Power and progress
Subtitle: American national identity, the War of 1898, and the rise of American imperialism
By: Paul T. McCartney.
Series: Political traditions in foreign policy; Political traditions in foreign policy series.
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Baton Rouge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 373
Subjects: Spanish-American War, 1898.; Imperialism.; United States -- Foreign relations -- 1897-1901.; United States -- Territorial expansion.
Description: "In Power and Progress, Paul T. McCartney presents a provocative case study of the Spanish-American War, exposing newfound dimensions to the relationship between American nationalism and U.S. foreign policy."

"Two significant but distinct foreign-policy issues are at the center of McCartney's analysis: the declaration of war against Spain in 1898 and the annexation of the Philippine Islands as part of the war's peace treaty. According to McCartney, Americans were very explicitly and self-consciously expanding their nation's sense of mission in making these two foreign-policy decisions. They drew upon a cultural identity forged from racist, religious, and liberal-democratic characteristics to guide the United States into the uncharted waters of international prominence. What America did abroad they emphatically framed in terms of what they believed America to be.

Foreign policy, McCartney argues, provided a concrete focus for this sense of mission on the world stage and played a marked role in shaping the contours and substance of American nationalism itself." "Power and Progress provides the first intensive look at how the idea of American mission has influenced the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, lending fresh insight into a transformative moment in the development of both U.S. foreign policy and national identity. It contributes measurably to our understanding of the cultural sources of American foreign policy and thus serves as a partial corrective to studies that overemphasize economic motives."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Culture, national identity, and the idea of American mission; title: American cultural constructs in the 1890's; title: Entering the war : the general background; title: Mckinley and Congress frame U.S. intervention in the war; title: "American greatness" in popular culture and political analysis; title: Power and expansion; title: Mckinley and the decision to expand; title: Debating the treaty and expansion; title: Selling imperialism.