A DIFFERENT FRONTIER: Selected Readings in the Foundations of American Economic Expansion

Late nineteenth-century America was marked by rising nationalism and national self-consciousness, fanned by yellow journalism and romanticized by a school of novelists who proved the American past designed deliberately to enable ladies to lead idyllic lives. Patriotism became filiopietistic. The nation abandoned such isolationism as it had enjoyed and became a world power, but while public opinion applauded policies designed to expand national influence and enhance national wealth, it was not prepared to endorse policies enlarging national responsibility. The dichotomy of political and economic imperialism and moral and psychological isolationism which was to confuse American politics to the present day is the subject of this anthology of snippets. It consists of three sections: In the first, the transformation in American expansionism or Manifest Destiny after the Civil War is followed by readings on the conditions and events of the 1880's and 1890's leading to the outburst of imperialism in 1898; in the second, various political and intellectual leaders debate the ""how to "" of American expansionism; and in the third, they consider the problems created by the new position of the United States in world affairs. While no one can doubt the interest of its subject, A Different Frontier is another cut-and-paste project of the genus ""non-book,"" phylum ""historia academica. "" Its subtitle is as obvious as its purpose, prosaic as its brief introductions. Since Mr. Gardner's introductions offer nothing new, since his selections, no matter how judiciously edited, contain no explanatory notes, one leaves this collection wondering if students have forgotten how to use the library as a source of information.