Domestic Uniformity in the U.S. Between 1815-1830

Domestic Uniformity in the U.S. Between 1815-1830

In the glorious aftermath of a triumphant revolution newly independent Americans were intent on freeing themselves fully from the control of European interests. To attain this liberation, the first Americans were charged with a task of enormous difficulty: harnessing the tremendous natural resources of their new land and using them to construct a great nation. Immense forests filled with raw timber stood waiting to be transformed into homes and vast tracts of open land lay ready for the farmer's plow. For decades after independence was wrested from British hands the first Americans worked to transform potential into reality, and soon a rising player on the international stage had emerged. Whereas centuries of autocratic oppression had dulled the creative sensibilities of European designers and manufacturers, their American counterparts were now free to explore their creative whims and soon they began producing works of skilled craftsmanship and astonishing utility. Seminal acts of inventive spirit marked America's infancy and products now considered to be essential were invented by the pioneers of a new world. The cotton gin, lightning rod, bifocal eyeglasses and the suspension bridge are all gifts given to the world by American designers and inventors, and soon countries spanning the entire globe were sending emissaries to open the lines of trade. The same spirit of freedom which enabled these innovations to be conceived also allowed them to be perfected, as a unique class of American consumer was free to exercise their discerning taste to choose only the best items. Competition within industries flourished and company managers soon battled to design and produce products of superior quality, from simple widgets to elaborate horse-drawn carriages.

This domestic uniformity in the management, design and production of industry within America had a profound effect on the government's shaping and deployment of foreign policy. Because the United States had quickly earned a reputation for creating the highest quality of goods and the most bountiful crops of grain and other foodstuffs, empires such as France and Spain sought to trade with American merchants. England had long been engaged in a contentious war with France and began to view this increasingly frequent exchange of goods as a threat, which resulted in a naval blockade targeting American merchant vessels trading in European waters. Combined with the prevailing national desire for westward expansion, "The United States, enraged by Great Britain's attitude, and determined to seize aboriginal land that was impeding their westward expansion, declared war on Great Britain and attacked its colony: Canada" (Guay). This exchange of provocation resulted in the War of 1812 and a renewal of hostilities between Britain and America which would affect U.S. foreign policy for decades to come.

Having twice repelled the forces of imperialism America rose as a beacon of hope for other countries still under the thumb of colonization. Even after claiming victory in the War of 1812 many members of the military privately expressed doubts regarding the way arms were manufactured and distributed. To address is the issue of organization President James Madison followed the direction of "former French officers in the American army" as well as "the chief of ordnance (arms and munitions) and his assistants" who "had long been calling for greater 'system and uniformity' in the manufacture of arms" (Maier, Smith, Keyssar, and Kevles 295-306). With eastward threats now dispelled and their armed forces working in conjunction with industry under a new system of uniformity, American leaders turned their collective attention to the vast, unclaimed western territories and saw there an unspoiled, endless source of timber and farmland. In order to maintain the extraordinary pace of design and production thus far reached by American industry, the U.S. needed to assert its domain from shore to shore. With small nations in Latin America revolting against their colonial oppressors, European powers like Spain and Portugal eyed the American west with envy and envisioned a new colonial empire springing forth. Cognizant of these concerns and keen to protect his nation's interests, President James Monroe introduced a foreign policy plan in 1823 designed to protect the American continent from further European colonization. The Monroe Doctrine asserted unequivocally that "We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety" (Monroe). Issued during a time of great global upheaval, the Monroe Doctrine would emerge as a singularly momentous directive in American foreign policy and one which was shaped directly by the role of domestic uniformity in the nation's management, design and production industries.