Unit 2 Test DBQ - Grade: A PDF

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Finlay 1 Matthew Finlay Mr. Murphy APUSH 22 November 2021 Unit Two Test DBQ From the period of 1783 to 1828, the foreign policy of the United States changed dramatically. The desire to become a new, independent country led to some differences with other nations, mainly in Europe. Most of the time, the United States tried to stay neutral in other country’s affairs, but that never went as planned. However, establishing itself as major nation in the world would come with some struggles. That said, the Unites States foreign policy changed a lot during the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, as the country was beginning to solidity itself as a competitor to the powerful nations in Europe. While the county was still under Washington’s rule, the country stayed neutral in foreign affairs. For instance, the Neutrality Proclamation in 1793 declared the country neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain (Doc. 1). Washington felt like the new nation of America was best off staying away from foreign conflicts, as it may corrupt the government of the young nation. Likewise, the nation concluded all hostiles with the Native American in 1795 with the Treaty of Greenville (Doc 2). As you can see, during the early stages of the new nation of America, Washington tried to remain neutral with European powers as well as the America natives in fear of corruption on the new government. The neutrality of the country became controversial after the controversial Jay’s Treaty was signed in 1794. This treaty with the British resolved some longstanding issues between the two nations. However, this treaty infuriated the French, as they believed it violated the alliances

Finlay 2 and treaties between the United State and France. Not only did the treaty infuriate the French, but it also caused division between political parties in America, the Federalists, and the DemocraticRepublicans. The Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, argued that this treaty was an attempt by pro-British Americans to concede to Britain. In efforts to clear confusion with the French, Jefferson wrote to James Monroe, explaining how the vast majority of Americans condemn Jay’s Treaty (Doc. 3). Along with the French, another foreign nation beginning to become unhappy with the United States was the nation of Tripoli. The United States were behind in payments to the country and the leader of Tripoli informed diplomat James Cathcart that he will declare war on America if the payments do not arrive. So, Cathcart writes to the Secretary of State in 1800, informing the United States of the situation (Doc. 4). As shown, America’s efforts to stay away from any foreign conflicts were not that successful. In the early 1800’s, America’s foreign trade began to decline dramatically (Doc. 5). Much of this was due to the British efforts to cut off America’s foreign trade with France. The British did this to mainly hurt France, as they had many conflicts at the time. However, this also affected the United States greatly, as much of their economy was based off foreign trade. This caused bitter conflicts between America and Britain, as the Americans believed the British were not following the Treaty of Paris. Also, Alexander James Dallas states, “Great Britain leaving the treaty of 1783 unexecuted.” That said, the British were not following the Treaty of Paris to its full extent, and this was causing conflict between the two nations. Eventually, this led to the United States involvement in the War of 1812 against the British. The British made alliances with the American natives as well as Canada, in efforts to win the war. After some time, the United States eventually won the war and gained complete independence from Britain. However, the tension between two nations, along with their alliances, remained. After the war, many

Finlay 3 people, like John Adams, argued that the country needs to stop over committing itself in foreign wars. In Adams famous speech in 1821, he hopes for a nation that would stop worrying about foreign conflicts, but more about promoting liberty in its own country (Doc. 7). He does this because he fears that countries will begin to unite against the United States if they keep overcommitting to foreign conflicts. Overall, it shows that America has changed from a country that stays away from foreign affairs to a nation that seems to only care about foreign affairs In all, the United States foreign policy changed from having nothing to do with foreign affairs, to over-committing itself to foreign conflict. In the early years of America, Washington preached that America should try to stay away from foreign conflicts as much as possible, for it could threaten the new government. However, after his last term as leader, the country quickly found itself in conflicts with other nations. This shows the drastic changes of America’s foreign policy. In conclusion, the foreign policy of the United States changed to a great extent in the period 1783 to 1828 with its involvement in the War of 1812 and its failure to stay at peace with countries like Tripoli....