American Foreign Policy and Social Change: 1600s to Present

The Shift from Isolationism to Global Interventionism

Before the 20th century, the United States maintained a strong tradition of isolationism and non-interventionism. Beginning with American participation in World War I and continuing with its involvement in World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. increasingly began to conceive of itself as not only a player on the international stage, but also the ideological promoter and protector of democracy. When World War II ended with the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was clear that America had assumed a position of power in the world, both militarily and politically.

In the decade that followed World War II, American foreign policy pitted itself against Soviet Communism through the pursuit of "containment" — limiting the expansion of Soviet power and Communist ideology to other nations. This policy of containment was the primary driving force behind the Cold War and many of the international conflicts entered into by the U.S. in the second half of the 20th century, notably the proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam. In 1950, the United States sent troops to support South Korea, a capitalist state defending itself against attacks from Communist North Korea, which was in turn supported by China. In 1965, the U.S. became embroiled in a similar but more brutal conflict between the Communist North Vietnamese and the democratic South Vietnamese.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the U.S. no longer focused on Communist containment and turned its attention to instability in the Middle East. In the late 1970s, Jimmy Carter introduced the Carter Doctrine, which stated that military force was an appropriate tool in the defense of U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf. This doctrine was fully exercised in the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s, and again in Operation Iraqi Freedom in the early 21st century.

This policy of engaging in military action to protect American interests in the Middle East was extended after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In what became known as the Bush Doctrine, U.S. foreign policy now included the use of preemptive strikes to stop the spread of terrorists and terrorist ideology. This policy led to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to a tremendous growth in defense spending and military engagement over the following decade. Whether the U.S. was "winning" the War on Terror remained a controversial issue. Defense spending added substantially to the growing national debt, and the waging of two simultaneous wars stretched the armed forces to — and perhaps beyond — their capacity. However, the killing of Osama bin Laden and the successful withdrawal of troops from Iraq went far in deflating the momentum of groups like Al Qaeda and the Taliban, though whether this would prove a long-term effect remained to be seen.

The changes in foreign policy over those decades produced both negative and positive repercussions. On the positive side, the U.S. was able to prevent Soviet hegemony while establishing itself as a world superpower. On the negative side, the policy of preemptive action raised alarm in the international community and potentially fostered anger in the very regions the U.S. was attempting to stabilize.

Life After the Civil War: Whites, African Americans, and Immigrants

The period following the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution in the United States witnessed some of the most far-reaching advancements in human rights and quality of life in modern history. Technological progress made travel, communication, and access to information faster than ever before, and advances in medicine all but eradicated many of the diseases that had plagued earlier generations. All sections of society — whites, African Americans, women, and immigrants — experienced this progress, though not equally or at the same pace.

After the Civil War and the industrial advancements that accompanied it, both whites and African Americans experienced radical changes in their ways of life. For whites, the rise of factories created a strong working class but also generated a need for legislation to protect those workers. The economic and political growth of labor unions in the early 20th century enabled legislation such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established a minimum wage and limited the working day. After the severe blow of the Great Depression, extensive federal investment in infrastructure and a push to increase home ownership and retirement security laid the foundation for a vibrant white middle class in the mid-20th century. That middle class remained strong through the end of the century, though it faltered in the early 21st century.

African Americans did not have as easy a time as white Americans, but they too saw significant improvements to their economic, political, and personal lives. The Emancipation Proclamation freed them from slavery, and the 14th Amendment granted them the same legal and political standing as their white counterparts. Racism still made social and economic advancement difficult in the early 20th century, especially in the Jim Crow South, but the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s went far in securing the protection of their social and economic equality. By the end of the 20th century, African Americans enjoyed stable political equality — culminating with the election of the first African American president in 2008 — yet continued to struggle with establishing a firm foothold in the middle and upper classes, especially in urban and rural environments.

The American experience for immigrants was volatile over those 150 years. Despite the image of America as a welcoming nation, immigrants' introduction to American society was often accompanied by racial, religious, or cultural prejudice. With the flood of European refugees during the World Wars, the U.S. spent much of the 20th century learning to assimilate new cultural influences, and by century's end much of the prejudice against European immigrants had subsided. However, this was replaced by new tensions brought about by the influx of undocumented immigrants from Central and Latin America. Combined with economic pressures, the American attitude toward Hispanic immigrants was at times hostile, and those without legal status were largely unprotected by the civil and economic rights afforded to citizens. Nevertheless, citizen action groups worked to bring their plight to public attention and push for reform.

Women of all races and classes enjoyed many of the same improvements as their male counterparts, but often at a slower pace. Women did not acquire the right to vote until the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920. Since then, they have seen enormous advances in their political and economic presence. A large percentage of American women are now part of the workforce, though their pay still lags behind that of men. Women have also made great strides in self-determination and social expression, while still bearing disproportionate responsibility as primary caregivers and homemakers.