The major themes in the history of the United States foreign policy since the American Revolution are: becoming an "Empire of Liberty", promoting democracy, expanding across the continent, supporting liberal internationalism, contesting World Wars and the Cold War, fighting international terrorism, developing the Third World, and building a strong world economy with low tariffs (but high tariffs in 1861–1933).

New nation: 1776–1801

Revolution and Confederation

From the establishment of the United States after regional, not global, focus, but with the long-term ideal of creating what Jefferson called an "Empire of Liberty".

The military and financial alliance with France in 1778, which brought in Spain and the Netherlands to fight the British, turned the American Revolutionary War into a world war in which the British naval and military supremacy was neutralized. The diplomats—especially Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson—secured recognition of American independence and large loans to the new national government. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 was highly favorable to the United States which now could expand westward to the Mississippi River.

Samuel Flagg Bemis was a leading expert on diplomatic history. According to Jerold Combs:

Bemis's The Diplomacy of the American Revolution, published originally in 1935, is still the standard work on the subject. It emphasized the danger of American entanglement in European quarrels. European diplomacy in the eighteenth century was "rotten, corrupt, and perfidious", warned Bemis. America's diplomatic success had resulted from staying clear of European politics while reaping advantage from European strife. Franklin, Jay, and Adams had done just this during the Revolution and as a consequence had won the greatest victory in the annals of American diplomacy. Bemis conceded that the French alliance had been necessary to win the war. Yet he regretted that it had brought involvement with "the baleful realm of European diplomacy." Vergennes [the French foreign minister] was quite willing to lead America to an "abattoir" [slaughterhouse] where portions of the United States might be dismembered if this would advance the interests of France.Jerald A. Combs, American diplomatic history: two centuries of changing interpretations (1983) p. 160.

American foreign affairs from independence in 1776 to the new Constitution in 1789 were handled under the Articles of Confederation directly by Congress until the new government created a department of foreign affairs and the office of secretary for foreign affairs on January 10, 1781.

Commercial interests and early foreign policy

Historical research has highlighted the significance of commerce to early American foreign policy. This challenges other narratives that emphasize territorial expansion as the primary goal of early American foreign policy. Historian Paul A. Gilje argues that from the 1750s through the War of 1812, American diplomatic actions mainly aimed toward commerce, like defending trade routes, securing shipping rights, and expanding access to foreign markets. This focus on commerce helped shape U.S. foreign relations as political ideologies did. The United States engaged in negotiations, treaties, and even limited shows of force not necessarily to dominate territory but to protect commercial interests and set a strong foundation for economic independence. These efforts reveal a more complex and trade-focused motivation behind early diplomacy, particularly during earlier administrations.

Gilje continues to demonstrate that commerce was the leading driving force of early American diplomacy by tracing major diplomatic events through and after the American Revolution. He explains how the Revolution itself was in part a response to British mercantile restraint, and how one of the Continental Congress's first moves was to open American ports to foreign trade before even formally declaring independence. Although French and others were reluctant to abandon mercantilism, American negotiators repeatedly sought to obtain commercial treaties, stressing commerce as the foundation of diplomatic relations. Even territorial expansion like the Louisiana Purchase was a byproduct of securing trade routes and commercial access, not an expression of expansionism.

Federalist Era: 1789–1801

The cabinet-level Department of Foreign Affairs was created in 1789 by the First Congress. It was soon renamed the Department of State and changed the title of secretary for foreign affairs to Secretary of State; Thomas Jefferson returned from France to take the position. His rival Alexander Hamilton often won Washington's support and outmaneuvered Jefferson in setting foreign policy.

Jay Treaty with Britain alienates Jeffersonians

When the French Revolution led to war in 1793 between Britain (America's leading trading partner), and France (the old ally, with a treaty still in effect), Washington and his cabinet decided on a policy of neutrality, as enshrined in the Neutrality Act of 1794. In 1795 Washington supported the Jay Treaty, designed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to avoid war with Britain and encourage commerce. The Jeffersonians led by Jefferson and James Madison vehemently opposed the treaty, but Washington's support proved decisive, and the U.S. and Britain were on friendly terms for a decade. However the foreign policy dispute polarized Americans and caused the emerge of two rival parties: the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Republicans led by Jefferson and Madison. See First Party System.Samuel Flagg Bemis, Jay's Treaty: A Study in Commerce and Diplomacy (1923)Bradford Perkins, The First Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1795–1805 (1955).

