Tracing American foreign relations from the colonial era to the end of the Civil war, this volume describes and explains, in the diplomatic context, the process by which the United States was born, transformed into a republican nation, and extended into a continental empire.

The Creation of a Republican Empire traces American foreign relations from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War, paying particular attention not only to the diplomatic controversies of the era but also to the origins and development of American thought regarding international relations. The primary purpose of the book is to describe and explain, in the diplomatic context, the process by which the United States was born, transformed into a republican nation, and extended into a continental empire. Central to the story are the events surrounding the American Revolution, the constitutional Convention, the impact on the United States of the European wars touched off by the French Revolution, the Monroe Doctrine, the expansionism of the 1840s, and the ordeal of the Civil War.

The Creation of a Republican Empire traces American foreign relations from the colonial era to the end of the Civil War, paying particular attention not only to the diplomatic controversies of the era but also to the origins and development of American thought regarding international relations. The primary purpose of the book is to describe and explain, in the diplomatic context, the process by which the United States was born, transformed into a republican nation, and extended into a continental empire. Central to the story are the events surrounding the American Revolution, the constitutional Convention, the impact on the United States of the European wars touched off by the French Revolution, the Monroe Doctrine, the expansionism of the 1840s, and the ordeal of the Civil War.

Since their first publication, the four volumes of the Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations have served as the definitive source for the topic, from the colonial period to the Cold War. This entirely new first volume narrates the British North American colonists' pre-existing desire for expansion, security and prosperity and argues that these desires are both the essence of American foreign relations and the root cause for the creation of the United States. They required the colonists to unite politically, as individual colonies could not dominate North America by themselves. Although ingrained localist sentiments persisted, a strong, durable Union was required for mutual success, thus American nationalism was founded on the idea of allegiance to the Union. Continued tension between the desire for expansion and the fragility of the Union eventually resulted in the Union's collapse and the Civil War.

Since their first publication, the four volumes of the Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations have served as the definitive source for the topic, from the colonial period to the Cold War. This entirely new first volume narrates the British North American colonists' preexisting desire for expansion, security, and prosperity, and argues that these desires are both the essence of American foreign relations and the root cause for the creation of the United States. They required the colonists to unite politically, as individual colonies could not dominate North America by themselves. Although ingrained localist sentiments persisted, a strong, durable Union was required for mutual success, thus American nationalism was founded on the idea of allegiance to the Union. Continued tension between the desire for expansion and the fragility of the Union eventually resulted in the Union's collapse and the Civil War.

This second volume of the updated edition describes the dynamics of United States foreign policy from 1865 to 1913.