ABSTRACT
Interactions with indigenous people left a deep imprint on American identity and foreign policy, but so did relations with Europeans. Americans fought against the dominant European power, Great Britain, and allied with France and other European states in order to gain their independence. The United States pursued trade and commerce with Europeans even as they idealistically pursued a “new diplomacy” of delimiting formal diplomatic ties with the “Old World” regimes. The new nation demanded recognition and respect from Europeans yet at the same time wanted to drive them out of the Americas. As they cultivated a new national identity, Americans viewed themselves as an exceptional people, a rising empire, and a model for the rest of the world to emulate.
