US Foreign Relations

Units

1. 1

   Founding diplomacy

   3 lessons

   1. Franklin and the Treaty of ParisExplain how the United States won French alliance in 1778 and a generous peace in 1783: Franklin's diplomacy in Paris, the European rivalry the Americans exploited, and the borders and rival claims of Britain, France and Spain the treaty settled.
   2. Washington, neutrality and the Jay TreatyExplain why Washington proclaimed neutrality in 1793, follow the Genet affair and British seizures to the Jay Treaty of 1794, and state the Farewell Address's advice on permanent alliances.
   3. The Quasi-War and LouisianaExplain the XYZ affair and the undeclared naval war with France, the end of the French alliance in 1800, how Napoleon came to sell Louisiana in 1803, and the Barbary conflict.
2. 2

   Continental expansion, Monroe and Manifest Destiny

   3 lessons

   1. The map of territorial acquisitionsPlace the acquisitions of Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Oregon, the Mexican Cession and the Gadsden Purchase by date, price and area, and explain the different means by which the United States acquired them.
   2. The Monroe DoctrineExplain the context of Latin American independence and European monarchy in 1823, state the three principles of Monroe's message, and show why British naval power made it credible.
   3. Manifest Destiny and the Mexican WarExplain O'Sullivan's phrase of 1845, Polk's expansionist aims, the causes and campaigns of the Mexican War of 1846 to 1848, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, with the war's costs and opposition.
3. 3

   1898 and the overseas empire

   3 lessons

   1. From Seward to the MaineExplain the forces that moved the United States toward overseas empire between 1867 and 1898: Seward's Alaska, Mahan's sea power, the economic and ideological pressures of the 1890s, Hawaii, and the sinking of the Maine.
   2. The Spanish-American WarNarrate the war of 1898 from the sinking of the Maine to the Treaty of Paris, trace the campaigns at Manila Bay, Santiago and Puerto Rico, and state what the treaty gave the United States and what the war cost.
   3. The Philippine War and the Open DoorExplain the war against Aguinaldo's republic from 1899 to 1902, state the arguments of imperialists and anti-imperialists, and describe the Open Door notes of 1899 and 1900 and their aims in China.
4. 4

   World War I and Wilson

   3 lessons

   1. From neutrality to war, 1914 to 1917Explain why the United States stayed neutral in 1914, how trade, the Lusitania, unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmermann telegram moved it toward war, and state the vote for war on April 6, 1917.
   2. The Fourteen Points and VersaillesState Wilson's Fourteen Points of January 1918, trace the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919, and assess what Wilson won, including the League of Nations, and what he lost.
   3. The Senate and the League of NationsExplain why the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles and the League in 1919 and 1920, state the Lodge reservations and Article X dispute, read the votes by bloc, and trace the roots of interwar isolationism.
5. 5

   The interwar years and World War II

   3 lessons

   1. Interwar diplomacy and neutralityDescribe American diplomacy between the wars: the Washington Naval Conference of 1921 to 1922, the Dawes Plan and war debts, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, the Good Neighbor policy and the Neutrality Acts of 1935 to 1937, and assess independent internationalism.
   2. From the Atlantic Charter to Pearl HarborTrace American policy in 1940 and 1941 from destroyers for bases and Lend-Lease through the Atlantic Charter to the oil embargo on Japan and the attack on Pearl Harbor of December 7, 1941, and explain how the Pacific and Atlantic crises merged.
   3. Allied diplomacy and the end of the warFollow the wartime conferences at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam, describe the occupation zones of Germany and the atomic bombs of August 1945, and explain the founding of the United Nations as the war's diplomatic outcomes.
6. 6

   Cold War containment

   3 lessons

   1. Kennan, the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall PlanExplain Kennan's Long Telegram of 1946 and containment, state the Truman Doctrine of March 1947 and its aid to Greece and Turkey, describe the Marshall Plan, and read the aid by country.
   2. Alliances, NSC 68 and KoreaDescribe the formation of NATO in 1949 and the Asian and Warsaw alliances, explain NSC-68 of April 1950 and the military buildup it justified, and narrate the Korean War from the invasion of June 1950 to the armistice of 1953.
   3. Eisenhower, Cuba and the missile crisisDescribe Eisenhower's use of covert action in Iran in 1953 and Guatemala in 1954, the Bay of Pigs of April 1961, and the thirteen days of the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, and explain what they show about containment in the third world.
7. 7

   Vietnam

   3 lessons

   1. Origins of the commitmentExplain how the United States came to support France in Indochina, what Dien Bien Phu and the Geneva Accords of 1954 settled, how the domino theory justified American involvement, and how Eisenhower and Kennedy raised the number of advisers.
   2. Johnson and escalationExplain the Gulf of Tonkin incidents and Resolution of August 1964, the air war of Rolling Thunder and the decision of 1965 to send ground troops, and the strategy of attrition and its costs shown by the troop and casualty figures.
   3. Tet, Nixon and withdrawalExplain the Tet Offensive of 1968 and its political effects, Nixon's Vietnamization and the widening of the war, the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973, and the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
8. 8

   The end of the Cold War

   3 lessons

   1. Detente and the opening to ChinaExplain Nixon and Kissinger's triangular diplomacy and the opening to China of 1971 and 1972, the arms limits of SALT I and the ABM Treaty, and the Helsinki Accords of 1975, and weigh detente's gains and critics.
   2. Carter, Reagan and renewed conflictExplain Carter's human rights policy, Camp David, and the double crisis of 1979 in Iran and Afghanistan, then Reagan's arms buildup, the Reagan Doctrine and the wars in Central America, using the defence budget and a regional map.
   3. Gorbachev, 1989 and the Soviet collapseExplain Gorbachev's reforms and the INF Treaty of 1987, the revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall, German reunification in 1990, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
9. 9

   After 9/11

   3 lessons

   1. The post-Cold War orderDescribe the Gulf War coalition of 1991, the American interventions in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and the enlargement of NATO, and weigh the debate over a unipolar moment and a new world order.
   2. The war on terror: Afghanistan and IraqExplain the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the American response, the Afghan campaign of 2001, the Bush Doctrine of preemption, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 with its aftermath, using campaign maps and casualty data.
   3. Withdrawal, rivalry and a changing worldTrace American foreign policy from Obama to Biden: the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, the pivot to Asia and the rise of China shown by economic data, Trump's tariffs and America First, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with its effect on NATO.