In his "Farewell Message" that became a foundation of policy President George Washington in 1796 counseled against foreign entanglements:Samuel Flagg Bemis, "Washington's Farewell Address: A Foreign Policy of Independence", American Historical Review, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Jan. 1934), pp. 250–68 in JSTOR ; quote from George Washington. "The Farewell Address – Transcript of the Final Manuscript", The Papers of George Washington in Accessed December 29, 2009

The Foreign Intercourse Bill of 1798 and Early Diplomatic Debates The Foreign Intercourse Bill of 1798 set the stage for a major debate in Congress over the role diplomats should play in foreign politics. Federalists supported a broad diplomatic presence, while Republicans wanted to limit appointments, focusing more on trade rather than diplomacy. The debate developed into more issues like executive power, and American neutrality.

Furthermore, The debate over the bill escalated beyond the concerns over the budget. It revealed a deep ideological divide between the Federalists and Republicans. Republicans feared that expanding diplomatic appointments would allow the president to sway the balance of powers established in the Constitution. They argued that foreign diplomacy could bring the U.S. into European conflicts and that trade should be the main international relations established. In contrast, Federalists argued that diplomats were essential for peace and to keep the new republic safe. They also believed it was essential for the United States to have a strong presence. The Federalists eventually narrowly passed their amendments, setting the foundation for American foreign diplomacy.

Trouble with France: XYZ Affair and Quasi-War

In 1798, the French demanded American diplomats pay huge bribes in order to meet with Foreign Minister Talleyrand, which the Americans rejected. The Republicans, suspicious of Adams, demanded the documentation, which Adams released using X, Y and Z as codes for the names of the French diplomats. The XYZ Affair ignited a wave of nationalist sentiment. Congress approved Adams' plan to organize the navy. American public opinion swung against France, encouraging the Federalists to attempt to suppress Jefferson's Republican Party. Adams reluctantly signed the Alien and Sedition Acts designed to weaken the Republicans. However Adams broke with the Hamiltonian wing of his Federalist Party and made peace with France in 1800. The Federalist party now split, and was unable to reelect Adams in 1800; it never regained power. However, the Republicans hated Napoleon, and no longer supported France in its war with Britain.Alexander De Conde, The quasi-war: the politics and diplomacy of the undeclared war with France 1797–1801 (1996).

By 1798, French privateers were openly seizing American ships, leading to an undeclared war known as the Quasi-War of 1798–1799. It was an undeclared naval conflict with the French First Republic from 1798 to 1800. The French were at war with Great Britain, while the U.S. was neutral. The dispute began due to different interpretations of treaties and escalated when France seized American ships trading with Britain. Diplomatic negotiations failed. Congress reassembled the United States Navy and authorized force against France in 1798. In February 1799, President Adams declared that he would negotiate peace. However, his own Federalist Party was split between his moderates and Hamilton's high Federalists who wanted to keep fighting. The chances of reaching a peaceful agreement were enhanced by Napoleon's rise to power in France, as he believed the Quasi-War was taking away from the main war against Britain. The Quasi-War came to an end with the signing of the Convention of 1800 in September, but news of the peace only arrived after Adams lost the 1800 election to the Republicans. Despite opposition from high Federalists, Adams was able to get the convention ratified by the Senate in the lame-duck session of Congress. He then disbanded the emergency army, which he had never used.Donald R. Hickey, "The Quasi-War: America's First Limited War, 1798–1801." The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord 18.3–4 (2008): 67–77. online

The ability of Congress to authorize military action without a formal declaration of war was later confirmed by the Supreme Court.

Jeffersonian Era: 1801–1829

Thomas Jefferson envisioned America as the force behind a great "Empire of Liberty",Robert W. Tucker, and David C. Hendrickson, Empire of Liberty: The Statecraft of Thomas Jefferson (1990) that would promote republicanism and counter British influence in North America. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, made by Jefferson in a $15 million deal with Napoleon, doubled the size of the growing nation by adding a huge swath of territory west of the Mississippi River, opening up millions of new farm sites for the yeomen farmers idealized by Jeffersonian democracy.President James Monroe purchased Florida from Spain in 1819 by the Adams–Onís Treaty.

President Jefferson planned the Embargo Act of 1807 to force Europe to comply. It forbade trade with both France and Britain, but they did not bend. Furthermore, Federalists denounced his policy as partisanship in favor of agrarian interests instead of commercial interests. It was highly unpopular in New England, which began smuggling operations, and proved ineffective in stopping seizures of American merchantmen by British warships.Louis Martin Sears, Jefferson and the Embargo (1927) reprint

War of 1812

The Jeffersonians deeply distrusted the British in the first place, but this was exacerbated by the Royal Navy closing U.S. trade with France and impressing about 6,000 alleged British deserters from American ships. The American public felt humiliated by the British attack on the American warship Chesapeake in 1807.Norman K. Risjord, "1812: Conservatives, War Hawks, and the Nation's Honor," William and Mary Quarterly, (1961) 18#2 pp. 196–210. in JSTOR In the west, British-allied Indians attacked American colonizers, thus frustrating the encroachment of U.S. frontier settlements into the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, especially).J. C. A. Stagg, The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent (2012)