A Nation Forged By Crisis: A New American History, Sexton - A*

                     This book looks at our nation through a global prism, positing that it has been the impact of events beyond our shores that have crafted the US, as much as, if not more than our internal evolutions. The focus of this book is on the Revolution, the Civil War and the era of FDR's presidency.

                    "That thirteen of Britain's North American colonies came to seek their independence was the unexpected result of a volatile international environment." Our independence occurred in the middle of Britain and France's century-long struggle that ended at Waterloo. The middle years of the 18th century also saw a vast wave of migration to the colonies that stressed the existing governance structures. Scots, Ulstermen, Germans and Africans came in significant numbers. Trade and investment ballooned. The Revolution was less a rebellion, and more a civil war about how to manage the growing colonies. After victory in 1763, "...Britain had neither the means nor the will to project its authority in the interior of North America." Asking the colonists to help pay for the recently concluded war was a total failure. Paine's 'Common Sense', which made "the most influential case for the independence of the colonies was less the culmination of some distinctly American political tradition than it was the unanticipated product of the growth and integration of the British Atlantic system."   

                        The war in America was internationalized by France, which was prompted by the defeat of Burgoyne at Saratoga and the drafting of the Articles of Confederation. Foreign military and financial assistance provided the US with victory and independence. As the 1780's saw a disintegration of American coherence, and the British from the north and the Spanish from the south threatened their independence, the Americans came together at the Constitutional Convention to solidify the nations institutions. They built a system that could hold off centralized domestic tyranny, but that was strong enough to "compete with the monarchial-fiscal states" of Europe. The companion piece, the Northwest Ordinance, "harnessed westward migration on behalf of national interests." Ultimately, the disunion of America and Britain benefited both parties. The UK financed America's expansion and provided innumerable immigrants to the new land. The US became its greatest trading partner. The flaw in the new American establishment, slavery, would eventually push the system to the brink. 

                      The crisis over slavery had domestic and global causes. In the late 18th century, slavery was fading in America. Two generations later, it dramatically increased because of the UK's insatiable hunger for cotton. Over half a century, cotton production grew from 3,000 to 4,000,000 bales per year. By the time of the Civil War, there were 4 million slaves in the South, up from substantially less than a million in 1789. While slavery flourished in the US, it was declining around the world. Britain abolished it in 1833 and most states in Latin America did as well. Its existence in the US became a hot-button issue in the 1830's.  In the US, religions, families, states, and institutions all began to fragment over the issue. When Mexico was dispatched, it was evident that the Union would do more than survive. No longer were the British a geopolitical threat. Once we became masters of the continent in the 1850's, how we would handle the potential westward expansion of slavery became the paramount issue.  Further complicating matters was  the massive German and Irish immigration of that decade.  Religious and ethnic animosities were added to the cauldron of domestic politics and helped wreck the Whig party and divide the Democrats. Into this mix strode Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans, whose electoral victory led to secession.

                   The Civil War took place in the midst of international transitions around the globe and is "notable for what did not happen - foreign intervention." The war disrupted the movement of people, capital, and cotton across the Atlantic. The UK declined to intervene, concluding that the risks outweighed the rewards.  To find raw cotton, it turned to Egypt and India. They also backed away financially and the North funded the war primarily through war bonds sold throughout the country. During the war, immigrants flocked to the North. Eight hundred thousand  arrived, and fully a quarter of the Union army were born elsewhere. Union victory stabilized the world's great emerging market and propelled it to finish colonizing the west and eventually, the US turned its ambitions overseas. "By stabilizing the politics of the US, the outcome of 1865 ignited a surge of immigration and foreign investment that would enhance the population, economy and power of the nation. The US would not realize its potential world power until it was rustled into a period of further innovation during a new crisis..."

                    The great crises of the mid-20th century were whipsawed by America's "volatile and inconsistent" policies. We alternated between isolation and engagement, "economic nationalism and international initiative", nearly unfettered immigration and a closed door. We avoided Europe, engaged in a European war and stepped away again. We reduced annual immigration to 7,000 by 1930 from a million before the war. We swung from being the world's greatest debtor to largest creditor.  All of these shifts took place in and around the First World War. Our economic power stemmed from our upward path, while Europe destroyed itself.  "The First World War... accelerated  the international rise of the United States."  After the crash of Wall Street, we initiated an era of high tariffs that cut world trade by 90%. FDR's policies may have been drawn from foreign models, but his focus was domestic. Most Americans did not wish to be involved overseas. Those with Irish and German backgrounds disliked the British and their empire.  Only between 1938 and 1941 did the tide begin to turn. Roosevelt began to speak of our 'national security'. The outbreak of war led the US to cast its power into all corners of the world. The rest of the world was brought to its knees and we prospered like never before. "The war unleashed the most productive industrial economy the world has ever seen." At war's end, we assumed responsibility for the worlds economic well-being as well as assuring its security arrangements. Our "global commitments had no parallel in world history." "The peculiar postwar form the new American superpower took...was as much the creation of its zigzagging course through this era of international crisis as it was the culmination of long-standing policies and political ideas." The wild swings were "smoothed out into a more linear and coherent course after 1945 - so much so that Americans came to imagine their history as one that had inexorably unfolded toward their global ascendance."

                     The crises of the 21st century have thrown into disarray the idea of America forever on a seamless upward trajectory. In the past, transformative change tackled the problems of each era of crisis. There were also significant foreign factors in the creation of each problem and its resolution. We clearly have not adapted to the era of post-Cold War globalization. So far, the pillars of American democracy and capitalism have held. It appears though that "stormier waters lie ahead." "As we navigate our way through" the next great crisis, "whenever it may be, we would be well served to remember something that American history teaches us: the more we look outward, the more prepared we'll be."