The Picky Eagle : How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U.S. Territorial Expansion /
Maass, Richard W.
The Picky Eagle : How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U.S. Territorial Expansion / Richard W. Maass. - 1 online resource (312 p.) : 1 map, 2 charts
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. The Limits of U.S. Territorial Expansion -- 2. Explaining Annexation -- 3. To the Continent: European Empires and U.S. Annexation -- 4. To the West: Native American Lands and U.S. Annexation -- 5. To the North: Canada and U.S. Annexation -- 6. To the South: Mexico and U.S. Annexation -- 7. To the Seas: Islands and U.S. Annexation -- 8. The International Implications of U.S. Annexation -- Notes -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
The Picky Eagle explains why the United States stopped annexing territory by focusing on annexation's domestic consequences, both political and normative. It describes how the US rejection of further annexations, despite its rising power, set the stage for twentieth-century efforts to outlaw conquest. In contrast to conventional accounts of a nineteenth-century shift from territorial expansion to commercial expansion, Richard Maass argues that US ambitions were selective from the start.His book is animated by twenty-three case studies, examining the decision-making of U.S. leaders facing opportunities to pursue annexation between 1775 and 1898. U.S. presidents, secretaries, and congressmen consistently worried about how absorbing new territories would affect their domestic political influence and their goals for their country. They were particularly sensitive to annexation's domestic costs where xenophobia interacted with their commitment to democracy: rather than grant political representation to a large alien population or subject it to a long-term imperial regime, they regularly avoided both of these perceived bad options by rejecting annexation. As a result, U.S. leaders often declined even profitable opportunities for territorial expansion, and they renounced the practice entirely once no desirable targets remained.In addition to offering an updated history of the foundations of US territorial expansion, The Picky Eagle adds important nuance to previous theories of great-power expansion, with implications for our understanding of US foreign policy and international relations.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501748769 9781501748776
10.7591/9781501748776 doi
Democracy--History.--United States
Xenophobia--Political aspects--History.--United States
Early American & Colonial History.
Political Science & Political History.
U.S. History.
HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800).
International Relations, Diplomatic History, US History, US Foreign Policy, International Security.
E179.5 / .M124 2020
320.0973
The Picky Eagle : How Democracy and Xenophobia Limited U.S. Territorial Expansion / Richard W. Maass. - 1 online resource (312 p.) : 1 map, 2 charts
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. The Limits of U.S. Territorial Expansion -- 2. Explaining Annexation -- 3. To the Continent: European Empires and U.S. Annexation -- 4. To the West: Native American Lands and U.S. Annexation -- 5. To the North: Canada and U.S. Annexation -- 6. To the South: Mexico and U.S. Annexation -- 7. To the Seas: Islands and U.S. Annexation -- 8. The International Implications of U.S. Annexation -- Notes -- Index
restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec
The Picky Eagle explains why the United States stopped annexing territory by focusing on annexation's domestic consequences, both political and normative. It describes how the US rejection of further annexations, despite its rising power, set the stage for twentieth-century efforts to outlaw conquest. In contrast to conventional accounts of a nineteenth-century shift from territorial expansion to commercial expansion, Richard Maass argues that US ambitions were selective from the start.His book is animated by twenty-three case studies, examining the decision-making of U.S. leaders facing opportunities to pursue annexation between 1775 and 1898. U.S. presidents, secretaries, and congressmen consistently worried about how absorbing new territories would affect their domestic political influence and their goals for their country. They were particularly sensitive to annexation's domestic costs where xenophobia interacted with their commitment to democracy: rather than grant political representation to a large alien population or subject it to a long-term imperial regime, they regularly avoided both of these perceived bad options by rejecting annexation. As a result, U.S. leaders often declined even profitable opportunities for territorial expansion, and they renounced the practice entirely once no desirable targets remained.In addition to offering an updated history of the foundations of US territorial expansion, The Picky Eagle adds important nuance to previous theories of great-power expansion, with implications for our understanding of US foreign policy and international relations.
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
In English.
9781501748769 9781501748776
10.7591/9781501748776 doi
Democracy--History.--United States
Xenophobia--Political aspects--History.--United States
Early American & Colonial History.
Political Science & Political History.
U.S. History.
HISTORY / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800).
International Relations, Diplomatic History, US History, US Foreign Policy, International Security.
E179.5 / .M124 2020
320.0973