Constituting the long nineteenth century: the United States and the primary institutions of international society

This chapter provides a succinct account of how the primary institutions that constitute international society affected and were affected by, the emergence of the United States as an independent actor during the nineteenth century. It builds on a set of eight primary institutions that are deep and wide enough to make the case. The impact of each of the institutions on the United States is assessed, followed by the impact of the United States on the evolving international society. What this assessment reveals, first, is the importance of these institutions for the United States. But second, it also shows the impact of the United States on the development and evolution of these institutions. Neither the story of the United States itself nor the story of the expansion/globalization of international society can be told without each taking the other into account.