Navigating the New Frontier: Woodrow Wilson, Frederick Jackson Turner, and World Politics Public

Abstract

This thesis attempts to understand the underlying foundation of Wilson's desire to engage the United States in world affairs on the political and economic level. The historiography of Wilsonian thought has generally centered on his political thought and has categorized him as an idealist. This thesis explores the possibility that Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis provided an intellectual foundation for Wilson's goal of involving the United States in a greater international role. Not only did Turner's work provide a causal reason to engage in world affairs, but it also led Wilson to act in a realistic, as opposed to idealistic, fashion when dealing with other nations. Wilson was simply not the democratic idealist he has often been characterized as. This thesis takes a broad view chronologically of Wilson, but it mainly focuses on Wilson's relationship with Turner and his interactions with South America and Europe; the two greatest recipients of Wilson's time and energy. The historiography on this issue has been largely neglected by historians of Woodrow Wilson. Consequently, an examination of Wilson's acceptance of the importance of the frontier in American development and Wilson's foreign policy actions is overdue.

Table of Contents

The Foundations of Wilson's Economic Thought..............................................1

Turner, Wilson, and the New Role of the United States....................................4

The Presidential Campaign of 1912: A Call to Expand the Frontier......................14

Domestic Economic Policy and its Relation to Foreign Policy.............................19

Combination of Economics and Politics in Foreign Policy...................................21

Wilsonian Interest in the Americas...............................................................24

The Pan-American Pact.....................................................................29

Reasons for Failure: Wilsonian Interventions, Chilean Objections........34

Wilson's Pursuit of Neutrality to Protect American Commercial Interests..............38

America Enters the War After Violations and Threats to American Commerce.......40

The Wilsonian Goals of Expansion at the Paris Peace Conference.......................43

Conclusion .............................................................................................52

Appendix.................................................................................................57

Bibliography.............................................................................................58

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, United States
Mot-clé	World War I Wilson frontier Turner
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Harbutt, Fraser J, Emory University
Committee Members	Roark, James, Emory University Owen, Judd, Emory University

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