Republicanism in a Monarchical World: The Early United States and the Southern European Republics

Abstract

Republicanism was a deeply rooted belief of those who crafted early American foreign policy and often led policymakers to an isolationist approach in dealing with European monarchies. How did those same figures respond when dealing with republican states abroad? This paper integrates the American viewpoint—from letters, newspaper articles, government documents, and other sources—with the perspective of the republics they encountered—using primary sources and foreign-language scholarship—to demonstrate that American foreign policy was unaffected by the republican government forms of the southern European republics. The paper covers early American interactions with Venice, Genoa, San Marino, and Ragusa primarily during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The paper demonstrates that while individuals admired each of the various republics of the Old World, both the United States government—motivated by republican fears at engaging with European power politics—and the governments of the republics the United States interacted with consistently prioritized commercial relationships in diplomacy and did not treat republican states in any distinct manner from monarchical ones. This focus on American relations with European republics supports the literature that suggests an absence of ideologically motivated interventionism and internationalism in the early Republic.