea of free trade appeared as well in Wilson's vision for a peaceful world after World War I, in the reciprocal trade treaties of the 1930s, and in the North American Free Trade Agreement in place since the 1990s. Of course, Washington has also maintained tariffs throughout much of its history, so teachers could discuss with their students just how much Americans really have abided by their calls for free trade.
Another overarching theme in the survey course could focus on America's transformation from a nation that supported revolution abroad to one that opposed it. The United States was born of revolution, and many Americans gave at least moral support to the French Revolution of 1789 and the various revolts in Latin America in the early 1800s. But by the late 1800s, Washington had become more interested in stability than in supporting revolutions, which by their nature promoted instability. After it acquired the Philippines following the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States used its military might to crush a revolution against American rule by Filipino rebels. Woodrow Wilson believed his proposal for a postwar world order could help prevent future revolutions. The United States gave military and economic support to France to stop the Communist revolution in Indochina and soon found itself mired in the jungles of Vietnam.
Similarly, American foreign policy has evolved to reflect different ideas about imperialism. The United States was born of anti-imperialist sentiment, and that desire to curb or end imperialism continued to make itself felt. The United States supported the effort of Latin American revolutionaries to break away from Spain. Woodrow Wilson believed imperialism caused wars and thus promoted self-determination. Franklin Roosevelt sought to free subjugated peoples, such as those in French Indochina, from their colonial rulers. Yet one could argue that the United States as a nation is the result of "domestic" imperialism extending westward over the North American continent. Moreover, the United States acquired colonies of its own in the late nineteenth century, and policymakers supported fading French and British imperial systems during the Cold War. These historical debates over empire lead naturally into current debates over the current administration's invasion of Iraq and the relationship between democratic principles at home and abroad.
A final arc that can be traced over the course of the survey is American ambivalence about alliances with other countries of the world. Thomas Paine argued that the United States should avoid alliances that could drag it into someone else's fight, and George Washington, in his farewell address, agreed. Although America signed an alliance with France in 1778, American officials were less than supportive of the provisions of that pact during the French Revolution. With the nullification of the Franco-American alliance by the United States in 1798 and the French in 1800, the United States largely abided by the principle of avoiding alliances in the nineteenth century. The U.S. government refused to provide aid to Latin Americans fighting Spanish rule in the early 1800s, rejected an 1823 British proposal for a joint Anglo-American statement opposing any effort by Spain to reconquer its former Latin American colonies, and spurned joining the League of Nations in 1919. Not until 1949, with the U.S. decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, did America agree to become a member of a permanent military alliance.
Exceptionalism and Power
Many debates among both policymakers and historians over the proper aims of foreign policy have revolved around the idea of American "exceptionalism": the belief that there is something special and unique about Americans and their way of life, and that Americans should work to spread their culture and ideology abroad. Paine's suggestion that a new American state promote free trade abroad shows the influence of the idea from the earliest days of the new republic. Who better to "instruct" the world on proper trade behavior than America? Paine's talk about a world where everyone would want to trade with an independent America -- in short, his placing the American colonies at the center of the globe -- is a perfect example of American exceptionalism.
This theme develops naturally from a focus early in the survey course on settlers' sense of a mission or experiment taking place in America, one with cosmic implications (such as the Puritans' efforts to create a "city upon a hill"). In addition to looking for such a sense of mission in Paine's Common Sense, instructors could examine the efforts of U.S. missionaries to spread their nation's culture abroad or Woodrow Wilson's promotion of a world based upon democracy.
Additionally, teachers can tie the theme of American exceptionalism to issues of race and religion: that there is something "exceptional" about white, Christian Anglo-Saxons that has led them to see themselves as not only superior to others but justified in spreading those superior ways to "inferior" peoples elsewhere. Again, the debates over intervention in Iraq will surely affect students' interpretation of these issues.
Finding Background Sources and Reading Materials
A starting point for teachers wishing to find primary sources for foreign policy issues is American Foreign Relations Since 1600: A Guide to the Literature (ABC-Clio 2003). This two-volume work lists literally tens of thousands of works in the field of American diplomatic history. The volumes are divided into chronological chapters: the American Revolution, U.S. relations with various parts of the world between 1815 and 1860, the Civil War, and so forth. Each chapter is divided into subheadings to further aid in finding materials. Finally, there are three different, highly useful indexes: by individual; by subjects, places, and areas; and by authors and editors.
Some other worthwhile guides to special topics include Deborah Madsen's American Exceptionalism, which examines this theme in U.S. history. J. Samuel Walker's Prompt and Utter Destruction does a good job of addressing the diplomatic issues involved in the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. His book, which is short and easy to read, can provide an excellent basis for student discussion on issues ranging from whether dropping the bomb was even necessary to whether the issue of race played any part in its use.
