Part A
Short-Answer Questions
Directions: Analyze the documents and answer the short-answer questions that follow each document in the
space provided.
Document 1
. . . Geography contributed powerfully to a policy of noninvolvement. A billowing ocean moat
three thousand miles wide separated but did not completely isolate the American people from
Europe. The brilliant young Alexander Hamilton pointed out in 1787, in Number 8 of the
Federalist Papers, that England did not have to maintain a large standing army because the
English Channel separated her from Europe. How much better situated, he noted, was the
United States. His point was well taken, for geographical separation—not isolation—made
possible the partial success of a policy of nonentanglement during most of the 19th Century. . . .
Source: Thomas A. Bailey, A Diplomatic History of the American People, Prentice Hall, 1980
According to Thomas A. Bailey, how did geography contribute to the United States policy of noninvolvement?