num_pages: 252
description: "The question is," said Albert Gallatin, "whether it be proper, at the present time, to lay the foundation of a navy, of a fleet, that might be able, hereafter, to give us a certain weight in relation to European nations." On the floor of the House of Representatives, the congressional leader of the Republicans and the champion of government economy thus identifies the central issue of the naval policy debate, a debate that was to persist intermittently for more than three decades. As he expressed it, the issue was not whether the United States should build a navy at all, but whether a navy, once built, should be used as a counterweight in the European balance of power. This is an important distinction and one that has been largely ignored by naval historians of the early national period.Tracing the development of congressional debate over American naval policy in the early national period, the author shows that the common judgment of naval historians regarding this period of United States naval policy—that Republican opponents of the navy were irresponsible ideologues—falls apart when the full meaning of the naval policy debate is appreciated. He maintains that it was the Navalists, driven as they were by impractical visions of a great and powerful United States holding the balance between supplicating European power blocs, who were promoting irresponsible national programs at a time when the United States had all it could do to hold the western Indians in check.In relating the story of the debate between Navalists and Antinavalists, the author presents the history of U.S. naval policy as well. And the debate itself did not end in 1827. It is not over yet. The defense issues that confront us today are different from those faced by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, but the basic question of the proper role of a navy in protecting the national interest and the larger issue of the role of the United States in world affairs remains important concerns to this day.
language: English
title: Navalists and Antinavalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785-1827
titlecomplete: Navalists and Antinavalists: The Naval Policy Debate in the United States, 1785-1827
characters: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Rodgers, John Adams, Robert Smith, Samuel Smith, Albert Gallatin
ratings_count: 4
publisher: UNKNO