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010 $a 94033735
020 $a083875290X (alk. paper)
020 $a0874135591 (alk. paper)
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dDLC
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aV895$b.S63 1995
082 00 $a359/.03/097309034$220
100 1 $aSmith, Gene A.,$d1963-
245 10 $a"For the purposes of defense" :$bthe politics of
the Jeffersonian gunboat program /$cGene A. Smith.
260 $aNewark :$bUniversity of Delaware Press ;$aLondon
:$bAssociated University Presses,$c1995.
263 $a9508
300 $axiii, 185 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $a1. Introduction -- 2. A Means to an End: Gunboats
and Jefferson's Theory of Defense -- 3. The Emergence of
Policy: First Term, 1801-5 -- 4. The Failure of Ideology:
Second Term, 1805-9 -- 5. Gunboat-Related Legislation:
"Visionary Schemes" of the President -- 6. The Politics of
Construction: Realization of Republican Philosophy -- 7.
Prewar Operations: Defense, and Other Diverse Duties -- 8.
The Legacy: A Lesson Unlearned.
520 8 $aWhen examining the fleet, scholars have charged
that Jefferson opposed the navy. He did not, although his
most famous quote refers to "the ruinous folly of a navy."
Instead, Jefferson was an economy-minded, astute politician
who viewed the gunboats as part of a political-military
policy rather than a naval program in itself. Gunboats were
an economic and political alternative to the exorbitant
costs of a blue-water navy.
520 8 $aTheir perceived initial costs would be small, and
when not in use they could be hauled up and protected under
cover, eliminating costly maintenance. Staffing them by a
naval militia would further lessen their costs.
Additionally, they were a defensive weapon that provided few
opportunities for incidents at sea that might provoke war.
520 8 $aThey were also useful in revenue enforcement,
suppressing piracy along the coastal frontier, checking the
illegal slave trade and smuggling, as well as other
nontraditional uses. Moreover, gunboat construction provided
a unique political opportunity for the Jefferson
administration. Gunboats could be built throughout the
country, allowing the distribution of contracts beyond the
regular centers of naval activity and to those areas
supporting Republican politics.
520 $aIn "For the Purposes of Defense," historian Gene
A. Smith examines the politics and ideology of the fleet of
small shallow-draft vessels commissioned by President Thomas
Jefferson that dominated the United States Navy during the
first two decades of the nineteenth century. Designed to
maneuver and fight in coastal waters, the vessels had
limited ability on the open seas.
520 8 $aThey were considered defensive rather than
offensive craft and have become the focus of the white-water
(coastal) - blue-water (seagoing) controversy as well as the
navalist-antinavalist debate of the period.
650 0 $aGunboats$xHistory$y19th century.
651 0 $aUnited States$xForeign relations$y1801-1815.
651 0 $aUnited States$xPolitics and
government$y1801-1815.
651 0 $aUnited States$xMilitary policy.
596 $a1
951 $aCATSTAT:h$blm;lp kmb
952 $a001AHA7101$bsu=41 cip apl
926 $aCENTRAL$bSTACKS$cV 895 .S63 1995$dBOOK$f1
