To the Farewell Address : Ideas of Early American Foreign Policy

Washington's Farewell Address comprises various aspects of American political thinking. It reaches beyond any period limited in time and reveals the basic issue of the American attitude toward foreign policy: the tension between Idealism and Realism. Settled by men who looked for gain and by men who sought freedom, born into independence in a century of enlightened thinking and of power politics, America has wavered in her foreign policy between Idealism and Realism, and her great historical moments have occurred when both were combined. Thus the history of the Farwell Address forms only part of the wider, endless, urgent problem. Felix Gilbert analyzes the diverse intellectual trends which went into the making of the Farwell Address, and sheds light on its beginnings. Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 6 CHAPTER I. THE COLONIES AND EUROPE......Page 12 CHAPTER II. INSULA FORTUNATA: The English Pattern for American Foreign Policy......Page 28 CHAPTER III. NOVUS ORDO SECULORUM: Enlightenment Ideas on Diplomacy......Page 53 CHAPTER IV. RATIO STATUS: Foreign Policy in Practice......Page 85 CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON'S POLITICAL TESTAMENT: The Farewell Address......Page 124 Appendix......Page 146 Bibliographical Essay......Page 158 H......Page 180 S......Page 181 W......Page 182 A biography of the man known as "Black Jack." Newly appointed head of the American Expeditionary Forces, Pershing sailed for Europe in May 1917. Once in France, he set about the task of building an army. By October, the Americans were at the front and over the next year became involved in increasingly significant battles.