Washington And Jefferson's Isolationism In The United States
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It is important to point out, that the term isolationism was not of use until the end of the 20th century. Whilst these Washington and Jefferson incorporated the theories of isolationism into their speeches, it is wrong to say that either of these presidents pursued a presidency aimed at isolationist policy. There exists a discrepancy that the Founding Fathers followed isolationist policies. As stated above, isolationism applies to policies that refrain from economic and political relations with other countries. During the time period in which Washington and Jefferson were elected, America was indeed involved in economic markets abroad as well as engaged in strong interactions with foreign powers. Very little of the President’s foreign policy…show more content… When Washington hinted at prevailing as a distant country in the global front, he meant in geographical sense, rather than as an established foreign policy. The foundation and pursuit of isolationism in the United States stands unhinged and held with distorted evidence. Surely America was not completely inactive, but was considerably less active than global events demanded. The case for isolationism begins with the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. During this time, it had become clear that Britain was more interested in its schemes of counteraction in in respecting America’s principles of liberty (Bramoeller). The United States had found that it must depend on Britain for support, but they collided with America’s strategic goals. President Monroe declared to the world, “The occasion has been judge proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” Monroe’s statement has been misunderstood as a pursuit of isolationism, when really, it signifies as a sovereign act in American historical foreign policy. President Monroe simply supported America’s ideals of human liberty and self-government…show more content… But, even these actions remained too convoluted to prove America’s foreign policy followed isolationist theory. The foreign policy the United States took into action during the 1930s was actually a compromise between isolationists and internationalists (Smith). The policy was disliked by pure isolationists, but made up a defense weapon from places in the Far East. The biggest accomplishment during the 1930’s was the Kellogg-Briand Pact, that famous outlawed war by rejecting the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy (The Avalon Project). While it may formulate an isolationist’s opinion, the Pact did reflect interest in engaging in international affairs. Furthermore, the United States’ appearance in the League of Nations had become recurrent and many of the Nations felt they needed the United States presence