threat of retaliation from China and Japan. (78) He worries that both Japan and China would threaten the United States if its people were being persecuted. Altogether, Coolidge is neutral in his dealing of race relations within America. He notes the grave threat that poor race relations will bring to America but does not look to their causes in order to determine a solution. 5) Ideals and Shibboleths In this chapter Coolidge brings up a contradiction within the American conscious in the thirty-year period before the Spanish-American War. In this time frame, Americans were able to create a national ideal: “They believed their country to be the best, the freest, the richest, the happiest, in the world, and they gave due recognition to their own merits which had made it so.”(82) At the same time there existed so many internal struggles that challenged this ideal: race relations, political corruption, a growing wage gap, the Depression of 1893. However, Coolidge finds that what kept the American psyche afloat was a firm belief in the nation's founding principles of liberty and equality.(91) This can be proved through American support for independence movements throughout the world and foreign policy based on cultivating mutually benefitting relationships with other nations. (93) 6) Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine attempted to differentiate the United States with the older powers in Europe. (Monroe Doctrine) The U.S formally opposed colonialism in the Americas while also promising to not interfere in the European colonies. Coolidge writes on three core characteristics of the Doctrine that were commonly misunderstood: 1) it was not an act of disrespect 2) it was not a part of international law 3) it was a doctrine of self-defense. (107) He finds that the basis of the Doctrine was crafted in order to distinguish between the New World and the Old World. (118) As discussed earlier, the history of the 19th century in the United States involves little to no dealings in foreign affairs. However, Coolidge asserts that the increased conflicts within European landholdings placed the U.S in a difficult position. He is afraid of America entering a role of an "international policeman", as that title brings countless responsibilities and potential conflicts with nations across the world. He asks, "if the United States is going to abandon that portion of the Monroe Doctrine which forbids interference in European affairs, how can it insist that Europe shall not meddle