1989, 1997; Layne 1994; Way 1998). A casual glance at the history of this relationship
seems to offer prima facie support for the respective claims that democracy and
international commerce promotes peace between states. While marked by a series of
periodic disputes, the relationship was transformed from one of war, rivalry, and
competition at the start of the nineteenth century to one of compromise and friendship by
the turn of the twentieth century. Steady political liberalization in both countries and
growing commercial ties helped cultivate common interests and simultaneously imposed
restraints on the two governments whenever they considered employing war to settle their
disputes.
This pacific evolution in their relationship faced a crucial series of tests during the
1840’s as both societies underwent profound economic and political changes. Westward
expansion and the question of allowing slavery in new states accentuated sectional
conflict between north and south in the United States. This sectional conflict carried over
into economic policy as the industrial northeast sought to enhance its competitiveness
vis-à-vis Great Britain through protectionist tariffs. The agricultural south instead
favored the elimination of protective tariffs to ensure that cotton could enjoy unrestricted
access to the markets of Europe. At the same time, the industrial revolution was remaking
the balance of political power within England. Political reforms in 1832 had helped to
increase the political influence of the industrial north relative to an aristocracy that had
traditionally dominated both houses of parliament. The Irish potato famine in 1845
catalyzed the political conflict between these two groups and sparked a broader global
liberalization of trade as England would “open her ports” to foreign grain and eliminate
its Corn Laws that had protected agriculture since the Napoleonic wars.
2
Convention