Addicted to War, by Joel Andreas--Chapter 1
This is excerpted from Joel Andreas' awesome book called Addicted to War. You should totally buy the book b/c it includes a hella lot more info that I am unable to include here.
Chapter 1, Manifest Destiny
The American Revolutionaries who rose up against King George in 1776 spoke eloquently about the right of every nation to determine its own destiny.
"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with one another, and assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature of of Nature's God entitle them..." (Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence, 1776)
Unfortunately, after they won the right to determine their own destiny they thought that they should determine everyone else's too!
The leaders of the newly independent colonies believed that they were preordained to rule all of [Turtle Island]. This was so obvious to them that they called it Manifest Destiny.
"We must march from ocean to ocean...It is the destiny of the white race." (Rep. Giles, Maryland)
This "Manifest Destiny" soon led to genocidal wars against the [Indigenous Nations]. The U.S. Army ruthlessly seized their land, driving them west and slaughtering those who resisted.
During the century that followed the American Revolution, the [Indigenous Nations] were defeated one by one, their lands were taken, and they were confined to reservations. The number of dead has never been counted. But the tragedy did not end with the dead. The [indigenous people's] way of life was devastated.
"I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream...the nation's hoop is broken and scattered." (Hehaka Sapa aka Black Elk, Spiritual Leader of the Lakota [Nation] and survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota)
By 1848 the United States had seized nearly half of Mexico's territory.
In Congress the war against Mexico was justified with speeches about the glory of expanding "Anglo-Saxon democracy," but in truth it was the Southern slave owners' thirst for land and the lure of Western gold that inspired these speeches.
Side note: General Zachary Taylor ordered scores of U.S. soldiers executed for refusing to fight in Mexico.
With their domain now stretching from coast to coast the "Manifest Destiny" crowd began to dream of an overseas empire. Economic factors drove these ambitions. Col. Charles Denby, a railroad magnate and an ardent expansionist, argued:
"Our condition at home is forcing us to commercial expansion...Day by day, production is exceeding home consumption...We are after markets the greatest markets in the world."
Calls for empire were echoing through the halls of Washington.
"I firmly believe that when any territory outside the present territorial limits of the United States becomes necessary for our defense or essential for our commercial development, we ought to lose no time in acquiring it." (Senator Orville Platt, Connecticut, 1894)
To become a world power the U.S. built a world class navy. A gung-ho Theodore Roosevelt was put in charge of it.
"I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one." (T. Roosevelt, 1897)
He didn't have to wait long.
The next year, taking a fancy to several small Spanish colonies, including Cuba and the Philippines, the U.S. declared war on Spain. Rebel armies were already fighting for independence in both countries and Spain was on the verge of defeat. Washington declared that it was on the rebels' side and Spain quickly capitulated. But the U.S. soon made it clear that it had no intention of leaving.
"The Philippines are ours forever...and just beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets...the Pacific is our ocean." (Senator Albert Beveridge, Indiana, 1900)
And for the Senator, the Pacific was only the beginning:
"The power that rules the Pacific is the power that rules the world...That power is and will forever be the American Republic."
To be continued.....
Chapter 1, Manifest Destiny
The American Revolutionaries who rose up against King George in 1776 spoke eloquently about the right of every nation to determine its own destiny.
"When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with one another, and assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature of of Nature's God entitle them..." (Thomas Jefferson, from the Declaration of Independence, 1776)
Unfortunately, after they won the right to determine their own destiny they thought that they should determine everyone else's too!
The leaders of the newly independent colonies believed that they were preordained to rule all of [Turtle Island]. This was so obvious to them that they called it Manifest Destiny.
"We must march from ocean to ocean...It is the destiny of the white race." (Rep. Giles, Maryland)
This "Manifest Destiny" soon led to genocidal wars against the [Indigenous Nations]. The U.S. Army ruthlessly seized their land, driving them west and slaughtering those who resisted.
During the century that followed the American Revolution, the [Indigenous Nations] were defeated one by one, their lands were taken, and they were confined to reservations. The number of dead has never been counted. But the tragedy did not end with the dead. The [indigenous people's] way of life was devastated.
"I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream...the nation's hoop is broken and scattered." (Hehaka Sapa aka Black Elk, Spiritual Leader of the Lakota [Nation] and survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre in South Dakota)
By 1848 the United States had seized nearly half of Mexico's territory.
In Congress the war against Mexico was justified with speeches about the glory of expanding "Anglo-Saxon democracy," but in truth it was the Southern slave owners' thirst for land and the lure of Western gold that inspired these speeches.
Side note: General Zachary Taylor ordered scores of U.S. soldiers executed for refusing to fight in Mexico.
With their domain now stretching from coast to coast the "Manifest Destiny" crowd began to dream of an overseas empire. Economic factors drove these ambitions. Col. Charles Denby, a railroad magnate and an ardent expansionist, argued:
"Our condition at home is forcing us to commercial expansion...Day by day, production is exceeding home consumption...We are after markets the greatest markets in the world."
Calls for empire were echoing through the halls of Washington.
"I firmly believe that when any territory outside the present territorial limits of the United States becomes necessary for our defense or essential for our commercial development, we ought to lose no time in acquiring it." (Senator Orville Platt, Connecticut, 1894)
To become a world power the U.S. built a world class navy. A gung-ho Theodore Roosevelt was put in charge of it.
"I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one." (T. Roosevelt, 1897)
He didn't have to wait long.
The next year, taking a fancy to several small Spanish colonies, including Cuba and the Philippines, the U.S. declared war on Spain. Rebel armies were already fighting for independence in both countries and Spain was on the verge of defeat. Washington declared that it was on the rebels' side and Spain quickly capitulated. But the U.S. soon made it clear that it had no intention of leaving.
"The Philippines are ours forever...and just beyond the Philippines are China's illimitable markets...the Pacific is our ocean." (Senator Albert Beveridge, Indiana, 1900)
And for the Senator, the Pacific was only the beginning:
"The power that rules the Pacific is the power that rules the world...That power is and will forever be the American Republic."
To be continued.....