Date Awarded

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

History

Advisor

Hiroshi Kitamura

Committee Member

Fabricio Prado

Committee Member

Simon Middleton

Abstract

Watchful Waiting: U.S. Neutrality Law in the Atlantic World: 1815-1819. This paper addressed the ways in which American statesmen responded to the diplomatic crisis of American citizens serving as privateers for the rebelling countries of South America during the South American Wars for Independence. Most specifically, this paper analyzes the strategy of President James Monroe, who crafted a elastic and flexible policy of "watchful waiting," which allowed the state to capitalize on events and situations in U.S. favor without bringing the nation into war with Spain. From a position of international weakness, U.S. statesmen were able to take advantage of the crisis caused by American privateers and, in the process, strengthen the state economically and territorially. Money Bags and Cannon Balls: The First Bribery War and the Expansion of American Presidential Power This paper analyzes the expansion of presidential power witnessed during the Thomas Jefferson administration during the First Barbary War of 1801-1805. During the Early Republic, American shipping faced piratical actions from the various Regencies of the Barbary Coast, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Jefferson sought to break from the noncombative precedent of his Federalist predecessors by directly engaging the Barbary corsairs. in taking the fight to the Mediterranean, Jefferson transformed the role of the executive. The demands of war forced Jefferson to empower the presidential role of commander in chief in unprecedented and long-lasting ways.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-cn7z-nf71

Rights

© The Author

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