The Origins Of Jeffersonian Commercial Policy And Diplomacy (studies In Modern History)

get the best of me. Betty Dessants helped me tum a section of the book into an AHA talk. Brook Unger of The Economist helped me tmderstand the complicated issues and terminology of commercial diplomacy. My numerous conversations with Joseph DePlasco, before be left academia for greener pastures in City Hall, were stimulating and enlightening. I am grateful to Timothy Gilfoyle, Randy Bergstorm and Bernadette McCauley whose radically different historical approaches and interests did not prevent them from discussing, reading and commenting on my dissertation. During graduate school, I juggled history and 'bouse spousing'. I can resolutely declare that the latter is the most demanding work I have ever done. The friendship of many of the Morningside Heights circle of mothers helped me cope with the challenges of parenthood. Their willingness to exchange baby-sitting chores allowed me to enjoy many hours of invaluable work. Finally I wish to thank my family. My parents, Romaand Arie Ben-Atar, were horrified to learn that I decided to study something as impractical as history. They equally objected to my decision to study in the United States. Nevertheless they continued to give me their love and support. My mother-in-law, Leah Mainzer, was a most reliable baby-sitter and without her assistance this project would have taken me even longer. My children, Assaf, Heddy and Daniel, did all they could to persuade me that playing with them was more fun than studying Jefferson. We compromised. I played more than I should have, and they learned more about Jeffersonian America than they realized. I doubt many two-year-olds can recite the Washington cabinet as well as they can. My greatest gratitude, of course, is to my wife, Jo. She neither typed nor edited the manuscript But she single-handedly provided for our family, while I toyed with intellectualisms. In the process she made many sacrifices, Very few Americans regretted seeing Thomas Jefferson leave the White House in the winter of 1809. The man who led the Republican party from opposition to power and who overwhelmingly defeated Charles C. Pinckney in 1804 had had a disastrous second term. The military stalemate in Europe with Napoleon controlling the continent and the Royal Navy ruling the seas ushered the Franco-British war into a new phase of blockades and counter-blockades with both sides raiding neutral American shipping. The administration responded by prohibiting all American exports to the belligerents. The Embargo brought the booming American economy to a screeching halt, and as economic distress grew resentment over the measure spread from merchants to farmers and mechanics. The Origins of Jeffersonian Commercial Policy and Diplomacy examines the evolution of Jefferson's commercial ideas and policies from his days as a young revolutionary to his presidency. It analyzes the way in which Jefferson worked out his conflicting approaches to commerce not only as a thinker but also as a policy maker. It examines the tensions between rejecting commerce altogether as a threat to republican virtue, and promoting commerce as a necessary vehicle for the maintenance of American prosperity. It traces Jefferson's life-long commitment to the policy of commercial coercion and places American policy in the context of the global competition between England and France. Without deviating from the narrative format, Professor Ben-Atar reflects on a variety of contested issues in early American historiography, from the debate over eighteenth-century republicanism to the birth of American foreign policy. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-16 A Source of Power....Pages 17-37 Commerce and the Republic on a Hill....Pages 38-53 Commerce, Virtue and the Balance of Power....Pages 54-67 The French Alternative....Pages 68-86 The Competing Visions....Pages 87-102 The Carrot and the Stick....Pages 103-121 Revival of the Nootka Sound Doctrine....Pages 122-136 The Vision Discredited....Pages 137-151 The Consequences of Implementation....Pages 152-168 Conclusion....Pages 169-172 Back Matter....Pages 173-261 Doron S. Ben-atar. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 173-255) And Index.