Benjamin Franklin once said; “A virgin state should preserve its virgin character and not go suitoring for alliances, but wait with decent dignity for the application of others.” Perfectly depicting the United States’ foreign policy, as in its early years as our nation’s leaders believed the United States to be too new and fragile to take on the drama of the rest of the world. This was a naive plan on the part of the founders and especially Washington when he said; “the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is to have with them as little political [as distinct from commercial] connection as possible.” in his farewell address, also mentioning how Europe had their own interests that did not particularly match up with America’s. It was incredibly naive that the leaders of early America believed that they could stay out of the business of the rest of the world; think of it as your two best friends (Britain and France) arguing and constantly pressuring you to take a side and you just keep repeating, “I refuse to take a side!!”
On the other hand, this era of isolation gave America time to improve itself. The United States obtained the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans, almost tripled in size with the Louisiana Purchase, and pushed westward to expand their reach in North America. This neutrality also forced Great Britain and France to acknowledge America as an independent nation, which was a good thing because it showed the rest of the world that the U.S. didn’t need the help of any other country to become successful and soon a global powerhouse.
I believe that the United States should have avoided keeping to itself for the first few decades because things could have gone very badly if a stronger country such as Spain took that as a weakness rather than strength and independence. But in the end, it was an incredibly smart move because it did show the rest of the world how strong the United States of America was on its own and what it could accomplish, simultaneously resulting in other nations wanting to become allies with the U.S.
Sources:
https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/development
https://oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-720
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-politicalscience/chapter/the-history-of-american-foreign-policy/