Marc-William Palen is a historian of empires and globalization at the University of Exeter, and a Research Associate in US Foreign Policy at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney. Other publications include articles in Diplomatic History, the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, the Historical Journal, Civil War History, the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and the Journal of the Civil War Era. He is the editor of the popular blog Imperial and Global Forum. He teaches courses on the British and American empires, focusing on the imperial roots of modern globalization. He has been awarded fellowships from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the History of Economics Society, Smith College, Massachusetts, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New York Public Library, and the Government of Canada.

'In this boldly argued and richly detailed study, Marc-William Palen shows us why we should know much more than we do about the debate over the tariff in the nineteenth century. The 'Conspiracy' of Free Trade demonstrates how questions of tariffs and trade were ideologically charged and central to American conceptions of imperialism and global economic integration in the age of British power.' Jay Sexton, University of Oxford

• 1. Globalizing ideologies: economic nationalism and free-trade cosmopolitanism, c.1846–60; 2. 'The most successful lie in history': the Morrill Tariff and the Confederacy's free-trade diplomacy; 3. Mobilizing free trade: the postbellum free-trade movement, foreign policy, and 'conspiracy', 1866–71; 4. Fighting over free trade: party realignment and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1872–84; 5. The great debate: the first Cleveland presidency, free-trade culture, and the anti-imperialism of free trade, 1885–9; 6. The cosmopolitan demand for North American commercial union, 1885–9; 7. 'A sea of fire': the McKinley Tariff and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1889–93; 8. Free trade in retreat: the global impact of the McKinley Tariff upon the British Empire, 1890–4; 9. Republican rapprochement: Cleveland's free traders, Anglo-American relations, and the 1896 presidential elections; Conclusion; Select bibliography; Index.

Marc-William Palen is a historian of empires and globalization at the University of Exeter, and a Research Associate in US Foreign Policy at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney. Other publications include articles in Diplomatic History, the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, the Historical Journal, Civil War History, the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and the Journal of the Civil War Era. He is the editor of the popular blog Imperial and Global Forum. He teaches courses on the British and American empires, focusing on the imperial roots of modern globalization. He has been awarded fellowships from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the History of Economics Society, Smith College, Massachusetts, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New York Public Library, and the Government of Canada.

'In this boldly argued and richly detailed study, Marc-William Palen shows us why we should know much more than we do about the debate over the tariff in the nineteenth century. The 'Conspiracy' of Free Trade demonstrates how questions of tariffs and trade were ideologically charged and central to American conceptions of imperialism and global economic integration in the age of British power.' Jay Sexton, University of Oxford

• 1. Globalizing ideologies: economic nationalism and free-trade cosmopolitanism, c.1846–60; 2. 'The most successful lie in history': the Morrill Tariff and the Confederacy's free-trade diplomacy; 3. Mobilizing free trade: the postbellum free-trade movement, foreign policy, and 'conspiracy', 1866–71; 4. Fighting over free trade: party realignment and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1872–84; 5. The great debate: the first Cleveland presidency, free-trade culture, and the anti-imperialism of free trade, 1885–9; 6. The cosmopolitan demand for North American commercial union, 1885–9; 7. 'A sea of fire': the McKinley Tariff and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1889–93; 8. Free trade in retreat: the global impact of the McKinley Tariff upon the British Empire, 1890–4; 9. Republican rapprochement: Cleveland's free traders, Anglo-American relations, and the 1896 presidential elections; Conclusion; Select bibliography; Index.

Marc-William Palen is a historian of empires and globalization at the University of Exeter, and a Research Associate in US Foreign Policy at the US Studies Centre, University of Sydney. Other publications include articles in Diplomatic History, the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, the Historical Journal, Civil War History, the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and the Journal of the Civil War Era. He is the editor of the popular blog Imperial and Global Forum. He teaches courses on the British and American empires, focusing on the imperial roots of modern globalization. He has been awarded fellowships from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the History of Economics Society, Smith College, Massachusetts, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New York Public Library, and the Government of Canada.

'In this boldly argued and richly detailed study, Marc-William Palen shows us why we should know much more than we do about the debate over the tariff in the nineteenth century. The 'Conspiracy' of Free Trade demonstrates how questions of tariffs and trade were ideologically charged and central to American conceptions of imperialism and global economic integration in the age of British power.' Jay Sexton, University of Oxford

• 1. Globalizing ideologies: economic nationalism and free-trade cosmopolitanism, c.1846–60; 2. 'The most successful lie in history': the Morrill Tariff and the Confederacy's free-trade diplomacy; 3. Mobilizing free trade: the postbellum free-trade movement, foreign policy, and 'conspiracy', 1866–71; 4. Fighting over free trade: party realignment and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1872–84; 5. The great debate: the first Cleveland presidency, free-trade culture, and the anti-imperialism of free trade, 1885–9; 6. The cosmopolitan demand for North American commercial union, 1885–9; 7. 'A sea of fire': the McKinley Tariff and the imperialism of economic nationalism, 1889–93; 8. Free trade in retreat: the global impact of the McKinley Tariff upon the British Empire, 1890–4; 9. Republican rapprochement: Cleveland's free traders, Anglo-American relations, and the 1896 presidential elections; Conclusion; Select bibliography; Index.