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The first established foreign policy of the United
States was one of neutrality or non-involvement. Having
just defeated the English and gaining our independence,
the US faced the challenging task of creating a new
nation. In an effort to guard ourselves from involvement
in the wider conflicts of the Europeans and focus on
domestic affairs, a course of neutrality was followed.
The roots of this initial policy can be seen as early as
the presidency of George Washington.
Washington's Proclamation
of Neutrality
Within weeks of Washington's inauguration in 1789,
the French Revolution began. As the revolution
intensified and became more bloody, the English sought
to exploit the weakness of the French government. While
conflict between the French and English intensified,
America was caught in the middle. American loyalties
were divided between the French who had aided in
America's revolution and the English to whom cultural
and economic ties were greatest. Washington decided that
neutrality was the best course, thereby avoiding
the war altogether.
Washington's
Farewell Address
When he left office in 1796 after serving two
terms as president, Washington delivered a farewell
address filled with advice and cautions to the fledgling
nation. While he also warned against the divisive problems
of political parties, it was his call for neutrality and
avoiding alliances that set the course of US foreign
policy.
Washington cautioned the nation to "steer clear of permanent
alliances", noting that even temporary treaties or
alliances were acceptable only under "extraordinary
emergencies". It was this tone set by Washington's
words and his presidency that established neutrality as
the first foreign policy of the United States.
The Monroe
Doctrine
 It
would be President Monroe's 1823 address to
Congress that would again mark a major milestone in US
foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine as it became known
was meant as a warning to the nations of Europe to end
the colonization of the Western Hemisphere. The
doctrine stated that the establishment of new colonies
or the disruption of newly independent colonies in the Western
Hemisphere would be taken as a direct threat to US interests
and "dangerous to our peace and safety". The
Monroe Doctrine also promised that the European non-involvement
in the Western Hemisphere would be met by US non-involvement
in European affairs. Essentially it reciprocated
European neutrality in the Americas with US neutrality
in Europe. While not well received by the European
nations, many ignoring the statement by the then weak
American government, the Monroe Doctrine did establish a
key policy in our foreign affairs and reinforce the
message of neutrality established by Washington. This
would prove the main US foreign policy up through the US
Civil War.
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