Treaty of Jay 1794

Using the American foreign policy, the Jay's Treaty of 1794 as the context of discussion, this essay argues that the country's history of foreign relations and policy has been predominantly expansionist and imperialist.

As was mentioned earlier, Jay's Treaty is a perfect example of expansionist America, right after the American Revolution was won by Americans and American independence from Great Britain had been declared. The treaty is a negotiation between Britain and United States in the 18th century, wherein differences between the two countries has been settled in order to foster peaceful foreign relations and trade with each other. The treaty entailed the United States to turn its back behind the prospect of achieving good French-American relations, since Britain considers France its stiffest competitor in Europe. Patterson et. al.'s (2000) analysis of the treaty and its history shows the decision of the American government to approve the treaty as a move towards expanding American economic and political power, particularly in Asia and Europe. Thus, despite the seemingly "lopsided" and unequal deals contained within the treaty between the two countries, the U.S. benefited the most from it, having Britain as its economic and political ally when it was at its peak of power and economic success in Europe. Finally, the U.S. emerged to become the world's superpower after years of expanding its economic and political resources and capabilities. Apart from being expansionist, U.S. is also gearing towards imperialism, in the same way Great Britain tried to control its allies during the 17th-18th centuries. Clearly, after its strategy of expanding its power and control over countries all over the world's continents, United States replaced Britain as the world's superpower, and in effect, as the world's imperialist country.

Works Cited

Patterson, S., G Gifford, and K. Hagan. (2000). American Foreign Relations, Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.