The figure of John Adams looms large in American foreign relations of
the Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary years. James H. Hutson
captures this elusive personality of this remarkable figure,
highlighting the triumphs and the despairs that Adams experienced as
he sought—at times, he felt, single-handedly—to establish the new
Republic on a solid footing among the nations of the world. Benjamin
Franklin, thirty years Adams's senior and already a world-respected
figure, was his personal nemesis, seeming always to dog his steps in
his diplomatic missions.
The diplomacy of the American Revolution as exemplified by John Adams
was not radically revolutionary or peculiarly American. Whereas the
prevailing progressive interpretation of Revolutionary diplomacy sees
it as repudiating the standard European theories and practices, Hutson
finds that Adams adhered consistently to a policy that was in fact
basically European and conservative. Adams assumed—as did his
contemporaries—that power was aggressive and that it should be
contained in a balance, so his actions while in diplomatic service
were generally directed toward this goal. Adams's basic ideas survived
his turbulent diplomatic missions with undiminished coherence. For him
the value of the protective system of the balance of power—having
been tested in the harsh theater of European diplomacy—was
indisputable and could be applied to domestic political arrangements
as well as to international relations.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780813186306
Publisert
2021
Utgiver
Vendor
The University Press of Kentucky
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter