Grad - Heumann

Abstract

The paper I would like to present at the DCC workshop will be a very, rough draft of my introductory dissertation chapter. (Thus for lack of a better title, I have simply given the paper the title of my whole dissertation!) I will argue why empire, broadly understood as the governance of dependent populations, is central to 19th century American political development. After briefly outlining my understanding of the term political development and defining key terms such as state- and nation-building, I will discuss scholarship on empire and U.S. history in the 19th century. Political scientists who study 19th government have largely missed the close linkage between empire and state- and nation-building. Their accounts of the American state emphasize its comparatively (or even exceptional) underdevelopment, both in terms of size and capacity. Other scholars, mostly historians, have taken note of the imperial features of the 19th century American state, but fail to thoroughly flesh out its implications for state- and nation-building. Building on a largely forgotten literature on American colonial governance written in the wake of the overseas acquisitions of the Spanish American War, the paper will argue that from the outset “tutelary Empire” was a driving force behind U.S. state and nation-building. It will conclude with reflections on the major developments and shifts that the “tutelary Empire” traversed as the U.S. expanded from colonial dependency of Great Britain to a major global power at the end of the 19th century.