Description
This persuasive and well-documented study of United States foreign policy in the period 1861-1869 focuses on the ideas and activities of Secretary of State William Henry Seward. Departing from traditional interpretations of Seward's career, the book argues that the distinctions between expansionism as he practiced it and the imperialism of the 1890's are more apparent than real. Professor Paolino presents a convincing portrait of Seward as primarily a commercial expansionist, closely associated with powerful mercantile and financial circles in New York City, whose major objective was to establish the hegemony of the United States in world trade. To achieve this end, Seward supported the establishment of an intercontinental telegraph line; unification of the world's coinage; direct American involvement in Asia; and the acquisition of Alaska, the Isthmus of Panama, and certain Caribbean islands.
