the american THE UNITED STATES union and the AND THE COLLAPSE OF problem of THE SPANISH EMPIRE neighborhood 1783-1829CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1: The Union and Its Neighbors, 1783-1815 2 2 : The Crucible of War, 1807-1815 a 3 + The Quest for Security, 815-1817 9 4 Unexpected Continues, Unexpected Changes, 1817-1819 9 5: Expansion, Empire, and Union, 1819-1821 26 6 : The American Neighborhood Redefined, 1821-1825, 455 7 The Ambiguities of Unionism, 825-1829 x Conclusion 215 Notes 221 Bibliography 267ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘This book has benefited immensely from various sources of financial, intel- lectual, and moral support in the decade or so since its inception as a con- fused doctoral student's inital attempt to define a dissertation topic. I com- pleted most ofthe research and wrote the earliest drafts while Iwas a graduate student at the University of Virginia. The history department and the univer- sity provided a combination of fellowships, assistantships, teaching posi- tions, and work-study assignments throughout my years at the University of Virginia. My advisers generously, and repeatedly, helped me to supplement this “official” funding by offering or arranging a scattering of part-time work, paid lectures, an¢ consulting jobs. 1am very grateful for each ofthese sources of support. Additional research funds were provided by the Society of the Cincinnati and Hollins College. A summer research grant from Louisiana State University allowed me to complete much of the revising and rewriting of the original manuscript. Even before I arrived at the University of Virginia, I had been fortunate to work with a nurber of talented and encouraging historians of Ameri foreign relationsand the early American republic. Ed Crapol atthe College of William and Mary and Bob Beisner, Roger Brown, and Anna Nelson at the ‘American University all made significant, if early, contributions to this book. ‘At UNa., I found not only a first-rate history department, but also three learned and supportive advisers. Mel Leffler, John Stagg, and Peter Onuf were always happy to discuss my ideas, quick to read my chapters, and even quicker to push me in new, and usually conflicting, directions. What emerged atthe end of this process was a dissertation very different from what any one of us had expected—and probably much the better for it. ‘Most of the eatly research for this project was completed on the different floors of UNa.'s incomparable Alderman Library. Lam particularly grateful to the helpful and capable staffs of the Microforms and Interlibrary Services