Issues of race, gender, and ethnicity have increasingly become matters of discussion among diplomatic historians. Relations between Native Americans and the U.S. government, for instance, have attracted increasing attention. There are several good books on the removal of the Cherokee from the U.S. Southeast, which instructors could easily tie to the question of American exceptionalism and thus to questions about foreign policy and empire. Examples suitable for student discussion include The Cherokee Removal, edited by Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green and which includes primary documents related to the issue, and Joan Gilbert's The Trail of Tears Across Missouri. Jane Hunter's The Gospel of Gentility is fantastic at describing the role of women missionaries in attempting to spread Christianity and American culture in China. Hunter also points out how the work of missionaries led U.S. merchants to believe that they could gain access to the China market.
Instructors might prefer to assign specific readings from a reader or anthology to their students, and there are many that are suitable for the U.S. survey. One worth specific attention is the two-volume Opposing Viewpoints in American History, published by Greenhaven Press. The chapters in this work are divided by topic: each topic has two readings, one taking the pro position and the other the con. While most of the materials relate to domestic history, some concern foreign policy. For instance, the second volume includes debates over taking Native American lands, the annexation of the Philippines, whether the United States should join the League of Nations, the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, whether to seek better relations with the Soviet Union in the early Cold War, and reflections on the end of the Cold War. These volumes thus not only address major foreign policy issues, but the fact that they examine those issues from both sides will permit for interesting discussions and debates in class.
Multimedia Sources
Multimedia sources on diplomatic history are not as plentiful as those for military or social history, but they do exist. Multipart series such as A&E's The American Revolution, Ken Burns' The Civil War, Thames' The World at War, PBS's Vietnam: A Television History, ABC's The Century, and CNN's The Cold War have much material of interest. Instructors might also want to look at Crucible of Empire, on the Spanish-American War, and The Missiles of October, hosted by Peter Jennings, on the Cuban missile crisis. For those educators who want to illustrate the impact of the Cold War upon domestic politics, Point of Order provides excerpts from the Army-McCarthy hearings. I would recommend that instructors looking for additional multimedia sources go to the History Channel's Web site, where they can order from a huge selection of videos.
Of course, I would not be doing my job if I failed to mention the numerous movies, TV shows, and novels educators could incorporate into their classes. Films like Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Day After, Dr. Strangelove, Asteroid, War of the Worlds, and Thirteen Days; television programs including Star Trek, Saturday Night Live, and Laugh-In; and books such as 1984, Fail Safe, The Quiet American, The Ugly American, and The Manchurian Candidate, are just a few examples with surprising uses involving assumptions about American foreign policy. Take Rambo: First Blood Part II, for instance. It came out at a time (1985) when the United States, moving past the humiliation suffered in Vietnam, seemed to be clearly surpassing the Soviet Union in measures of economic and military power and showing the Communists who was "boss." That sense of strength led to a desire to change history: now, instead of losing to the Communists in Vietnam, Rambo, the strong American, single-handedly wins that war.
Star Trek is another example. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, had a strong interest in both social and political issues of the day. In "The Omega Glory," a 1968 episode in which a veiled reference is made to the Vietnam War, Captain James Kirk decides to help a group called the hill people (i.e., the pro-American South Vietnamese) fight the villagers (the Communists), who were being supplied by the Klingons (read: the Soviet Union). In short, in the name of protecting the world from Communism, the United States had to help South Vietnam. After the Tet Offensive of early 1968, however, the message changed. In "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" (1969), two races from the planet Cheron destroy each other to the point that there is only one member of each race left. Roddenberry's point is clear: if the Cold War does not end, then the world will be destroyed. Similar fears arose in the early 1980s, when the administration of Ronald Reagan began a nuclear arms buildup. The Day After, which aired on national TV in 1983, demonstrated that fear of an atomic holocaust by looking at the impact of a nuclear exchange upon the residents of Lawrence, Kansas.
Finally, the I compiled a Web guide for AP Central on U.S. diplomatic history that reviews many sites with primary source material suitable for the AP U.S. History classroom.
 U.S. Diplomatic History: A Web Guide
Student Assignments
Many assignments lend themselves well to exploring the relationship between foreign policy and domestic history. A student project could focus on diplomatic history development by asking the students to see what happened on the day before, day of, and day after his or her birth dates at some point in the past. For instance, if a student was born on February 16, 1988, he or she might see what happened in the area of U.S. diplomacy on February 15, 16, and 17, 1917, by looking in a newspaper or online database. The student would then place those stories into a larger context, based upon what he or she learned in class. The stories from February 1917 no doubt would discuss the American response to the war in Europe. Where do these stories fit within the larger context of U.S. policy toward the conflict in Europe? Are there discrepancies in what the students have read and what they learned in class? Not only would students have a personal connection with this assignment, but they would learn how to use and analyze primary sources.
It is my hope that, from the readings and assignments about foreign policy they receive in an American history class, students will come to appreciate a topic that is really at the heart of many discussions today about the meaning of history and the power of the American state.
Scott Kaufman is an assistant professor of history at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, where he teaches courses in U.S. foreign policy and twentieth-century U.S. military history, including a class on the Vietnam War.
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